Manque de sens au travail ? Un éclairage par la reconnaissance au travail

Meaning at work and recognition are both polysemous concepts. Employees' calls for more work meaning are intertwined with demands for more recognition. The loss of meaning is associated with a loss of identity and a feeling of not existing, not evolving and not making a real society contribution. We explore the contribution work recognition to the loss and creation of meaning, based on our research-intervention experience and the illustration of a case study, a large medical-social association. The article aims to show how, beyond the "crises" evoked in the meaning creation (Weick, 1995), the issue of lack of physiological, relational and rewarding recognition, and in terms of social fulfillment, is detrimental to the work meaning, and even more generally to the individual's life meaning. This question of meaning is fundamental to management. Indeed, in addition to its impact on the mental and physical health of individuals, it has a direct or indirect influence on the organization's economic performance in areas such as: staff turnover, illness, stress, boredom, burn-out, reduced productivity and energy, reduced innovation, errors, levels of cooperation and conflict.