The Effect of Meaning of Work, Difference Sequence on Knowledge Employees’ Thriving at Work ()
1. Introduction
Talent is the core resource of the enterprise (Zhou et al., 2024), pay attention to the development of talent is an important guarantee for the sustainable and healthy development of the enterprise (Liu, 2023). And in the era of knowledge economy, the proportion of knowledge industry and knowledge workers rises (Zhang, 2009), and knowledge-based talents become the key element of modern organizational competition (Zhang, 2006). For enterprises, knowledge employees are not only the bearers and owners of knowledge, but also the main body of enterprise innovation (Liang & Zhao, 2009), and play a central decisive role in the survival and development of enterprises (Tang & Feng, 2010). Knowledge employees pay more attention to the realization of self-worth, the play of personality and the innovation of work, relying only on the traditional performance management and incentive mechanism may not be able to effectively stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of employees. Therefore, studying the thriving at work of knowledge employees is conducive to the design of more suitable management strategies and incentives for enterprises (Carleton, 2011), so as to improve the work efficiency and innovation of knowledge employees (Wang, 2018).
The concept of thriving at work was first proposed by Spreitzer et al. (2005) and is defined as the psychological state of experiencing both vitality and learning at work, emphasizing the growth and progress that employees can perceive in their daily work practices. As the core force of corporate innovation and development, the realization of knowledge employees’ thriving at work is crucial for promoting individual growth and corporate value growth. Giving more autonomy to knowledge employees and recognizing their contributions through a fair compensation system is an important way to stimulate thriving at work. It has been shown that knowledge sharing can indirectly enhance employees’ thriving at work by enhancing meaning of work and reducing emotional exhaustion, but the specific mechanism of the influence of meaning of work on knowledge employees’ thriving at work has yet to be further studied in depth.
The social embeddedness of thriving at work reveals the influence of the work environment on the individual’s work status, emphasizing that a supportive environment stimulates employees’ motivation to work and learn. Meaning of work is defined as an individual’s perception of work under the interaction of the mainstream values of society and his or her own value system, which reflects the relationship between people and work and the value of work for individuals (Tian et al., 2017), emphasizing that the meaning of work is the result of an individual’s subjective perception and is also affected by the external environment and organizational culture. The meaning of work has an impact on individuals’ work attitudes and behaviors, physical and mental health, and work remodeling (Song et al., 2018), and after perceiving a sense of occupational mission, employees will be more positive in their work state, have higher work engagement and job satisfaction, and thus experience higher work vitality and learning motivation. However, the role of meaning of work in influencing the two core dimensions of thriving at work, sense of vitality and sense of learning, needs to be further investigated.
From a social embeddedness perspective, the matching of leadership members enables leaders to provide substantial resources and support to employees who share their values, helping employees advance their self-worth, which in turn influences employees’ work attitudes and affective experiences (Han & Liu, 2020). This suggests that building good leadership relationships and a climate of trust within an organization can indirectly contribute to thriving at work by enhancing employees’ sense of meaning of work. Differential sequence refers to the phenomenon of team leaders treating different employees differently, which can be perceived by employees to varying degrees, and employees perceive that differential treatment is not conducive to fair and transparent communication, which may reduce the overall performance of the team and the employees’ job satisfaction (Liu et al., 2009), so there is a need to further explore the moderating effect of differential sequence atmosphere between meaning of work and thriving at work.
2. Research Hypothesis and Theoretical Basis
2.1. Meaning of Work and Thriving at Work
Meaning at work refers to the significance and purpose that individuals perceive in their work (Song et al., 2018), and when employees perceive that their work is highly meaningful, they are more likely to be thriving at work in organizational networks through the mechanisms of resource exchange and interaction in the social embedding model, experiencing a state of vitality and learning at the same time. According to resource preservation theory, meaning of work, as an individual’s deep-seated recognition of occupational value and positive psychological experience, is not only a psychological resource for knowledge employees (Shi et al., 2023), but also an important driving force for them to thriving at work. Meaning of work promotes the formation of strong motivation and commitment to work by enhancing knowledge employees’ perception of the value of work, which in turn has a significant impact on the dimensions of sense of learning and sense of vitality.
