Themes form the literature
| Main themes | Sub-themes | Keywords | Studies/authors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conceptualization of decent work | Work-life enrichment | Work-family and personal life balance, free time and rest, opportunities for self-growth, personal development, control over working life, growth | Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), Dobbins et al. (2024), Dodd et al. (2019), Duffy et al. (2017), Ferreira et al. (2019), García-Rodríguez et al. (2021), Gibb and Ishaq (2020), Işık et al. (2019), Liu et al. (2023), Ma et al. (2023), Masdonati et al. (2019), Nam and Kim (2019), Ribeiro et al. (2019), Vignoli et al. (2020) |
| Meaningful and fulfilling employment | Job satisfaction, meaning, personal satisfaction, good match for abilities, recognition and status, valued personal outcomes, intrinsically rewarding work, intrinsic employment quality, autonomy | Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), Dodd et al. (2019), García-Rodríguez et al. (2021), Gibb and Ishaq (2020), Masdonati et al. (2019), Nam and Kim (2019), Seubert et al. (2021) | |
| Fair and safe working conditions | Dignified working conditions, safe working conditions, access to healthcare, work stability, job security, adequate compensation, equality, fairness, terms of employment, job design and nature of work, benefits, safety and security | Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Conigliaro (2021), Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), Di Ruggiero et al. (2015), Dobbins et al. (2024), Dodd et al. (2019), Duffy et al. (2017), Ferreira et al. (2019), García-Rodríguez et al. (2021), Gibb et al. (2021), Gibb and Ishaq (2020), Işık et al. (2019), Kekana et al. (2023), Liu et al. (2023), Ma et al. (2023), Masdonati et al. (2019), Nam and Kim (2019), Ribeiro et al. (2019), Santhanam-Martin et al. (2024), Seubert et al. (2021), Vignoli et al. (2020) | |
| Career growth and development | Training and opportunity, career development, achievement motivation, increasing responsibilities, skills reproduction, work challenge and mastery, professional growth | Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Dodd et al. (2019), Ferreira et al. (2019), Kekana et al. (2023), Nam and Kim (2019), Santhanam-Martin et al. (2024) | |
| Value-aligned and ethical workplace | Ethical organizational policies and practices, attractive work environment, enabling good work, complementary values | Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), Dodd et al. (2019), Duffy et al. (2017), Ferreira et al. (2019), Işık et al. (2019), Liu et al. (2023), Ma et al. (2023), Masdonati et al. (2019), Nam and Kim (2019), Ribeiro et al. (2019), Santhanam-Martin et al. (2024), Vignoli et al. (2020) | |
| Supportive and inclusive workplace | Social support and cohesion, relationships, integration in social networks, empathic work environment, voice and representation, social protection, social dialogue, relationships, social aspect of work, respect | Conigliaro (2021), Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), Di Ruggiero et al. (2015), Dobbins et al. (2024), Dodd et al. (2019), García-Rodríguez et al. (2021), Nam and Kim (2019), Seubert et al. (2021) | |
| Corporate and social responsibility | Business responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, religious responsibility, regulatory responsibility, human responsibility, citizenship/community, prosocial engagement | Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Ferreira et al. (2019), Holzberg (2024) | |
| Decent work profiles | Low decent work cluster | Indecent-precarious, only healthcare, unfulfilling, highly meaningless, highly indecent work, indecent work-low healthcare-dominant, low safety and healthcare access, vulnerability dominant | Blustein et al. (2020, 2023a), Çarkıt (2024), Duffy et al. (2024b), Kim et al. (2021), Lee et al. (2024) |
| High decent work cluster | Highly decent, fulfilling, absent healthcare, value-dominant but low rest | Blustein et al. (2020, 2023a), Çarkıt (2024), Duffy et al. (2024b), Kim et al. (2021), Lee et al. (2024) | |
| Average decent work cluster | Low health care-low rights, health care-stability, adequate safety and rest, adequate, low health care, average, low compensation-low rest | Blustein et al. (2020, 2023a), Çarkıt (2024), Duffy et al. (2024b), Kim et al. (2021), Lee et al. (2024) | |
| Decent work antecedents | Employee factors | Age, work volition, career adaptability, psychological ownership | Allan et al. (2019), Autin et al. (2021, 2022a), Douglass et al. (2017, 2020), Duffy et al. (2016, 2018, 2020), England et al. (2020), Kozan et al. (2019), Masdonati et al. (2019), Shen et al. (2024), Su et al. (2023), Tokar and Kaut (2018), Wang et al. (2019), Williams et al. (2023) |
| Work environment factors | Workplace dignity, gender diversity, partnership at work, workplace climate†, subjective salary conditions, qualitative job insecurity* | Allan et al. (2019), Atitsogbe et al. (2021), England et al. (2020), Masdonati et al. (2019), Monteiro et al. (2022), Su et al. (2023), Wadham and Dashper (2024), Winchenbach et al. (2019) | |
