Creating meaningful work for employees: The role of inclusive leadership

Abstract

Meaningfulness is a fundamental psychological need and can result in numerous positive outcomes for employees and organizations. However, little is known about how inclusive leadership can promote employees' sense of meaningful work. Drawing upon self-determination theory, we posit that inclusive leadership enhances meaningful work through creating psychological safety and fostering learning from errors. Inclusive leadership improves work meaningfulness as it contributes to better job attributes. Study hypotheses were tested using a multiple-study research design, including a two-wave field study of 317 full-time employees (Study 1) and a randomized experimental vignette methodology with 440 participants (Study 2). Findings from both studies support the hypothesized mediation model and suggest that inclusive leaders enhance employees' meaningful work mediated through psychological safety and learning from errors.