In the sense of learning dimension, employees with a high sense of meaning of work are more inclined to view their work as a way of self-growth and improvement (Lin et al., 2022), actively seek new knowledge and skills through writing learning and knowledge sharing in socially embedded networks (Zhao et al., 2023), and constantly challenge themselves to achieve personal and organizational progress. This positive learning attitude not only enhances employees’ professional competence, but also increases their confidence and adaptability in facing work challenges.
In the sense of vitality dimension, when employees feel the value and meaning of work, they are more likely to experience a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction at work, and this positive emotional experience translates into sustained enthusiasm and vitality at work through the transfer of emotional energy in the organization’s social network (Ji & Xu, 2023). Employees with a high sense of meaning of work tend to devote themselves to their work with a fuller spirit, displaying a high degree of creativity and motivation (Gao & Hu, 2023), and thus maintain lasting motivation and effectiveness at work.
According to the analysis of the questionnaire survey, it was found that the knowledge employees of Enterprise W attach importance to the realization of their self-worth, and when experiencing a higher meaning of work, they will show more vigor in their work and strive to obtain a higher level of knowledge accumulation and ability enhancement. Based on this, we propose the hypothesis:
H1a: The meaning of work can contribute to the formation of a sense of learning of thriving at work among knowledge employees.
H1b: The meaning of work can contribute to the formation of a sense of vitality of thriving at work among knowledge employees.
2.2. The Moderating Role of the Difference Sequence
In the context of Chinese organizational management, “circle culture” has been deeply embedded in the organization’s operation mechanism as a figurative manifestation of difference sequence. When a leader-centered poorly ordered atmosphere is formed within the team, resource allocation shows significant circling characteristics (Liu et al., 2009). The “insiders” in the center of power not only have priority access to information resources, decision-making and development opportunities, but also establish a special exchange relationship with the leader through emotional ties, forming a continuous cycle of resource gain. For “outsiders”, information shielding leads to ambiguous perceptions of organizational goals, and opportunity deprivation restricts the space for the development of their capabilities (Wang et al., 2023). The solidification of this difference sequence pattern injects a strong relationship-oriented operating logic into the allocation of organizational resources, causing resource allocation to gradually deviate from the performance-oriented track.
According to resource conservation theory, resource conservation mechanisms are activated when employees perceive a systemic injustice in resource acquisition. From the perspective of the two-dimensional structure of thriving at work, the difference sequence atmosphere has a dual impact on employee energization and learning through differentiated resource provision. It is manifested in the vitality dimension as the attenuation of work enthusiasm and in the learning dimension as the weakening of developmental motivation (Zeng & Liu, 2022). When access to organizational resources depends on relationship rather than value contribution, the meaning of work of “outsiders” is fundamentally questioned, their efforts are not translated into predictable organizational returns, and their career growth paths are blocked by non-institutional factors. The loss of meaning of work can lead to a loss of purpose and value confusion, resulting in “existential burnout”, i.e., not only a lack of energy to engage in work, but also a loss of cognitive frameworks for understanding the value of work (Spreitzer et al., 2005). Based on this, we propose the hypothesis:
H2a: The stronger the difference sequence, the weaker the contribution of meaning of work to the sense of learning of thriving at work among knowledge employees.
H2b: The stronger the difference sequence, the weaker the contribution of meaning of work to the sense of vitality of thriving at work among knowledge employees.
The specific research model is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Research model.
3. Research Design
3.1. Research Sample
The research object of this paper focuses on the knowledge employees of Enterprise W. Enterprise W is a human resource service company, which has a higher percentage of knowledge employees compared to other employees and is a core member of the company’s development. The survey was conducted in the form of an electronic questionnaire, which was distributed in the enterprise group through the head of the human resources department of Enterprise W. To ensure the privacy of the participants and the credibility of the questionnaire, all the participants filled out the questionnaire in an anonymous manner. When the questionnaires were further screened, questionnaires with incorrectly filled in polygraph questions and highly consistent choices were eliminated. The questionnaire survey totaled 198 questionnaires, 22 invalid questionnaires were screened out, 176 valid questionnaires, and the recovery rate of the questionnaires was about 88.89%. The sample distribution is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Distribution of samples.