| Societal factors | Decent education, economic constraints*, marginalization†, national culture, ideology and policies, industrial relations, macro talent management, socio-economic status, daily discrimination*, sexism experience*, racism experience*, social class/status, contextual constraints* | Anlesinya et al. (2021), Autin et al. (2021, 2022a), Cooke et al. (2019), Douglass et al. (2017, 2020), Duffy et al. (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022), England et al. (2020), Han et al. (2023), Kozan et al. (2019), Masdonati et al. (2019), Shen et al. (2024), Su et al. (2023), Tokar and Kaut (2018), Wang et al. (2019) | |
| Decent work outcomes | Employee work outcomes | Meaning (work meaning, meaningful work and meaning at work), work-family conflict*, burnout* (exhaustion* and cynicism*), physical health, commitment (organizational and affective), decreased absenteeism, empowerment, employee boundary-spanning behavior, promotion focus, social connection (social contact, community belonging, helping others), psychological safety, subjective career success, person-organization fit, organizational learning, voice behavior, work-family enrichment, productivity, physical health, workplace fatigue*, survival needs, social contribution needs, self-determination needs (relatedness, autonomy and competence), well-being (subjective, life and work), work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption), employee retention (withdrawal intention*, turnover intention* and intention to leave*), satisfaction (need, job, life, work and basic need) | Allan et al. (2019, 2020), Atitsogbe et al. (2021), Blustein et al. (2023b), Briseño et al. (2024), Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin (2019), Di Fabio and Kenny (2019), Dodd et al. (2019), Duffy et al. (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), Huang et al. (2021, 2022), Işık et al. (2019), Kashyap and Arora (2022), Koekemoer and Masenge (2024), Kozan et al. (2019), Liu et al. (2023), Ma et al. (2023), Masdonati et al. (2019), McIlveen et al. (2021), Nam and Kim (2019), Ralph and Arora (2024), Ribeiro et al. (2019), Sanhokwe and Takawira (2023), Santhanam-Martin et al. (2024), Seol et al. (2024), Smith et al. (2024), Tokar et al. (2024), Vignoli et al. (2020), Wan and Duffy (2023), Wang et al. (2019), Zhao and Liu (2023) |
| Societal outcomes | Reduced credit default payments, higher quality care, resilience to economic downturns, increase in income, sharing cost of caring, decreased child mortality, female labor market participation, reduced delinquency, reduced criminality rates, increased schooling, decreased child labor, development of local capacities, access to credit, reduced social costs, national well-being (economic and subjective) | Anlesinya et al. (2021), Frota (2008), Ralph and Arora (2024) | |
| Mediators of decent work | Employee needs satisfaction/achievement | Need satisfaction, survival needs, social contribution needs, self-determination needs, well-being, meaning at work, basic need satisfaction, social connection (social contact, community belonging, helping others) | Allan et al. (2020), Blustein et al. (2023b), Duffy et al. (2019, 2021), Huang et al. (2021), Kashyap and Arora (2022), Seol et al. (2024), Tokar et al. (2024), Wan and Duffy (2023) |
| Employee work attitudes | Work volition, career adaptability, helping others | Allan et al. (2019, 2020), Autin et al. (2021, 2022a), Douglass et al. (2017, 2020), Duffy et al. (2016, 2018, 2020), England et al. (2020), Han et al. (2023), Kozan et al. (2019), Masdonati et al. (2019), Shen et al. (2024), Su et al. (2023), Tokar and Kaut (2018), Williams et al. (2023) | |
| Employee cognitive states | Workplace fatigue, work engagement, job satisfaction, psychological ownership, psychological safety, promotion focus | Duffy et al. (2021), Huang et al. (2022), Kashyap and Arora (2022), Koekemoer and Masenge (2024), Shen et al. (2024), Zhao and Liu (2023) | |
| Moderators of decent work | Employee factors | Career adaptability, proactive personality, critical consciousness (perceived inequality, sociopolitical participation), gender | Autin et al. (2022b), Duffy et al. (2016), Huang et al. (2021), Su et al. (2023) |
| Work environment factors | Supportive organizational climate, job insecurity, workplace relational civility, labor relations climate, perceived career opportunity | Heo and Lee (2024), Huang et al. (2022), Smith et al. (2024), Wan and Duffy (2023), Zhao and Liu (2023) | |
| Societal factors | Racism experience, economic conditions, social support | Autin et al. (2022a), Duffy et al. (2016) | |
| Decent work conditions (Industry/business sector) | Inadequate compensation | Insufficient earning, economic challenges, gender wage gap | Fabry et al. (2022), Fabry et al. (2024), Fırat et al. (2024), Giddy (2022), Khan and Sandhu (2016), Saxena (2021), Wang and Cheung (2024) |
| Unsafe working conditions | Personal safety concerns, abuse at work, longer working hours | Fırat et al. (2024), Giddy (2022), Khan and Sandhu (2016), Saxena (2021), Wang and Cheung (2024) | |
