Balancing the Dialectic Gap in the Social Context of Work: Integrating Self-Determination Theory with Theory of Heedful Interrelating

Abstract

With limited studies available to understand the human dimension of organizational sustainability, the present study contributes to the knowledge base by identifying what can be done to enable thriving at work among services sector employees by exploring the concept of heedful interrelating. Self-determination theory posits that individuals are autonomously motivated when the social context in which they function satisfies their basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, causing them to not just survive but thrive towards effective functioning and enhanced positive outcomes. Research on self-determination theory highlights an unplugged dialectic gap that exists between the individual and social context, which arises when the same social context tends to support and thwart the forward momentum of an individual toward active engagement and psychological growth. Through semi-structured interviews and textual analysis conducted among service professionals, evidence of a dialectic gap and the mindset adopted to overcome the gap were tacitly identified. Using the knowledge of agentic work behaviours that are crucial to thriving at work, the researcher tries to plug this gap by introducing heedfulness as an agentic work behaviour to be engaged in by the employees as they collaborate in a social setting. A conceptual model was designed to validate the mediating role of heedful interrelating as self-determined behaviours facilitate thriving at work. This conceptual model utilizes a self-empowerment perspective, helping service professionals move from an a motivated to a thriving state in the course of their group tasks.