Statistical category |
Index |
Number |
Frequency (%) |
Sex |
Man |
71 |
40.34 |
Woman |
105 |
59.66 |
Age |
20 - 30 years old |
136 |
77.27 |
31 - 40 years old |
35 |
19.89 |
41 - 50 years old |
5 |
2.84 |
51 years old and above |
0 |
0.00 |
Years of experience |
1 - 5 years |
130 |
73.86 |
6 - 10 years |
33 |
18.75 |
11 - 15 years |
10 |
5.68 |
16 years and above |
3 |
1.70 |
Team size |
1 - 5 persons |
37 |
21.02 |
6 - 10 persons |
73 |
41.48 |
11 - 15 persons |
27 |
15.34 |
16 persons and above |
39 |
22.16 |
Education
background |
Junior college below |
0 |
0.00 |
Junior college |
16 |
9.09 |
Bachelor degree |
125 |
71.02 |
Master degree or above |
35 |
19.89 |
Department |
Production |
8 |
4.54 |
Finance |
18 |
10.23 |
Technology |
51 |
28.98 |
Market |
23 |
13.07 |
Human resource |
60 |
34.09 |
Logistics |
10 |
5.68 |
Else |
6 |
3.41 |
3.2. Variable Measurement
To ensure rigor, the variable measurement scales used in this paper are derived from well-established scales that have been validated in multiple studies. Considering the factor of difference sequence, a variable with Chinese local cultural characteristics, this paper prioritizes the use of scales that have been widely followed and validated in Chinese contexts. In order to ensure that the questionnaire can comprehensively and accurately reflect the real situation of the target group, before formally carrying out the questionnaire research, interview work is carried out to preliminarily understand the working status and working atmosphere of knowledge employees in W enterprises. Likert’s five-point scale was used for all scales in this paper.
1) Dependent variable: Thriving at work. In this paper, we referred to the measurement scale of Spreitzer et al. (2012) to develop the measurement of thriving at work, which consists of two dimensions, sense of learning and sense of vitality, with the sense of learning dimension consisting of 5 questions, such as “At work, I am always learning”, and the sense of vitality dimension consisting of 5 questions, such as “At work, I am always energized”. The Cronbach’s α value for this scale in this paper is 0.847.
2) Independent variable: Meaning of work. We utilized the meaning of work scale developed by Steger et al. (2012), which consists of 10 items such as “The work I do has meaning”. The Cronbach’s α of this scale in this paper is 0.851.
3) Moderator variable: Difference sequence. In this paper, we used the difference sequence scale developed by Liu et al. (2009), which includes three dimensions of interdependence, biased treatment, and crony roles, with a total of 11 items. The interdependence dimension includes 6 items such as “The supervisor has frequent contact with individual subordinates”, the biased treatment dimension includes 3 items such as “I feel that the supervisor treats his subordinates differently throughout the team”, and the crony roles dimension includes 2 items such as “There are specific subordinates who assist the supervisor in solving some routine tasks”. The Cronbach’s α of this scale in this paper is 0.875.
4. Empirical Analysis
4.1. Testing of Validity and Reliability
We used SPSS 27.0 to test the reliability of all variables, the results of data analysis are shown in Table 2. The Cronbach’s α values for each variable of entrepreneurship, knowledge management, knowledge inertia and organizational resilience of Science and Technology-based SMEs are all higher than 0.7, which indicates that the internal consistency of the research scales is high. The KMO values are all greater than 0.7, and the p-values of the Bartlett’s test of sphericity are all significant, so that the structural validity passes the test.
Table 2. Reliability and validity test results.
Variable |
Cronbach’s α |
KMO |
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity |
Meaning of work |
0.851 |
0.869 |
409.311*** |
Thriving at work |
0.847 |
0.840 |
425.047*** |
Difference sequence |
0.875 |
0.896 |
482.717*** |
Note: *** indicates p < 0.001.