| Limited social protection | Limited social security, precarious employment | Fırat et al. (2024), Khan and Sandhu (2016), Wang and Cheung (2024) | |
| Deficient social dialogue | Deficient workplace democracy, unionizing hindered, little union presence | Fajana (2008), Fırat et al. (2024), Khan et al. (2019) | |
| Little free time and rest | Difficulty achieving work-life balance, asocial working hours | Fırat et al. (2024) | |
| Decent work conditions (National/transnational) | Inadequate employment creation | Underemployment, fewer work opportunities, unemployment, precarious employment, adequate employment | Adhikari et al. (2012), Barford et al. (2021), Blustein et al. (2019), Dhakal and Burgess (2021), Haddad and Hellyer (2018), Kozan et al. (2019), Paredes Gil et al. (2008), Thore and Tarverdyan (2009), Tipple (2006) |
| Somewhat adequate compensation | Devalued feminized labor, gendered income, adequate income, adequate pay | Haddad and Hellyer (2018), Heeks et al. (2021), Rai et al. (2019), Tipple (2006) | |
| Limited social protection | Unfair contract, prevalent discrimination, income security | Dhakal and Burgess (2021), Heeks et al. (2021), Sprague et al. (2020), Thore and Tarverdyan (2009) | |
| Deficient social dialogue | Low social dialogue, unfair representation, unsupported trade unions | Cooke et al. (2019), Dhakal and Burgess (2021), Heeks et al. (2021), Paredes Gil et al. (2008) | |
| Unsafe working conditions | Poor working conditions, unfair working conditions, neglected health and safety | Chau (2016), Dhakal and Burgess (2021), Heeks et al. (2021), Sprague et al. (2020), Tipple (2006) | |
| Rights at work | Protection of equal rights, growing rights at work, ignored worker rights | Cooke et al. (2019), Dhakal and Burgess (2021), Sprague et al. (2020) | |
| Decent work enhancement strategies | Employee strategies | Mutual interest, responsiveness, reciprocity, attentiveness, solidarity, consultation, partnerships, job crafting, resistance, activism | Blustein et al. (2023b), Gibb et al. (2021), Khan et al. (2024) |
| Organizational strategies | Discursive strategies, building alliances, holistic consideration of pay range, human resource management practices, human resource development activities, coordinated multi-stakeholder approach, corporate social responsibility, democratic worker representation and influence | Blustein et al. (2023b), Cooke et al. (2019), Gibb et al. (2021), Randev and Jha (2023), Reinecke and Donaghey (2021), Thomas and Turnbull (2018), Yao et al. (2017) | |
| National strategies | Government commitment, institutional capacity building, policies, motivating institutional actors, trade union recognition, legal protection, systemic interventions, institutionalized labor rights, cross-sector collaboration | Adhikari et al. (2012), Blustein et al. (2023b), Cooke et al. (2019), Lawrence et al. (2008) |
| Main themes | Sub-themes | Keywords | Studies/authors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conceptualization of decent work | Work-life enrichment | Work-family and personal life balance, free time and rest, opportunities for self-growth, personal development, control over working life, growth | |
| Meaningful and fulfilling employment | Job satisfaction, meaning, personal satisfaction, good match for abilities, recognition and status, valued personal outcomes, intrinsically rewarding work, intrinsic employment quality, autonomy | ||
| Fair and safe working conditions | Dignified working conditions, safe working conditions, access to healthcare, work stability, job security, adequate compensation, equality, fairness, terms of employment, job design and nature of work, benefits, safety and security | ||
| Career growth and development | Training and opportunity, career development, achievement motivation, increasing responsibilities, skills reproduction, work challenge and mastery, professional growth | ||
| Value-aligned and ethical workplace | Ethical organizational policies and practices, attractive work environment, enabling good work, complementary values | ||
| Supportive and inclusive workplace | Social support and cohesion, relationships, integration in social networks, empathic work environment, voice and representation, social protection, social dialogue, relationships, social aspect of work, respect | ||
| Corporate and social responsibility | Business responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, religious responsibility, regulatory responsibility, human responsibility, citizenship/community, prosocial engagement | ||
| Decent work profiles | Low decent work cluster | Indecent-precarious, only healthcare, unfulfilling, highly meaningless, highly indecent work, indecent work-low healthcare-dominant, low safety and healthcare access, vulnerability dominant | |
| High decent work cluster | Highly decent, fulfilling, absent healthcare, value-dominant but low rest | ||
| Average decent work cluster | Low health care-low rights, health care-stability, adequate safety and rest, adequate, low health care, average, low compensation-low rest | ||
