Nachhaltige Arbeit durch Beteiligung an arbeitsökologischen Innovationen – Erfolgsvoraussetzungen und Hindernisse

The article examines the conditions for success and obstacles to direct employee participation in work-ecological innovation processes, i.e. in the integration of work-related and ecological innovation aspects, using a contrastive company case study. The central conditions for success on the part of employees can be identified as the recognition of their ecologically meaningful demands on work and their demands for good working conditions. A reciprocity balance between the employees’ commitment to work and innovation and the company benefits they receive in return, such as material and symbolic recognition, also proves to be a success factor.

Practical Relevance The article offers practice-oriented starting points for the development of sustainable work systems at the company level. For this purpose, recommendations for action for successful, participatory-oriented work-ecological innovation processes are developed based on the company case study results. This advocates for an integration of work-related and ecological goals as well as for a reflexive design so that work-ecological innovations can be broadly anchored in the workforce and unplanned side effects can be dealt with constructively.