Zach Mercurio, Ph.D.
Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
17K followers
500+ connections
About
Zach is an author, researcher, and speaker specializing in purposeful leadership…
Articles by Zach
Contributions
Experience
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Zach Mercurio | ZachMercurio.com
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Education
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Colorado State University
Studied organizational, strategic, and change management theory and practice. Researches meaningful work, purpose, and fulfillment.
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Studied adult education theories, organizational development, human resources in higher education, ethical frameworks for leadership practice, and law in higher education.
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Licenses & Certifications
Publications
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It took a pandemic for frontline workers to get the praise they deserve. It’s not enough.
The Denver Post
Since the 1940s, the National Opinion Research Center has surveyed the public to assess the perceived worthiness of occupations. The jobs consistently rated lowest are cleaners, packers, and food service workers, the very jobs we all rely on.
Researchers call these occupations stigmatized occupations, jobs disrespected by society-at-large because of their undesirable nature, the low skill level required, or low pay.
I’ve seen the effect of stigma up close. I spent the last two…Since the 1940s, the National Opinion Research Center has surveyed the public to assess the perceived worthiness of occupations. The jobs consistently rated lowest are cleaners, packers, and food service workers, the very jobs we all rely on.
Researchers call these occupations stigmatized occupations, jobs disrespected by society-at-large because of their undesirable nature, the low skill level required, or low pay.
I’ve seen the effect of stigma up close. I spent the last two years studying how a group of janitors experienced meaningfulness or meaninglessness in their work.
Studies, including mine, find degrading acts and words from the public and leaders contribute to feelings of hopelessness, a loss of dignity, and despair for an already at-risk workforce. -
The Lived Experience of Meaningful Work in a Stigmatized Occupation: A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry
ProQuest / Colorado State University Libraries
Experiencing work as meaningful has been linked to positive personal and organizational outcomes, such as increased engagement, job satisfaction, motivation, positive work behaviors, performance, and an overall sense of well-being (e.g. Lysova, Allan, Dik, Duffy, & Steger, 2019; Rosso, Dekas, & Wrzesniewski, 2010). However, while research seeking to explain the numerous factors that contribute to and result from the experience of meaningful work has proliferated, empirical studies directly…
Experiencing work as meaningful has been linked to positive personal and organizational outcomes, such as increased engagement, job satisfaction, motivation, positive work behaviors, performance, and an overall sense of well-being (e.g. Lysova, Allan, Dik, Duffy, & Steger, 2019; Rosso, Dekas, & Wrzesniewski, 2010). However, while research seeking to explain the numerous factors that contribute to and result from the experience of meaningful work has proliferated, empirical studies directly investigating the lived experience of meaningful work in diverse occupational contexts are limited. Moreover, the lived experience of meaningless work and its relationship to the experience of meaningful work is not well understood. For workers in stigmatized occupations – jobs relegated by society as physically, socially, or morally undesirable due to the nature of the work – theorists have proposed numerous unique barriers to the experience of meaningfulness, thereby putting these workers at an increased risk for negative outcomes, including disengagement, lower commitment, and low satisfaction (e.g. Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999; Blustein, 2011). At the same time, the direct inquiry into the lived experience of meaningful work in stigmatized occupations remains sparse. Hence, the purpose of this study was to better understand this experience.
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The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of Authentic Purpose
ForbesBooks | Advantage
Research consistently finds that purpose may be the most powerful influencer of our behaviors, attitudes, and motivation in organizations, work, school, and life.
Yet despite the increasing evidence of purpose's power, many of the organizations, systems, and institutions which dominate human life aren't built to elicit and leverage the fundamental human search for purpose and meaning.
In "The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of…Research consistently finds that purpose may be the most powerful influencer of our behaviors, attitudes, and motivation in organizations, work, school, and life.
Yet despite the increasing evidence of purpose's power, many of the organizations, systems, and institutions which dominate human life aren't built to elicit and leverage the fundamental human search for purpose and meaning.
In "The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of Authentic Purpose," international purpose and meaningful work consultant and researcher Zach Mercurio shows business leaders, educators, students, athletes, and parents HOW to discover, clarify, and deliver their reason for existence―their authentic purpose.
For fans of "Start with Why," the "Invisible Leader" takes the next step and details both how purpose works and the research-backed practices to implement it in our lives and organizations.
"Zach Mercurio has written a compelling book filled with powerful stories, cutting-edge research, and practical tools that shows us how to lead with purpose..."
- ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, Founder and CEO at Thrive Global, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution -
Pragmatism and Human Resource Development
Human Resource Development Review
This article explores a perspective of Human Resource Development grounded in Pragmatist philosophy and emerging theories of Practice. Pragmatism focuses on the practical outcomes of what we think and do. Thus, a core focus of Pragmatism is on practice. Practice theories frame and explain activities that are continually performed, produced, and reproduced through a dynamic entanglement of action, politics, communities, discourse, materials, tools, and agents. Pragmatism and practice theories…
This article explores a perspective of Human Resource Development grounded in Pragmatist philosophy and emerging theories of Practice. Pragmatism focuses on the practical outcomes of what we think and do. Thus, a core focus of Pragmatism is on practice. Practice theories frame and explain activities that are continually performed, produced, and reproduced through a dynamic entanglement of action, politics, communities, discourse, materials, tools, and agents. Pragmatism and practice theories are complementary perspectives focused on the consequences of our ideas and the results of our actions. Both perspectives provide us with valuable insights about our world. Pragmatism is a perspective that can bridge current divides between scientific paradigms, the theory–practice gap, and academic–practitioner interests. We review the general tenets of Pragmatism related to the research, theory, and practice of Human Resource Development. Key topics include pragmatic ideas of inquiry and objectivity; epistemology, truth, and fallibilism; and practice and experience.
