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Objectives. The purpose of this study is to find out how workers, who do not have the opportunity to dine their workplace canteen organize their in-work meals. I apply a perspective of home economics science to my research in a way, that I am not primarily interested in what the men under my study eat, but rather I focus on the accounts on how they organize their working-time meals. I try to understand man as a thinking and functioning being who interacts with his environment. The goal of everyday human activities is to maintain the basic conditions of life, such as access to food, which makes eating during work an object of daily activity. Very little research has been done on the eating habits of workers. Prättälä (1998) studied the effect of working conditions for foresters and carpenters on. Viinamäki (2010) studied lunch patterns of hospital staff members, and Tuikkanen and Mikkola (2015) studied the working hours of factory workers. Workers' eating habits have long been a concern and working conditions are known to affect working hours. Changing one´s eating habits is challening and it is known that workers only start changing their diet when the health reasons weigh more than their shoulders can handle. In order to make changes, it is important to understand why workers act the way they do and what meanings their eating habits involve. Methods. This research is qualitative and the data were collected by interviewing. Altogether seven interviews were conducted, and the interviewees were aged 30-53. They lived northern Finland. The interviewees worked in different jobs at different workplaces and were united by the lack of a workplace canteen. The data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. The results of this study show that workers arrange in-work meals regardless of the prevailing conditions. Very different solutions are made in similar working conditions, because different tactics are used to organize the working-time meals. These tactics represent, the meanings given to meals as well as the worker's relationship to work. Workers feel that eating is everyone's own business and that the decisions made by others are respected.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to investigate the experiences and views of growth companies about employer brand. The selected companies operate in the ICT industry. The research examines the significance of employer brand to growth companies and the ways companies seek to influence their employer brand. As a third matter, the research investigates what kind of development stages of employer brands can be recognized among the interviewed companies. This method used in the study is qualitative and the material has been collected by interviewing seven employees working in different growth companies. The interviewees are all to some extent responsible for their company's employer branding and the management of it. The analysis was made as a content analysis and the approach to the analysis was theory-driven. Employer branding was perceived as an important topic in general, but actions regarding it varied. In companies, employer branding was particularly affected by challenges in general awareness of the company. The importance of the employer brand for companies varied, especially depending on to what extent the company strives to grow in the future. The ways of influencing the employer brand did also vary, with an emphasis on general communication and marketing, recruitment communication and the development of the internal employee experience. Five different development stages of the employer brand were found among the companies, starting from the employer brand's insignificance up to the development stage of strengthening the employer brand.

This study investigated the effect of behavior of a work community, work autonomy, and the number of working years, working as a supervisor and as well as any experiences of bully-ing or harassment to the internal employer brand in a healthcare and social service organiza-tion. The study was based on the results of a personnel survey done amongst employees in the organization. Previously, it has been found that the internal employer brand has had sig-nificance on employees’ organizational commitment. Work autonomy and the behavior of the work community are also linked to organizational commitment which increases the productiv-ity of an organization. This study tries to find a model that explains the formation of an internal employer brand within the organization. The analysis was done by investigating the results of the organization’s annual personnel survey. The research data was employees’ 4276 answers which were analyzed by using factor analysis, regression analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test. The results showed that the behavior of a work community explained the internal employer brand the most. The second factor that explained the internal employer brand the most was work autonomy and the third one was working as a supervisor. The results also depicted that supervisors’ internal employer brand was more positive than that of other employees’. Experience of bullying or harassment and the number of working years explained the internal employer brand slightly, but was still statistically significant. In conclusion, the behavior of one’s work community and work autonomy have a significant effect on building an internal employer brand and also organizational commitment. This is why the organization should pay attention to improving these elements.

The purpose of this thesis is to study work engagement, job resources, job demands and their connections in a Finnish organization. The study is conducted from a remote working point of view. The goal is to find out how employees experience work engagement in remote work and whether the experience differs between background variables. In addition, the goal is to find out how the employees experience the job resources and demands in remote work and whether the experience differs between background variables. At last, the study examines the connection between work engagement and job resources and demands, and whether the effect of the job demands classified as challenges or obstacles differ. The concept of work engagement and the job resources and demands model (JD-R model) is used as the background theory. The data was collected through an online survey in a Finnish organization of about 150 employees. The survey was sent on an organization’s internal communication channel. The survey was conducted in September 2021, and it was answered by 67 employees. IBM SPSS 26 was used to analyze the data. The data was first coded in a numerical form, after which variables were formed. Indicators and T-test were used in evaluation of experiencing job resources and demands as well as work engagement. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the connection of work engagement and job resources and demands. Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and U-test were used to investigate the effect of the background variables. The results showed that work engagement was experienced quite highly, and it was statistically significantly related to age, duration of employment and type of employment. Job resources were mostly experienced rather high, and job demands mainly low. Strong correlation was found between work engagement and work resources but, no statistically significant connection was found between work engagement and job demands, before dividing them into challenges and obstacles. The results mostly supported earlier research, but also brought up new information that at least in the target organization, remote working hasn’t influenced how work engagement, and job resources and demands are experienced. The results also supported the JD-R model in context of remote work. Work engagement was statistically significantly in relation to job resources but not to job demands. The organization gets important information about well-being at work: how work engagement is experienced, which job resources increase well-being and which job demands are experienced the most. With these results the organization can further employee’s well-being at work, strengthen the job resources and support with experiencing job demands. In addition, the organization can make needed changes in the work environment, work community, as well as possible changes in work tasks and organizing and planning the work.

