Decent work
Giuseppe Scaratti
The concept of decent work highlights important aspects related to the tangible and intangible aspects that render work sustainable and adequate in different organisational contexts. This paper, starting with an introduction about the etymology of the term decent, outlines its distinctive aspects connected to canonical themes of work and organisational psychology, from well-being and safety to tangible and intangible, personal and collective, and managerial and organisational conditions. The value of the paradigm of meaning for decent work is underlined. Furthermore, in the current complex scenario and with the Covid-19 pandemic, we raise awareness of the fact that in order to manage the unexpected, adhocratic organisations (which are flexible, adaptive and agile) are needed, and these in turn require hybrid professionalism, generated by well-developed organisational learning processes. The dialogue between the Psychology of Working Theory and other, consolidated conceptual frameworks (practice-based studies, social constructivist perspectives etc.) is opened in order to spark generative and productive debates on additional issues, points of focus and research questions, and create tangible, authentic decent work experiences.
Keywords
Decent work, Adhocratic organisations, Hybrid professionalism.
