Understanding public service motivation, workplace spirituality and employee well-being in the public sector

Abstract

Purpose The public service motivation (PSM) theory implies that public employees are spiritual people called “public servants” who have a desire to affect the community and are characterized by compassion and serving others. Owing to their commitment to public welfare, spirituality is apparently inherited in public employees as an occupation/employment effort, which entails attaching a “meaning” to the work being done in the workplace for the spiritual satisfaction of the employees. A sense of well-being among the employees of an organization can prove instrumental in developing their motivation level and improving the quality of their services. The literature depicts that workplace spirituality (WPS) is a feature that enhances multiple forms of employee well-being (EWB). Considering the importance of these concepts in terms of enhancing the productivity of the organizations, the current study aimed to gain an understanding of the PSM together with two other positive attributes namely WPS and EWB and determine their interrelationship. The aim of this study is to examine a significant positive relationship between PSM and WPS mediated by EWB. Design/methodology/approach The study has been conducted in the context of the public sector of Pakistan where a sample of the academic staff of higher educational institutions in the Punjab province was selected through probability sampling techniques for conducting the survey. The data collected from 394 respondents from the selected faculties of the universities were analyzed using relevant statistical tools (SPSS and AMOS: 22) to answer the research questions. Findings This study supported a significant positive relationship between PSM and WPS mediated by EWB. The quantitative findings of this study, thus, demonstrated that the culture of spirituality in the workplace significantly affects the PSM of employees by way of creating a sense of well-being among the employees. Originality/value This study is unique as it serves as an effort to understand the spiritual experience of the public sector employees involved in public service. This infers that spirituality in the workplace improved employees’ well-being by giving them a strong sense of purpose and these employees in a healthy state of mind are more likely to perform above and beyond and have a high motivation to serve the public.

Workplace Spirituality as an Alternative Model for Promoting Commitment to Change and Change-Oriented Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

“…When individuals perceive their work as essential and purposeful, they will want to add value to it by engaging in extra-role behaviours, as was the case with change-oriented OCB in this study (Chiaburu et al 2022;Bettencourt 2004). Following previous research demonstrating that workplace spirituality has a significant impact on encouraging employees' flexibility and commitment to change, our study demonstrated that employees' exposure to workplace spirituality had a considerably favourable impact on their change-oriented OCB (Hassan et al 2022;Margaretha et al 2021). Open, informal, and personal ties with co-workers create conditions conducive to igniting and encouraging employee change behaviours.…”

“…Employees' spiritual experiences in the workplace were referred to as workplace spirituality (Hassan et al 2022). When lecturers can express their desire for care and compassion for others, experience inner consciousness in the search for meaningful work, and achieve transcendence, it can be claimed that employees have a positive working experience.…”

Managing Employee Motivation in Slovak Universities from the Perspectives of Time and Age

“…Appropriately constructed solutions in the field of the employee motivation process can bring multiple benefits for the organization, which is also suitable for public institutions, including academic ones [59,[68][69][70]. Motivation in higher education is addressed in the research of Tohidian and Abbaspour [71], Lei et al [72], and Hassan et al [73]. The presented research is unique because it examines the level of motivation of university teachers in the country in terms of time and age, and based on the results, it defines the motivational needs of university teachers.…”

Workplace spirituality and job satisfaction among teachers: influence of well-being and spiritual leadership

“…Furthermore, the impact of WS on well-being (Paul and Jena, 2022) and intention to stay among teachers in Indian education sector is expressed by Aboobaker et al (2019). Also, a positive association between WS and subjective stress and psychological well-being in Indian education sector is expressed by Mahipalan and Sheena (2019) and Hassan et al (2021). These reviews indicate that WS dimensions such as compassion, meaningful work, transcendence, mindfulness and connection to self and community enhance various forms of well-being.…”