The “what”, “why” and “how” of spirituality in the workplace

Abstract

While the attention to workplace spirituality is growing, there is debate as to what exactly this term “spirituality” means. There seems to be multiple views of workplace spirituality. It could be argued that there are different definitions for the meaning of “spirituality” due to the very strong personal nature of the word itself. We argue that this multiple view of spirituality is a positive thing for organizations if managers attempt to understand differing spiritual views and also encourage all views within an organization. In this paper, we summarize the different perspectives of spirituality, discuss the benefits of encouraging spirituality within organizations, and examine different perspectives of implementing a spirituality‐based culture within firms.

The Moral Threat of Compartmentalization: Self, Roles and Responsibility

“…Recent studies and testimonies, such as the examples cited above, have suggested that workplaces that welcome whole people (people who express emotions alongside rational thinking) are globally more creative and engaging (Guillory, 2001;Krishnakumar and Neck, 2002). Yet compartmentalization is still seen as a necessity for business success (Lovell, 2002).…”

Workplace Spirituality Scale Design─ the view of Oriental Culture

“…Burack (1999) indicated that when the employees recognized workplace spirituality, they would have pleasant feelings, which reinforced their problem-solving abilities, creativity, and increased organizational efficacy and financial benefits. Upon these statements, Krishnakumar and Neck (2002) inferred that when the employees recognize their workplace spirituality, their thinking would be expanded, which strengthened their intuition and creativity.…”

“…Thus, they could reduce formal ethic regulations and criteria and the moral regulation costs of the organizations. In addition, upon literature review, Krishnakumar and Neck (2002) and Jurkiewicz and Giacalone (2004) inferred with precise logic and indicated that workplace spirituality would first positively influence the employees and increased organizational efficacy. The positive influences on the employees included an increase of stimulation, instinct, creativity, honesty, trust, self-realization, commitment, and improved adaptability, as elaborated below.…”

“…Neck and Milliman (1994) indicated that when an organization encourages the development of workplace spirituality, it means that it allows the people to devote self in works that reinforced efficacy of work and organization. Burack (1999), Krishnakumar and Neck (2002) indicated that in many organizations emphasizing spirituality, the employees tended to be honest and have a sense of self-realization. These organizations encouraged trust, which was significant for organizational efficacy.…”

Self, Soul and Management Learning: Constructing the Genre of the Spiritualized Manager

“…It can also address existential crises and self-alienation caused by boring or repetitive work (Krishnakumar and Neck, 2002). Bell & Taylor (2003) suggest that spirituality at work is perceived as a reaction to negative influences on organizational life, such as work-life imbalance, downsizing and workaholism.…”