Other authorsSee publication -
Person-Organization Fit in the Employee Selection Process: An Instructive Framework for Practitioners and Implications for Human Resource Development
Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference in the Americas, At Orlando, Florida, USA
Leaders in modern organizations seem recently concerned with workforce turnover and strategies for hiring and selecting employees who have a low risk of early departure. The concept of screening employees for “fit” with the organization as a key strategy for reducing turnover is well documented. However, communication of the research findings to practitioners is limited. Additionally, the role of Human Resource Development (HRD) in developing people and preparing the organization to implement…
Leaders in modern organizations seem recently concerned with workforce turnover and strategies for hiring and selecting employees who have a low risk of early departure. The concept of screening employees for “fit” with the organization as a key strategy for reducing turnover is well documented. However, communication of the research findings to practitioners is limited. Additionally, the role of Human Resource Development (HRD) in developing people and preparing the organization to implement P-O fit strategies remains relatively understudied. To contribute to the P-O fit literature and HRD, this article performs an integrative literature review on P-O fit with a specific focus on organizational selection processes. An integrated process model for using P-O fit in the organizational selection process is present
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The Search for Meaning at Work: A Critical Analysis of the Dominant and Subordinate Theoretical Assumptions
Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference in the Americas, At Orlando, Florida, USA
The search for meaning is a human activity that has transcended centuries of human civilization. As applied disciplines that investigate the development of organizations and the humans who comprise them, organization development (OD) and human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners have engaged in a steady stream of research and theorizing related to what “meaning” or “meaningfulness” in work is, how it develops, and most prominently in the literature, how it is operationalized…
The search for meaning is a human activity that has transcended centuries of human civilization. As applied disciplines that investigate the development of organizations and the humans who comprise them, organization development (OD) and human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners have engaged in a steady stream of research and theorizing related to what “meaning” or “meaningfulness” in work is, how it develops, and most prominently in the literature, how it is operationalized. This paper seeks to add to the understanding of the concept of the meaningfulness of work through engaging in a critical analysis of the historical and theoretical assumptions of the meaningfulness of work and how these assumptions developed over time. In addition, through the interpretation of the reviewed theory, this paper will discuss the implications for future research on the meaning of work.
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Affective Commitment as a Core Essence of Organizational Commitment: An Integrative Literature Review
Human Resource Development Review
This article responds to the call for the identification of a core essence of organizational commitment. Since this call 14 years ago, scholars studying organizational commitment
have not come to an agreement as to the nature of organizational commitment, and how
it develops. The research’s fragmentation creates a problem in a time when practitioners
are looking toward organizational commitment interventions to attract, retain, and
develop talent and enhance employee performance…This article responds to the call for the identification of a core essence of organizational commitment. Since this call 14 years ago, scholars studying organizational commitment
have not come to an agreement as to the nature of organizational commitment, and how
it develops. The research’s fragmentation creates a problem in a time when practitioners
are looking toward organizational commitment interventions to attract, retain, and
develop talent and enhance employee performance. With organizational commitment
research remaining confounding and fragmented, further clarification of what commitment
is and how it develops is warranted and important to guide future research and evidencebased
practice. Through a review of the competing and overlapping organizational
commitment theoretical frameworks and the empirical research on the consequences
of affective organizational commitment, this article proposes a conceptual framework
in which affective commitment, or the emotional attachment to the organization, is an
important core essence of organizational commitment
Honors & Awards
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"Best Scholarly Paper" in Management Spirituality and Religion
Academy of Management
Won "Best Scholarly Paper" in Management Spirituality and Religion at the International Academy of Management conference for the research study:
"The Lived Experience of Meaningful and Meaningless Work in a Stigmatized Occupation" Colorado State University. -
Best Dissertation Award
Association for Talent Development
The ATD Dissertation Award is given to foster and disseminate research in the practice of developing talent in organizations.
Mercurio is an instructor in the Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change program in the Colorado State University School of Education in Fort Collins, Colorado. His dissertation, “The Lived Experience of Meaningful Work in a Stigmatized Occupation: A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry,” sought to expand on studies that show positive outcomes related to…The ATD Dissertation Award is given to foster and disseminate research in the practice of developing talent in organizations.
Mercurio is an instructor in the Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change program in the Colorado State University School of Education in Fort Collins, Colorado. His dissertation, “The Lived Experience of Meaningful Work in a Stigmatized Occupation: A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry,” sought to expand on studies that show positive outcomes related to meaningful work—benefits such as engagement, job satisfaction, performance, and a sense of well-being. Drawing on previous research, he defines stigmatized occupations as “jobs relegated by society as physically, socially, or morally undesirable due to the nature of the work.”
Through his research, Mercurio found that meaningful work comprised a learned, positive approach to work, taking pride in one’s work, receiving outside validation of the self and work, helping others, and developing positive and personal relationships. -
Elwood F. Holton III Research Excellence Award
Academy for Human Resource Development
The Elwood F. Holton III Research Excellence Award is awarded for the outstanding Human Resource Development Review refereed article in each annual volume.
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Cutting-Edge Research Award
Academy for Human Resource Development
Awarded for cutting-edge research paper: "The Search for Meaning at Work: A Critical Analysis of the Dominant and Subordinate Theoretical Assumptions"
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Distinguished Society Member
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), Washington, D.C.
Demonstrated lifetime commitment to Leadership, Scholarship and Service.
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