Millennials' Orientations Towards Passion For Work In Knowledge-Based Organisations

This thesis examines Millennials orientations towards passion for work, when engaging in knowledge-based work in Finnish organisations. To understand the experiences of the participants’ passion for work, this thesis adopted a qualitative and inductive research approach with the aim of hearing the own voices of the participants at work using multiple data sources. The study provides a new typology of passion for work orientations. It also adds to the understanding of the antecedents of passion for work by explaining how they are experienced and articulated by young employees as well as how their various identity constructs inform the identified orientations. The analysis revealed four orientations towards passion for work, namely boundaryless, expert, belonger and bystander. It also revealed four themes that characterise the antecedents of passion for work, that is, relating autonomously to one’s work, having a sense of professional value, relating to co-workers and the work community, and having supportive supervisor and leadership relations. An integrated literature review was performed to identify the theoretical foundations of the study and determine the critical question to be addressed. It also informed the choice of a qualitative inquiry and a social constructionist paradigm. The utilised data consisted of two sets of semi-structured interviews (52 altogether) augmented by a novel WhatsApp diary approach (181 text or voice messages and 44 photos or short videos). The study was conducted among 26 Millennials (young people born in the 1980s and 1990s) employed by four organisations in Finland. The findings extend the established passion theories with a new typology of four different orientations, which provides insights into how young employees act and react, in addition to what they need from their organisations, supervisors and leaders, when they exhibit a specific orientation. In addition, the findings reveal that experiences of the enablers of passion for work within organisations are highly personal and contextual. The results also emphasize the significance of meaningful work and psychological safety at work. Moreover, findings highlight the importance of good relationships as well as attentive and mindful communication within organisations, especially those experienced during everyday moments, sometimes micro-moments, which sometimes lead to tipping points in terms of passion for work

Engaging leadership training – fostering social interaction skills through e-learning and blended solutions

Peer reviewe

What gives fire and what kills passion at work among the Generation Y?

In the future working life, employees’ creativity and social skills are going to be the organisations’ key to success. We argue that with this development, employees’ engagement is of utmost importance as engaged employees have been shown to be consistently more creative, innovative, and emotionally invested in their work. However, there is a relative lack in understanding how engagement can be led. In this study, we approach engagement through the concept of passion at work in order to highlight the role of emotions in this phenomenon. We tentatively define passion at work as consciously accessible, intense positive feelings experienced by engagement in work activities that people love or like, or find important, and in which they invest time and energy We study passion in the context of Generation Y, whose members are going to represent the majority of the work force within a decade. In order to uncover the ways to successfully lead the passion of Generation Y, we seek to understand what its members hold important: How they themselves construct the meanings of passion and leadership in their work? To this end, we conduct a preliminary analysis of 30 pilot interviews in four Finnish organisations. Through qualitative content analysis, we study how the members of Generation Y themselves construct the meaning of passion and what enhances or kills their passion at work. Through our results, we gained some tentative confirmation for our initial definition of passion. Our results highlighted the role of meaningfulness, autonomy, and the community in enhancing passion at work. In addition to the lack of enhancers of passion, our results show how the lack of feedback as well as micro-management can kill passion at work. We conclude by giving some tentative ideas on how to lead the passion of the Generation Y

Millennials' Orientations Towards Passion For Work In Knowledge-Based Organisations

This thesis examines Millennials orientations towards passion for work, when engaging in knowledge-based work in Finnish organisations. To understand the experiences of the participants’ passion for work, this thesis adopted a qualitative and inductive research approach with the aim of hearing the own voices of the participants at work using multiple data sources. The study provides a new typology of passion for work orientations. It also adds to the understanding of the antecedents of passion for work by explaining how they are experienced and articulated by young employees as well as how their various identity constructs inform the identified orientations. The analysis revealed four orientations towards passion for work, namely boundaryless, expert, belonger and bystander. It also revealed four themes that characterise the antecedents of passion for work, that is, relating autonomously to one’s work, having a sense of professional value, relating to co-workers and the work community, and having supportive supervisor and leadership relations. An integrated literature review was performed to identify the theoretical foundations of the study and determine the critical question to be addressed. It also informed the choice of a qualitative inquiry and a social constructionist paradigm. The utilised data consisted of two sets of semi-structured interviews (52 altogether) augmented by a novel WhatsApp diary approach (181 text or voice messages and 44 photos or short videos). The study was conducted among 26 Millennials (young people born in the 1980s and 1990s) employed by four organisations in Finland. The findings extend the established passion theories with a new typology of four different orientations, which provides insights into how young employees act and react, in addition to what they need from their organisations, supervisors and leaders, when they exhibit a specific orientation. In addition, the findings reveal that experiences of the enablers of passion for work within organisations are highly personal and contextual. The results also emphasize the significance of meaningful work and psychological safety at work. Moreover, findings highlight the importance of good relationships as well as attentive and mindful communication within organisations, especially those experienced during everyday moments, sometimes micro-moments, which sometimes lead to tipping points in terms of passion for work

Adopting artificial intelligence for the learning and teaching of generation z in higher education

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly growing as a means to enhance learning and teaching in higher education. Previous research on the characteristics of Generation Z students and the opportunities presented by AI is scant. This study aims to contribute to AI-enhanced practices in higher education in Europe. European Universities are increasingly cooperating in creating joint degrees and courses within European University alliances. By drawing from literature on AI and Generation Z, we identify opportunities to develop higher education practices in the context of European Universities. The results show that flexibility, instant feedback, 24/7 availability and a technological orientation are all key features of AI and Generation Z students. The adoption of AI-based solutions by the use of Generation Z therefore provides a good starting point for digitising learning and teaching processes. Key words: Artificial Intelligence, Higher Education, Generation Z, Learning, European Universit

Kaasav juhtimiskoolitus – suhtlusoskuste edendamine e-õppe ja põimõppe abil

Töökohal õppimise soodustamiseks ja töötajate heaolu suurendamiseks katsetati ühes ettevõttes kaasava õpikeskkonna (ELE) mudelit. Uuringus osales 107 keskastmejuhti, kes jagati kolme rühma: e-õppe rühma (n = 42), võrdlusrühma (n = 42) ja ettevõtte moodustatud kaasava õpikeskkonna põimõppe rühma (n = 23), milles kasutati nii e-õpet kui ka kontaktõpet. Kõik rühmad osalesid eel- ja järeltestimises. Osalejate teadmisi hinnati 16 valikvastustega küsimuse põhjal ja teadmiste rakenda mise oskusi juhtumitel põhineva keeruliste suhtlusolukordadega toimetuleku meetodi abil. Kirjeldusi selle kohta, kuidas käituda juhtumina esitatud olukordades, analüüsiti sisuanalüüsi põhimõtetest lähtudes. Seda, kas osavõtjate teadmised ja oskused koolituse tulemusena muutusid ja kas kuulumine ühte või teise rühma avaldas muutustele mõju, hinnati kordusmõõtmiste üldistatud lineaarsete mudelitega. A nalüüsist ilmnes, et e-õppe rühma tulemused paranesid enam kui võrdlusrühma omad ning kaasava õpikeskkonna põimõppe rühma tulemused paranesid kõige rohkem. Seega on võimalik suhtlusoskusi veebi kaudu õppida.  Full tex