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Sustaining human capital in the modern workplace: an exploration of a sustainable workplace at Glimworks, a small-sized Swedish IT company

Sundström, Carl-Henrik LU (2019) In Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science MESM02 20192
LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
Abstract
Research and poll results suggest an ongoing crisis in modern Western European workplaces with high levels of indifference at work underlined by low engagement levels. Data aggregated from 2014 to 2016 by Gallup World Polls state that only 10% of Western European employees are engaged at work while 71% are not engaged and 19% are actively disengaged (Gallup, 2017). These numbers highlight an urgent problem that is the “epidemic levels of indifference toward work” (Duckworth, 2017, p.98). The scientific sphere can contribute to solving this problem by increasing its research on companies that are succeeding at creating engaging workplaces which sustain human capital and resources over time. In doing so, researchers along with practitioners... (More)
Research and poll results suggest an ongoing crisis in modern Western European workplaces with high levels of indifference at work underlined by low engagement levels. Data aggregated from 2014 to 2016 by Gallup World Polls state that only 10% of Western European employees are engaged at work while 71% are not engaged and 19% are actively disengaged (Gallup, 2017). These numbers highlight an urgent problem that is the “epidemic levels of indifference toward work” (Duckworth, 2017, p.98). The scientific sphere can contribute to solving this problem by increasing its research on companies that are succeeding at creating engaging workplaces which sustain human capital and resources over time. In doing so, researchers along with practitioners can extract the best-practices and propose workplace models which theoretically result in sustainable workplaces that engage employees and sustain their resources. Through this study, such a model was co-created with the Swedish small-sized IT company Glimworks through semi-structured interviews with its employees, a semi-structured interview with its founder and CEO and a focus group discussion. This resulted in the unique contribution of a conceptual definition of a sustainable workplace and the design of a theoretical model including six variables and thirteen sustainability themes for how to build sustainable workplaces. Finally, this research is also distinctive in its interdisciplinary approach to sustainability science by bridging the field with organizational and engagement theories. (Less)
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author
Sundström, Carl-Henrik LU
supervisor
organization
course
MESM02 20192
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Sustainability science, employee engagement, human sustainability, sustainable workplace, human capital
publication/series
Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science
report number
No 2019:042
language
English
id
8997007
date added to LUP
2019-10-28 08:20:55
date last changed
2019-10-28 08:20:55
@misc{8997007,
  abstract     = {{Research and poll results suggest an ongoing crisis in modern Western European workplaces with high levels of indifference at work underlined by low engagement levels. Data aggregated from 2014 to 2016 by Gallup World Polls state that only 10% of Western European employees are engaged at work while 71% are not engaged and 19% are actively disengaged (Gallup, 2017). These numbers highlight an urgent problem that is the “epidemic levels of indifference toward work” (Duckworth, 2017, p.98). The scientific sphere can contribute to solving this problem by increasing its research on companies that are succeeding at creating engaging workplaces which sustain human capital and resources over time. In doing so, researchers along with practitioners can extract the best-practices and propose workplace models which theoretically result in sustainable workplaces that engage employees and sustain their resources. Through this study, such a model was co-created with the Swedish small-sized IT company Glimworks through semi-structured interviews with its employees, a semi-structured interview with its founder and CEO and a focus group discussion. This resulted in the unique contribution of a conceptual definition of a sustainable workplace and the design of a theoretical model including six variables and thirteen sustainability themes for how to build sustainable workplaces. Finally, this research is also distinctive in its interdisciplinary approach to sustainability science by bridging the field with organizational and engagement theories.}},
  author       = {{Sundström, Carl-Henrik}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science}},
  title        = {{Sustaining human capital in the modern workplace: an exploration of a sustainable workplace at Glimworks, a small-sized Swedish IT company}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}