Meaningfulness initiatives

Dr Luke Fletcher was awarded a one-year research grant from the Richard Benjamin Trust to implement and evaluate a pilot intervention study on meaningfulness at work.

The global recession has contributed to many employees feeling more stressed, pressurised and insecure at work. Therefore there is a need for organisations to implement initiatives that alleviate these problems so that high levels of employee wellbeing and performance can be sustained. Considering that meaningfulness is fundamental for optimal human functioning, implementing initiatives that enhance such experiences within the workplace may be particularly beneficial. However, little research has tested such initiatives within everyday working life. The present study aims to close this gap by designing, piloting and evaluating a novel workplace intervention that can be embedded within everyday organisational practices.

Project timeframe

This one-year project commenced in 2015 and will end in 2016.

Project objectives

The present study will design, pilot and evaluate a workplace intervention that could be embedded within the everyday practices of an organisation. The objectives will be:

  • to design and pilot a small-scale intervention that aims to facilitate the experience of meaningfulness within the workplace
  • to evaluate the success and effectiveness of the intervention in terms of impact on employees (i.e. wellbeing), on the organisation (i.e. employee performance), and on existing work practices (i.e. can it be easily embedded?)
  • to identify how the intervention could be further improved and developed.

Project findings and impact

The project is currently under way. Our aim is to produce three tangible deliverables:

  • a research report that will be published by Brighton Business School and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). This report will be aimed at the HR practitioner community
  • two research articles aimed at high quality internationally-recognised academic journals
  • a dissemination event held with IES to launch the report, and present key findings to local academics, businesses and HR practitioners.

Research team

Dr Luke Fletcher

Output

The project is ongoing; output will be uploaded in due course.

Partners 

Institute for Employment Studies (IES): Dr Fletcher will lead the project, working alongside Dilys Robinson, Principal Research Fellow at IES. IES is a leading not-for-profit centre for research and evidence-based consultancy in human resource policy and practice.