4.2. Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis
In this paper, we used SPSS 27.0 to calculate the mean and standard deviation of the model variables and the Pearson correlation coefficient between the variables to verify the correlation between each variable, and the results are shown in Table 3. According to the results in Table 3, meaning of work is significantly positively correlated with sense of learning, sense of vitality among knowledge employees (r = 0.562, p < 0.01; r = 0.671, p < 0.01). Significantly positive correlation between sense of learning and sense of vitality among knowledge employees (r = 0.630, p < 0.01). Difference sequence of knowledge employees is significantly negatively correlated with meaning of work, sense of learning, and sense of vitality (r = −0.188, p < 0.05; r = −0.226, p < 0.05; r = −0.368, p < 0.01). The high degree of correlation between the variables provides strong support for the regression analysis.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results.
Variable |
Average |
Sd. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1. Meaning of work |
3.790 |
0.636 |
1 |
|
|
|
2. Sense of learning |
3.750 |
0.678 |
0.562** |
1 |
|
|
3. Sense of vitality |
3.879 |
0.687 |
0.671** |
0.630** |
1 |
|
4. Difference sequence |
3.614 |
0.815 |
−0.188* |
−0.226* |
−0.368** |
1 |
Note: * indicates p < 0.05, ** indicates p < 0.01.
4.3. Hypothesis Testing
1) Main effects test. The regression results are shown in Table 4. From Model 1, meaning of work has a significant positive effect on sense of learning of thriving at work (β = 0.654, p < 0.001), and Hypothesis H1a is valid. From Model 3, meaning of work has a significant positive effect on sense of vitality of thriving at work (β = 0.871, p < 0.001), and Hypothesis H1b is established. Comparison of the regression coefficients revealed a stronger facilitating effect of meaning of work on the perceptions of sense of vitality thriving at work.
2) Moderating effects test. In order to reduce the impact of multicollinearity on the results of the regression analysis, the variables involved in the interaction terms were centered before testing for moderating effects. From Model 2, the difference sequence negatively moderated the facilitating effect of meaning of work on sense of learning thriving at work (β = −0.350, p < 0.001), and Hypothesis H2a holds. From Model 4, the coefficient of the interaction term between difference sequence and meaning of work is not significant, indicating that difference sequence has no moderating effect between meaning of work and sense of vitality thriving at work, and Hypothesis H2b does not hold.
Table 4. Main effects and moderation effects test results.
Variable |
Sense of learning |
Sense of vitality |
Model 1 |
Model 2 |
Model 3 |
Model 4 |
Meaning of work |
0.654*** (0.084) |
0.650*** (0.083) |
0.871*** (0.092) |
0.806*** (0.089) |
Difference sequence |
|
−0.038 (0.076) |
|
−0.291*** (0.081) |
Meaning of work *
Difference sequence |
|
−0.350** (0.114) |
|
0.010 (0.123) |
Sex |
0.172 (0.111) |
0.148 (0.107) |
−0.167 (0.121) |
−0.175 (0.116) |
Age |
0.069 (0.162) |
0.105 (0.157) |
−0.005 (0.177) |
−0.003 (0.169) |
Education background |
−0.251** (0.101) |
−0.206** (0.099) |
−0.142 (0.110) |
−0.074 (0.107) |
Years of experience |
−0.027 (0.116) |
−0.040 (0.113) |
−0.003 (0.127) |
0.043 (0.122) |
F |
12.829*** |
11.440*** |
19.440*** |
17.185*** |
Adj R2 |
0.338 |
0.386 |
0.443 |
0.494 |
Note: * indicates p < 0.05, ** indicates p < 0.01, *** indicates p < 0.001, the value of t is in parentheses.
In order to present a more intuitive picture of the moderating effect of difference sequence climate on the relationship between meaning of work and thriving at work, this paper plots the moderating effect for thriving at work-sense of learning and thriving at work-sense of vitality, as shown in the panel of Figure 2. As can be seen from Figure 2(a), the slope becomes smaller when the difference sequence atmosphere is at a higher level, indicating that the difference sequence atmosphere plays a negative moderating effect between the meaning of work and the sense of learning of thriving at work. And Figure 2(b) shows that the slopes of the two lines are the same regardless of the level of difference sequence, suggesting that there is no moderating effect of difference sequence between the meaning of work and the sense of vitality of thriving at work.
