J. Lee Whittington

Sustainability leadership: from strategy to results

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to show how a previously developed multi‐level model of employee engagement can be leveraged to implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy. By combining macro‐level (organization‐wide) with micro‐level (manager to employee) leadership practices, management teams can more effectively engage their entire workforce in sustainability endeavors.Design/methodology/approach – A narrative synthesis approach is used to integrate extant empirical and practitioner literature spanning various disciplines in order to apply a comprehensive model for leading sustainability efforts.Findings – The path to successful sustainability efforts hinges on both “macro” and “micro” organizational factors. Combining these factors provides management with a powerful approach that engages a workforce in sustainability endeavors, resulting in positive employee‐level and organizational‐level sustainability performance.Research limitations/implications – If research is reported on in the p...

The engagement factor: building a high‐commitment organization in a low‐commitment world

Purpose – Attracting and retaining a talented work force is a strategic imperative. Doing so requires organizations to create an overall context through a set of macro‐level organizational practices we refer to as the HR value chain. However, this organizational context must be supplemented at the micro level through leader behavior, job characteristics, and challenging goals. An evidence‐based integrative model of organizational practices is developed that will lead to a high level of employee engagement.Design/methodology/approach – The paper addresses several key questions: Do engaged employees perform better than those that are not engaged? How should companies best organize their HR processes at a firm‐wide level to foster employee engagement? What should companies do at an employee level to foster engagement? What is the role of employee to manager trust in employee engagement? A review and summary of existing empirical literature from the areas of employee engagement, human resources, strategy, and...

Is your sustainability strategy sustainable? Creating a culture of sustainability

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present a multidisciplinary model that can be used as both a road map for practicing managers to create a sustainability focused culture within their own organizations, and as a guide for future research into the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – A narrative synthesis approach is used to integrate extant empirical and practitioner literature spanning various disciplines to build a comprehensive model, including key propositions, to assist both practitioners and researchers alike. Case examples illustrating each component of the model in practice and implications for future research based on the key tenets of the model are also provided. Findings – Building an organizational infrastructure that fosters a culture of sustainability results in positive employee- and organizational-level sustainability performance. Research limitations/implications – The model presented is an important advancement in the sus...

Book Review Essay: Revisiting the Meaning of Meaningful Work

The article presents reviews for the books “The Work Ethic in Industrial America 1850–1920,” by Daniel T. Rodgers and “The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work,” by Joanne B. Ciulla.

Bringing Meaning to Work through an Integrated Faith

While various organizational practices may enhance meaning in and at work, many people also seek to bring meaning to their work because they perceive work as the primary vehicle through which they express their innermost essence. An individual’s quest for meaning in work is also impacted by their personal faith and/or spiritual orientation. Employees may bring a sense of meaning to their work through a sense of calling which is informed by their personal faith. In this chapter, we explore the role of faith integration as an antecedent to meaningful work. We explored the relationship between integrated faith and the experience of meaningfulness in each of our field studies. The results of those investigations are reported in this chapter.

Enhancing Engagement through the Human Resource Value Chain

The organization’s human resource value chain (HRVC) and its performance management system (PMNG) are important organizational-level drivers of employee engagement. The HRVC consists of an integrated set of human resource management practices – from the sourcing and hiring of talent, through workforce development and engagement, to employee separation – which engages people in a committed pursuit of a chosen strategy and set of core values.

A Comprehensive, Integrative Model of Employee Engagement

The level of employee engagement has important implications for a broad set of organizational outcomes. Therefore, it is important to develop a thorough understanding of the various factors that impact employee engagement. In this chapter, we present an integrative model of the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. The core relationship in this model is the connection between the experience of work as meaningful and the level of employee engagement. Thus, we consider a variety of micro-level dimensions of organizational behavior that contribute to meaningful work. Our model also includes organizational-level processes such as the HRVC and the PMNG that impact the level of employee engagement. This meso-model provides the basis for the hypotheses that we tested in a series of field studies.

The Road to Engagement

The fundamental premise of our research is that dealing with the resilient nature of low employee engagement requires a comprehensive approach that addresses the problem systematically. We developed and tested such a model in a series of field studies. In Chapters 3–8, we discussed the various subsets of our model. In this chapter, we return to our model and discuss the results holistically. We summarize the implications for practice that emerge from this research. We also recognize the limitations of our research and provide a set of propositions that are intended to provide guidance for future research.

Engagement Across Cultures

The employee engagement problem is not limited to geographic boundaries; low employee engagement is pervasive among organizations around the world. Despite the ubiquitous nature of engagement, individuals’ reactions and responses are often bounded by their worldview and cultural background. These cultural differences have multiple dimensions, including uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and individualism. In this chapter, we evaluate the impact of these cultural differences by examining the results obtained in two very different cultures: Brazil and the United States.

The Meaningfulness–Engagement Connection

The core of our model is the relationship between meaningfulness and engagement. Meaningfulness is a complex subjective experience that includes perceiving positive meaning in work and sensing that the individual’s work makes a positive contribution to some greater good. This sense of meaningfulness is not confined to the workplace; rather, it spills over and contributes to feeling that an employee’s entire life is meaningful. In this chapter, we examine the positive relationship between meaningfulness and engagement in detail.