WORK HYBRIDIZATION: SIGNIFICANCE FOR SOCIAL WELLBEING WITHIN AFRICAN WORK SYSTEMS

Abstract

The challenge of poor social wellbeing, impedes the healthy development of individuals and groups within organisations. This paper addressed this concern through its focus on work hybridization, assessing its significance for social wellbeing within African work systems. The paper is designed as a theoretical paper, advancing a literature-based perspective on the imperatives of work hybridization in enabling workers the flexibility and relative autonomy required for them to invest not only in the organisation, but also in themselves and their relationship with family and others.
The cognitive dissonance theory was adopted as the theoretical lens and foundation for the paper; emphasizing the implications of dissonance in the individual’s reality and their central or underpinning values. This tenet was applied in understanding the extent to which foreign work systems, imposed on the African, impacts and affects their social behaviour and wellbeing. It was concluded that work hybridization, advances structures support flexibility features that align with the underlying communal needs and values of the African worker, thus contributing to their social needs and that way, enhancing the workers sense of placement and wellbeing.