Introduction. The aim of this study was to examine to what extent the intensified job demands and the social support of the work community are related to the self-reported servant leadership of the principals. The framework for the study was Conservation of Resources theory (COR), according to which resources function cumulatively, hence the achievement and maintenance of resources have a wide-ranging impact on the functioning of the individual and the community. Based on the Conservation of Resources theory and previous research literature, the hypothesis was that (H1) intensified job demands are negatively related to the servant leadership of the principals, and (H2) social support is positively related to the servant leadership of the principals. Methods. The data used in the study was part of the Principal Barometer 2022 survey, which focused on Finnish school principal’s occupational well-being. Of the respondents (N=469), 66% were women and 34% were men. The average age of the participants was 51.8 (SD 6.89) years. The data was analysed using hierarchical regression analysis, where the gender of the respondents was also controlled as a background variable. Results. The intensified job demands were positively related to the servant leadership of the principals. These results did not support the hypothesis of the study (H1). Social support of the work community was positively related to servant leadership, thus supporting the (H2) hypothesis. Women report more work intensification as well as social support than men. In the future, it would be necessary to focus more on monitoring the occupational well-being of the principals, as work intensification brings new challenges to organizations, whose connections to well-being are not yet sufficiently known. Since social support at work increases the servant leadership of the principals, it is significant to emphasize social resources in the school community.

Experiencing the meaningfulness of work has been identified to have positive impact on individual’s wellbeing. According to the generational divide often used in research, today’s workforce consists mainly of generation X and Y. The aim of the study was to find out what kind of factors X and Y generations experience as meaningful in work and whether the experiences of these generational cohorts differ in terms of meaningfulness of work. The purpose of the study is to provide information about the experience of meaningfulness of work to the individuals, as well as to organizations and managers. The study was conducted as a mixed-method research. The data of the study, provided by Meaningful Work Ry, was collected with a survey during summer 2017. This study examined 270 participants who belonged to generation X and Y. Factors that were perceived as meaningful in work were examined with open questions, after which responses were categorised by data-driven content analysis. Furthermore, categories were quantified, and their frequencies were compared between generational cohorts. This study used The Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI) to measure the meaningfulness of work. Differences in meaningfulness of work between X and Y generations were analysed using Mann-Whitney U-test. The factors perceived as meaningful in the work consisted of six main categories: utilization and development of one’s own competence, social relations, goals and results, the broader meaning of work, the features of work and recognition obtained from the work. No differences were found between the generational cohorts in terms of experiencing meaningfulness in work or the factors perceived as meaningful in the work. The results provide a new division of six factors that are perceived as meaningful in work. In addition, the results strengthen criticism of generational divide. The results of the study can be applied in organizations to support experience of meaningfulness in work of employees, in recruitment and employer branding. Furthermore, the results provide information to the individual when considering their own experience of meaningfulness of work.

Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between job crafting and the perceived work meaningfulness and organizational commitment among school principals. In addition, the study examined how work meaningfulness is associated with school principals' organizational commitment. The study also sought to determine whether principals’ age, gender or work experience would be associated with work meaningfulness or organizational commitment. Job crafting was examined using four dimensions based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that increasing structural resources would be positively associated with work meaningfulness. Increasing social and structural resources were assumed to be positively associated with organizational commitment while reducing hindering demands was assumed to be negatively associated with organizational commitment. In addition, work meaningfulness was assumed to be positively associated with organizational commitment. Methods. The data used in the study is part of the Principal Barometer 2022, which mapped the well-being of Finnish school principals. The data was collected in Spring 2022 by sending a questionnaire to all 1200 members of the Finnish Principals’ Association. The data included a total of 841 respondents, of whom 63.9% were women. The average age of the respondents was 51.7 years. The data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that among the dimensions of job crafting, only the increase in structural resources was positively associated with work meaningfulness and organizational commitment. Age was also positively associated with work meaningfulness. Reducing hindering job demands was negatively associated with meaningfulness and organizational commitment. The results suggest that work meaningfulness experienced by Finnish school principals’ increases organizational commitment. In conclusion, providing opportunities for learning and development through job crafting strengthens principals' work meaningfulness and their commitment to the school community. Providing opportunities for principals to craft their jobs can support their commitment, their experiences of meaningfulness and thus their overall well-being.

