Posted: April 2nd, 2015

Meaningful work Experience

Meaningful work Experience

The definition of work according to Grint (2005) is that it is an activity that transforms nature under social situations. He observes that this definition, however, has some ambiguous perspectives which are not warranted in this paper due to space and objective. Maslow, as indicated by Grint (2005) wrote that for individuals to achieve professional capacity in their work places there is the need for a meaningful and purposeful experience n the work place. In his works he emphasized the forces working ‘within a person’ hence the need for motivation in order to achieve the highest hierarchy of human basic survival. In his quest for meaning of work he analyzed the values of transcendence, goodness, uniqueness, aliveness, justice, richness and meaningfulness. Famous in these humanistic theories was to get rid of the performance attitude emphasis of the time. The experience in work would be characterized as the meaningful inclusive state of the expression of a life through it.

Chalofsky (2010), states that work is one way of identifying the reason for functioning as a human being. In addition, meaning and experience in work allude to the relationship that exists between commitment, loyalty and dedication. Indeed research studies have shown that employees looking fro work cite meaningful to tally with satisfaction of personal values, contribution and to the larger community.

However, many people’s take on their jobs about an end to other things starting from earning the daily bread to material gain and wealth. For others work is instinct innate and powerful tendency which one identifies with and also to boost esteem. In different cultures work is present with different meanings and importance attached to it.

Nonetheless, there are others who hate work since for them they find no personal gratification nor do they fulfill their desires of the daily needs. These are the people who work in exploitative areas where the choices and freedom are few so they end up being trapped in a cycle of meaningless engagement. They feel frustrated and the concept of search for meaning becomes their core agenda (Ciulla, 2000).

Those in the field of art and performance like music, sports like football, tennis running and basket ball, jazz dancers claim to experience the experience that they would engage in even if they were not paid. In focus on football, I would like to focus on Lionel Messi, an Argentinian striker and national player signed in at Barcelona.

The passion with which he plays the game is one that tells it all that passion is high in the movement. Messi plays with an exactness and presence of mind as looking keen to please the ball itself. As a result the football game is a rich and meaningful experience (Caioli, 2006).

The best example of a personality to have achieved chaste and yet lived a meaningful life is Mother Theresa. She did what is considered iconic in the world of humanity. She was a member of the church and a follower of Jesus Christ. She often used her material possession to help the troubled, the poor, unloved, the dying, the homeless, and orphans, the sick and abandoned children. She inspired many in doing what she was did as a way to promote peace and knowledge of the love of God (Gupta & Gupta, 2006).

In conclusion, therefore this paper recognizes that work is taken differently to achieve many objectives. However, the majority take work as just normal bread earning process rather than a means to self fulfillment. If people would realize the need to be in line with their personal inner experiences of work then the world would be free of frustrations.