Spirituality And Performance In Organizations 1.docx

Spirituality and Performance in Organizations: A Literature Review

Three (3) Perspectives on the Benefits of Spirituality on Organizational Performance: a) Spirituality enhances employee well-being and quality of life b) Spirituality provides employees a sense of purpose and meaning at work c) Spirituality provides employees a sense of interconnectedness and community “spirituality movement” - “a major transformation” where organizations

make

room

for

the

spiritual

dimension, which has to do with meaning, purpose, and a sense of community. Examples of Spiritual Practices: -

holding Bible, Quran, or Torah study groups

-

forming voluntary prayer groups

-

having “higher power lunches”

-

forming interfaith dialog groups

-

organizing reflection sessions

-

offering meditation exercises

-

starting servant leadership development programs

Spirituality -

defined as our inner consciousness, a specific form of work feeling that energizes action a process of selfenlightenment”

-

access to the sacred force that impels life

-

the

unique

development

inner

search

through

for

the

participation

fullest into

personal

transcendent

mystery” -

from the Latin word “spiritus” or “spiritualis” that means breathing, breath, air or wind; “Spiritus” is defined as “an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms”

Spirituality

is

distinguished

from

institutionalized

religion by being characterized as a private, inclusive, non-denominational, universal human feeling; rather than an adherence

to

the

beliefs,

rituals,

or

practices

of

a

specific organized religious institution or tradition.

Three (3) Perspectives on How Spirituality Enables or Leads to Organizational Performance: a) Human resources perspective: Spirituality enhances

employee well-being and quality of life; Spirituality enhances the general well-being of employees: a)

by

increasing

their

morale,

commitment

and

productivity b) by reducing stress, burnout and workaholism gemeinschaft – the organizations where people spend most of their time become their most important community “legitimized

schizophrenia”

-

referring

to

the

uneasy

feeling of putting on masks, hypocrisy, artificiality, and playing to be successful. -

leads to an artificial separation between work

and

life,

productivity

which

and

results

higher

in

stress

lower and

burnout. b)

Philosophical

perspective:

Spirituality

provides

employees a sense of purpose and meaning at work c)

Interpersonal

perspective:

Spirituality

provides

employees a sense of interconnectedness and community

Caveats and Cautions of Introducing Spirituality in the Workplace: A. Risk

of

proselytizing

other

people

from

diverse

religions, spiritualities or views -

people

feeling

frustration,

not

dissatisfaction being

able

to

and

express

their own spirituality -

not being respected for their diversity

-

feeling being coerced

-

dangers

of

favoritism,

intolerance

or

discrimination B. Issue of compatibility -

employees

may

perceive

spiritual

conversations “too personal”; invasive of their privacy and may feel under pressure C. Risk of spirituality becoming a fad or a being used as a management tool to manipulate employees D. Legitimacy problem spirituality at work field faces in theory, research and practice Suggestions to Address the Caveats and Potential Dangers of Bringing in Spirituality into the Workplace:

1. Accommodation of spiritual requests 2. Respect for diversity – acknowledge diversity in the workplace

and

absolutely

respect

individual

differences “respectful pluralism” - addressing conflicts arising from religious and spiritual differences at work. Asserts that leaders should strive for creating

a

environment express their

respectful where

and

employees

tolerant can

freely

own beliefs and thoughts on

spirituality. 3. Openness and freedom of expression 4. Acknowledgement of employees as whole persons