The aim of this master's thesis was to clarify employees' views on outsourcing. The main questions of the study were 1) How the employees dealt with the change created by outsourcing and what things they felt important when implementing the change? 2) What kind of organizational questions the employees paid attention to when moving from one organization to another? 3) What kind of management issues the employees brought up in the outsourcing process? and 4) How the employees reflected change while experienced outsourcing? The theoretical foundations of the study were Jack Mezirow's theory of transformational learning and Yrjö Engeström's theory of expansive learning. The management of outsourcing was viewed by John P. Kotter's change management model. Research casted light on transformation and learning on four levels of analysis: on individual, organizational and management levels and on the level of reflection. The target of the study were the outsourced employees, who were moved from a Finnish public corporation to a private ITC organization along with the services they produce. The study material was eleven interviews from the outsourced employees. The study was implemented by fenomenographical theme analysis. The analysis revealed results in all four levels. On the individual level the main results were the importance of systematic and open information, meaning of social and technical integration and the feeling of employee's own control. On the organizational level the move from the public sector to private and all the changes in organizational culture and in fringe benefits were fundamental. Organizational learning was analyzed with expansive learning theory. Expanding was perceived in four dimensions: temporal dimension, spatial dimension, responsibility-moral dimension and developmental dimension. On the management level the actions of one's closest manager was vital, as was the upper management's clear engagement and a shared view of the necessity of a change. In the data was found employees' reflective talking, which was indicating the meaning of the change and which was interpreted from the learning point of view. According to this study, it is possible to identify and analyze reflective talk and that way have information about employees' learning in an organizational change. It was prominent to notice how reflection in the process of outsourcing is extremely versatile and extensive.

This thesis focuses on workplace wellbeing. The thesis researches what employees see as important in workplace wellbeing and how the interviewees define an employee who enjoys a high level of workplace wellbeing. In my literature review I discuss wellbeing at work and how work life has changed. A major change in work life occurred after the 1990 recession which increased work requirements due to intensified competition and shorter deadlines among others. The broader concept of workplace wellbeing consists of several subsections which are leadership, work community and values, work engagement, recovery and stress-adding factors. In addition to these, I review the concept of resources through Hobfoll and Shirom’s (2001) COR theory and Bakker, Demerout and Verbeken’s (2004) JD-R model. Furthermore, work community skills are reviewed. I have interviewed five employees working at two multinational corporations which operate in Finland. I conducted the interviews one on one in a semi structured format. I have analysed the interviews using discourse analysis. Through discourse analysis, I found four factors the interviewees saw as important in workplace wellbeing. These factors are health, work community, the work itself and caring. Health means that the company has good occupational health care and employees take care of their own health. The work community was seen as important and even more important than the manager. The importance of the manager was considered less important than theory had suggested. The work itself encompassed the meaningfulness of the work and that the work was interesting, challenging and flexible. Caring meant that the employees felt the company cared about them and showed it by for example sponsoring sporting events or offering free coffee. When these four factors were present in an employee’s workplace, the worker was seen to enjoy a high level of workplace wellbeing. A prerequisite for workplace wellbeing was that the employees were in charge of themselves and utilized the wellbeing opportunities at work.

Feedback is seen as an important part of working life. Feedback is often accompanied by support and suggestions for improvement, and good feedback is accompanied by certain elements. In addition, research focuses on feedback primarily as a management tool. However, experts work often in teams and the challenge is that the supervisor does not know well enough how the employees has performed in their job. Therefore, the field of feedback research should be expanded to look at peer feedback between employees. The aim of this master’s thesis is to find out what kind of elements supporting peer feedback can be observed in the expert team and what kind of peer feedback can be found in the team. My master’s thesis has been produced according to an ethnographic research approach since the end of 2021. In a manner typical of ethnographic research, I produced the research material by observing and interviewing a team of experts. The team was part of a family-owned healthcare business and worked on dental training and consulting services for dentists. The research material consisted of four observations and three short interviews. The biggest insight of my master’s thesis was to understand how diverse, and unobtrusive process of communication peer feedback is in everyday working life. The results showed that peer feedback was provided by a team with smooth and fast paced communication, autonomy, and a confidential atmosphere. Based on the results, peer feedback in the team of experts appeared to be a widespread phenomenon. I identified seven different forms and structures of peer feedback from the research material: supportive, developing, neutral and corroborative peer feedback, receiving and asking peer feedback and strengthening peer feedback. The identified feedbacks were combined with recognizability, timing, and nonverbal and verbal form. In addition, I identified situations where employees with different amounts of work experience behave differently. In the future, it would be interesting to look more closely at how feedback behaviour differs in levels of different amount of expertise and what kind of peer feedback employees benefit most from the development of skills.