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Simple slope modulation effects. (Left: (a) Moderating effect of difference sequence on meaning of work and sense of learning; Right: (b) Moderating effect of difference sequence on meaning of work and sense of vitality)
5. Research Conclusions
Focusing on the group of knowledge employees in Enterprise W, we reveal the influencing effect of meaning of work on the thriving at work of knowledge employees and the moderating role of difference sequence based on the social embeddedness of thriving at work, and obtain the following conclusions.
First, meaning at work has a significant positive effect on the sense of learning of thriving at work and sense of vitality of thriving at work of knowledge employees and contributes more to the sense of vitality. Knowledge employees are sensitive to the need for self-actualization, and the meaning of work directly enhances their sense of vitality by stimulating intrinsic motivation, such as a sense of purpose, whereas a sense of learning may require an additional investment of cognitive resources.
Second, difference sequence negatively moderated between meaning of work and sense of learning of thriving at work, and did not moderate between meaning of work and sense of vitality of thriving at work. Learning, as a socialization behavior that requires organizational support, is vulnerable to the erosion of negative situational factors such as factional competition and information barriers in a difference sequence. The sense of vitality, on the other hand, stems from an individual’s direct emotional connection to his or her work and is highly resistant to situational interference.
6. Discussion and Prospect
6.1. Theoretical Contribution
First, expanding the explanatory boundaries of social embedding models. We verified the differentiated driving mechanism of the two dimensions of thriving at work (sense of learning/sense of vitality), and revealed the response logic of the two paths of “cognitive-emotional” of knowledge employees, which breaks through the generalized discussion of the overall dimensions of thriving at work in the traditional research.
Second, deconstructing the double-edged sword effect of differential management. The discovery of the hidden destructive mechanism of difference sequence on the organizational learning system echoes the phenomenon of “institutional disintegration” of informal structures on formal management mechanisms in the Chinese context, providing localized empirical support for the theory of power change.
Third, reframing the prioritization framework for knowledge employees’ motivation. Confirmation of the higher sensitivity of the sense of vitality to the perception of meaning suggests that managers need to prioritize the reinforcement of the communication of the value of work (as opposed to mere skills training), which is of revelatory value for precise human resource interventions in the knowledge economy.
6.2. Management Insight
The first step is to focus on psychological perception to improve the meaning of work. By sharing the organization’s vision and goals with employees, employees can feel how their work has a positive impact on the organization and society, and realize the value of their careers. Training is closely related to the meaning of work (Ju, 2021), and providing regular training and learning opportunities for employees encourages them to develop new skills and knowledge so that they can achieve self-improvement in their work and increase the sense of accomplishment they experience at work.
The second is to weaken relational differences and establish an atmosphere of fairness. Team leaders should focus on fairness and equity in the workplace, making everything work-oriented, ensuring that all team members have equitable access to the necessary resources and support, and reducing the difference sequence that results from unequal distribution of resources.
The third is to create favorable conditions for thriving at work. Centered around a people-centered approach, it is important to develop and nurture employees while paying attention to their individual circumstances. For example, before organizing training, adequate investigation and evaluation are carried out to ensure that the content and form of training are determined to match the actual needs of the employees and to effectively improve their work skills.
6.3. Research Shortcoming and Prospect
Given the complexity of the paper itself and the objective limitations faced in the actual research process, some limitations of the current research results still inevitably exist. First, the data collection in this paper only takes the way of employees’ unilateral self-evaluation, and the rigor needs to be improved. In order to obtain more comprehensive and effective research data, further research should consider the introduction of the assessment strategy of mutual pairing between leaders and employees. Second, the data collection in this paper is centralized and may not adequately reflect the dynamic effects of variables over time. Third, we have selected only one company in the field of human resources as our research sample and the results obtained may not be generalizable. Future research could select more firms and fields to expand the sample and increase the generalizability of the results. Fourth, our study’s measure of difference sequence may not fully capture the complex internal-external relationship dynamics within teams. More comprehensive measures, including qualitative data or observations, could be considered in the future to better understand how these dynamic relationships occur in practice.