Hope from Organizations' Souls

Abstract

Employees and the organizations in which they work are often unaligned in important ways that create tensions, dilemmas, disappointments, and challenges between them. Employees, for their part, often are highly concerned about employment security and receiving sufficient and fair compensation. In addition, they might be worried about not having attractive professional development or advancement opportunities, satisfactory relationships with their bosses and colleagues, or meaningful, interesting, and challenging work. They might not be given suitable recognition and respect by their organization or the freedom to do their jobs as they think appropriate. They might feel out of the know about their organization’s overall objectives, strategy, and what their leaders consider most important. We can understand, therefore, why employees might regard their employer with a healthy dose of anxiety, reserve, and mistrust and, as a result, feel an unwillingness or inability to fully engage in their work.