Meaningful Workplaces

The "traditionalist" generation came out of WW II, moved to the suburbs, and pursued jobs and careers that promised a "good living." The Baby Boomers jumped on the same path until they reached midlife and started questioning whether a good living equated with a "good life." Their children, Generation X, Y, and the Millennials, are questioning whether they even want to start down the path their parents and grandparents took, career-wise, and are making different choices about the role of work in their lives.

Drawing from a multiyear study of how a strong and responsive HR function can influence organizational effectiveness, Meaningful Workplaces provides guidelines to build an employee-engaged, high-performance, community-based culture—a place where people want to work. The book addresses the changed nature of work, what constitutes meaningful work, and explores the three key elements of meaningful work: the self, the work, and a sense of life balance and integration. It then explores what organizations need to do to become meaningful workplaces. "First of all, it's not about the perks, it's about the culture," says Neal Chalofsky. Employees of humane organizations are not there just because they have great benefits. The benefits are a result of the work-life culture, because the culture values employees. In turn, employees have an overwhelming commitment to their organizations. In addition, the organization supports the whole person, and the whole person is engaged in the organization. While no organization can be all things to all people, these organizations work hard to recognize and support employees' work, family, leisure, personal, and community needs. Finally, the organization is truly a community. When employees go to work each day knowing that what they do makes a difference, that their voice is heard, that their work is meaningful, and that they enjoy the company of their colleagues, then employees are truly part of a workplace community.

Meaningful Workplaces focuses on building a humane workplace, one that is values-based, employee-focused, creating a workplace community within organizations—and it lays out ways HR professionals can build organizations that align employees' personal values and purpose, the work, and the workplace.