Eun-Jee Kim

Purpose: Understanding the mechanisms that enhance the meaningfulness of employees’ work and careers is critical. Scholars and practitioners have shown growing interest in the dynamics and factors influencing career adaptability. This study aims to examine the relationship between meaningful work and career adaptability, focusing on the potential mediating roles of career resilience and job crafting. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from South Korea. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze the data and test the hypotheses in the study. Findings: The findings revealed significant positive relationships among meaningful work, career resilience, job crafting and career adaptability. In addition, career resilience and job crafting were found to mediate the relationship between meaningful work and career adaptability. Originality/value: This study provides valuable insights into the work-related psychological factors influencing employees’ career adaptability by focusing on the relationships among meaningful work, job crafting and career resilience. It also offers implications for practitioners and counselors seeking to better understand the mechanisms that foster career adaptability.

Purpose: This study investigates the interrelationships among perceived organizational support, meaningful work, remote working and work–life balance, with particular emphasis on the mediating roles of meaningful work and remote working. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose that when employees perceive strong organizational support, they are more likely to experience their work as meaningful and benefit from flexible work arrangements, which in turn contribute to improved work–life balance. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 317 employees across various sectors in South Korea and analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses and assess the relationships among the key constructs. Findings: The findings revealed that perceived organizational support has a significant positive effect on employees’ experiences of meaningful work, remote working and work–life balance. Furthermore, both meaningful work and remote working directly enhance employees’ ability to manage their professional and personal lives and serve as mediators in the relationship between organizational support and work–life balance. Originality/value: These findings provide empirical support for a novel conceptual model in which meaningful work and remote working act as key mechanisms through which organizational support exerts its influence. The study highlights the importance of employees’ subjective experiences in shaping work–life outcomes, particularly in the evolving context of flexible work environments. The implications underscore the need for organizations to foster supportive climates that promote both purposeful engagement and autonomy, ultimately enhancing employee well-being and performance.

Purpose: This study examines the relationships among career behavior, occupational self-efficacy, meaningful work and career satisfaction. It also investigates the role of flexible work arrangements in these relationships towards building an adaptive career system. Design/methodology/approach: Data for the study were analyzed using multi-group structural equation modeling to examine the relationships between the four variables and the moderating effect of different flexible work arrangements. Findings: The results showed the direct effects of career behavior on occupational self-efficacy and career satisfaction. Occupational self-efficacy was significantly related to career satisfaction through meaningful work. Meaningful work was also positively related to career satisfaction. Finally, the findings revealed different relationships based on flexible work arrangements. Originality/value: This study established that meaningful work and occupational self-efficacy are vital forces that impact the relationship between career behavior and satisfaction. By empirically providing evidence of flexible work practice on career satisfaction, the study answers several calls by research to examine how flexible work arrangement can play a critical role in career management.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among meaningful work, employee engagement, job crafting and career commitment.Methods: The study primarily employed structural equation modeling to test the proposed research model and hypotheses. Data were collected through an online questionnaire from employees working at multiple companies.Findings: The findings indicated that meaningful work affected employee engagement, job crafting and career commitment. In addition, employee engagement and job crafting mediated the relationships between meaningful work and career commitment.Originality: This study identifies three important antecedents (meaningful work, employee engagement and job crafting) that improve employees’ level of career commitment. Based on previous findings indicating that career commitment can promote behavioral and attitudinal outcomes, this study focuses on contributors of career commitment, which ultimately may link to the positive outcomes of career commitment.

Purpose: The aim of this research is to examine the relationships among family-friendly organizational culture, job characteristics, supervisor support, meaningful work, and organizational commitment for female managers. It also investigates generational differences in these relationships.Design/methodology/approach: Data for the study were analyzed using multi-group structural equation modeling to examine the moderating role of generational differences.Findings: This study investigates the role of meaningful work as an agent in terms of how it influences organizational commitment for female managers. Empirical results confirm the effect of family-friendly culture on supervisor support and meaningful work, which in turn impacts organizational commitment. The findings also revealed generational differences among Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials in these relationships.Originality/value: The findings highlight the significance of investigating meaningful work on organizational commitment by examining the relationships with organizational culture, supervisor support, and job characteristics across different generational groups.