Impact of Workplace Spirituality on Organizational Commitment – A Study in an Emerging Economy

Abstract

Workplace spirituality has emerged as one of the effective mechanisms to induce organizational commitment, job involvement, creativity, innovation and to reduce employee turnover intentions. This has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide, and there have been several studies on the components and effect of workplace spirituality on employee performance in Western nations. The Covid 19 pandemic has led to job losses and pay cuts across industries, leading to an alarming Increase in stress, depression and alcohol and substance abuse among employees. However, hardly any studies have been conducted on workplace spirituality in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, leaving a gap in the literature. This study investigates the impact of four dimensions of workplace spirituality namely, meaningful work, inner life, organizational values and sense of community on the organizational commitment of employees working in various organizations in Oman during Covid-19. The study employs survey data collected from 117 respondents across various managerial levels using a structured questionnaire having 20 items. The data has been analyzed using SmartPLS 3 software. The results reveal the impact of the chosen dimensions of workplace spirituality on the organizational commitment of employees. The findings of the study suggest that meaningful work has the highest impact on organizational commitment, followed by inner life and sense of community. Organizational values have been found not to have a significant effect on organizational commitment. Workplace spirituality can have a profound impact on the mental health and wellbeing of employees in these troubled times.

The mediating role of workplace spirituality between personal attributes and job performances of Indian bus drivers

“…Apart from alcohol consumption, educational qualification and hours of work per week also influences WS factors. These results are in tune with earlier findings of Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2010), Kendall (2012), Hisam (2021), Göçen and Özğan (2018), Singh and Chopra (2016). The positive effect of marital status on WS factors varies from earlier findings of Liang et al .…”

“…Alcohol consumption has significant negative associations with job performances. This finding is in line with Göçen and Özğan (2018), Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2010), Hisam (2021), Kendall (2012). Apart from alcohol consumption, educational qualification and hours of work per week also influences WS factors.…”

“…Significant negative correlations are found for various factors of WS with job stress (Daniel, 2015;Kumar and Kumar, 2014). Similarly consumption of alcohol also make adverse effect on the level of spirituality among employees (Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2010;Kendall, 2012;Hisam, 2021;G€ oçen and € Oz gan, 2018). From the literature, it may be concluded that WS among employees increases as their age, work experience, educational qualification etc.…”

“…Significant negative correlations are found for various factors of WS with job stress (Daniel, 2015; Kumar and Kumar, 2014). Similarly consumption of alcohol also make adverse effect on the level of spirituality among employees (Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2010; Kendall, 2012; Hisam, 2021; Göçen and Özğan, 2018).…”

The Workaholism Phenomenon in Portugal: Dimensions and Relations with Workplace Spirituality

“…On the one hand the Covid-19 pandemic led to job losses, influencing the increase in symptoms such as stress, depression and substance abuse, on the other hand it masked the boundaries between professional and family life, with the introduction of the concept 'working from home'. Therefore, the role of workplace spirituality is relevant, because it can play a vital role in improving mental well-being when it is properly accepted and practiced in organizations (Hisam and Sanyal 2021). Twenty-first century employees, despite following the various changes in the world of work (e.g., technology), seek and need a professional context that allows them to find a sense of purpose in harmony with the internal and personal values (Abdul Latiff 2021).…”