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.