| Decent work antecedents | Employee factors | Age, work volition, career adaptability, psychological ownership | |
| Work environment factors | Workplace dignity, gender diversity, partnership at work, workplace climate†, subjective salary conditions, qualitative job insecurity* | ||
| Societal factors | Decent education, economic constraints*, marginalization†, national culture, ideology and policies, industrial relations, macro talent management, socio-economic status, daily discrimination*, sexism experience*, racism experience*, social class/status, contextual constraints* | ||
| Decent work outcomes | Employee work outcomes | Meaning (work meaning, meaningful work and meaning at work), work-family conflict*, burnout* (exhaustion* and cynicism*), physical health, commitment (organizational and affective), decreased absenteeism, empowerment, employee boundary-spanning behavior, promotion focus, social connection (social contact, community belonging, helping others), psychological safety, subjective career success, person-organization fit, organizational learning, voice behavior, work-family enrichment, productivity, physical health, workplace fatigue*, survival needs, social contribution needs, self-determination needs (relatedness, autonomy and competence), well-being (subjective, life and work), work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption), employee retention (withdrawal intention*, turnover intention* and intention to leave*), satisfaction (need, job, life, work and basic need) | |
| Societal outcomes | Reduced credit default payments, higher quality care, resilience to economic downturns, increase in income, sharing cost of caring, decreased child mortality, female labor market participation, reduced delinquency, reduced criminality rates, increased schooling, decreased child labor, development of local capacities, access to credit, reduced social costs, national well-being (economic and subjective) | ||
| Mediators of decent work | Employee needs satisfaction/achievement | Need satisfaction, survival needs, social contribution needs, self-determination needs, well-being, meaning at work, basic need satisfaction, social connection (social contact, community belonging, helping others) | |
| Employee work attitudes | Work volition, career adaptability, helping others | ||
| Employee cognitive states | Workplace fatigue, work engagement, job satisfaction, psychological ownership, psychological safety, promotion focus | ||
| Moderators of decent work | Employee factors | Career adaptability, proactive personality, critical consciousness (perceived inequality, sociopolitical participation), gender | |
| Work environment factors | Supportive organizational climate, job insecurity, workplace relational civility, labor relations climate, perceived career opportunity | ||
| Societal factors | Racism experience, economic conditions, social support | ||
| Decent work conditions ( | Inadequate compensation | Insufficient earning, economic challenges, gender wage gap | |
| Unsafe working conditions | Personal safety concerns, abuse at work, longer working hours | ||
| Limited social protection | Limited social security, precarious employment | ||
| Deficient social dialogue | Deficient workplace democracy, unionizing hindered, little union presence | ||
| Little free time and rest | Difficulty achieving work-life balance, asocial working hours | ||
| Decent work conditions ( | Inadequate employment creation | Underemployment, fewer work opportunities, unemployment, precarious employment, adequate employment | |
| Somewhat adequate compensation | Devalued feminized labor, gendered income, adequate income, adequate pay | ||
| Limited social protection | Unfair contract, prevalent discrimination, income security | ||
| Deficient social dialogue | Low social dialogue, unfair representation, unsupported trade unions | ||
| Unsafe working conditions | Poor working conditions, unfair working conditions, neglected health and safety | ||
| Rights at work | Protection of equal rights, growing rights at work, ignored worker rights | ||
| Decent work enhancement strategies | Employee strategies | Mutual interest, responsiveness, reciprocity, attentiveness, solidarity, consultation, partnerships, job crafting, resistance, activism | |
| Organizational strategies | Discursive strategies, building alliances, holistic consideration of pay range, human resource management practices, human resource development activities, coordinated multi-stakeholder approach, corporate social responsibility, democratic worker representation and influence | ||
| National strategies | Government commitment, institutional capacity building, policies, motivating institutional actors, trade union recognition, legal protection, systemic interventions, institutionalized labor rights, cross-sector collaboration |
Note(s): * = inverse relationship; † = both positive and inverse relationship; keywords in parentheses are either a variation or aspect of the keyword that it precedes
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