Conceptualizations of Societal Development: An Under-Investigated Construct and its Potential Implications for Employee-Organization Fit

Abstract

Following the emergence of post-materialistic societies after World War II, economic growth was the dominating societal development dimension. However, universal societal growth principles ignore that societies and groups construe their own subjective societal development map parallel to their members' needs, values, and beliefs. Recent research on conceptualizations of societal development provides an opportunity to elaborate on the potential implications for work organizations. This paper aims to draw attention to conceptualizations of societal development as a potentially critical factor determining how employees perceive their organizations and their jobs serving sustainable development goals. We apply a social identity perspective to reflect on employee-organization fit built on shared views of societal development, providing the foundation of employee motivation to achieve the organization's goals. Finally, a research agenda integrating employees' and organizations' perceptions of societal developmental goals is proposed. Keywords: societal development goals, employee-organization fit, social identity