Background
Spirituality in the context of workplace or workplace spirituality has drawn the interest of management scholars as well as practicing managers equally in the last few decades.
Many multinational companies are now convinced that incorporating spirituality in their workplace can have a positive impact not only on their employees but also on the overall performance of the company. Despite the recognition and acceptance of beneficial outcomes of workplace spirituality to individuals and organizations, it is surprising to note that there is no common understanding of the meaning of spirituality in the context of the workplace. Scholars have come up with numerous definitions which contradict each other, thereby creating problems for the managers who intend to embrace spirituality and reap its benefits in their organizations. This suggests a need to have a clear understanding of what actual workplace spirituality means or what constitutes it among the scholars and practising managers.
Meaning of the term “Spirituality”
The word “spirituality” in the West originated from the Latin word spiritualis, which means spiritual, a person who lived under the influence of the Spirit of God used to be called a spiritual person (Sheldrake, 2013). In the East, mainly in the Hindu and Buddhist scriptures, spirituality has been perceived differently. As per the Hindu scriptures, Adhyatma (Spirituality) refers to the “Higher Self” whereas in Buddhism it refers to Sunyata (Internal Emptiness). In contemporary literature, spirituality has been defined in many different ways utilizing different perspectives resulting in numerous definitions. Nonetheless, the majority of scholars are in agreement that spirituality is a process of finding meaning and purpose in life through the experience of the sacred or the transcendent dimension of human life.
Workplace Spirituality
In the last few decades, workplace spirituality has emerged as a movement. Many multinational companies in the initial years of this century started to incorporate spirituality in their workplaces even before the scholarly community came up with the substantive evidence of the positive influence of workplace spirituality on individual and organizational level outcomes. But what workplace spirituality means and how it influences different outcomes was largely unclear. As a result, scholars began to explore the meaning of spirituality in the context of the workplace. This gave rise to a multitude of definitions of workplace spirituality. The reasons for diverse definitions of workplace spirituality were largely attributed to the subjective nature of the phenomenon as well as the absence of a theoretical framework for studying it. The definitions primarily come from the studies in the Western context, especially the North American context, which may not be applicable in the Eastern cultural context mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, the work and workplace spirituality are perceived differently in the East. And secondly, the definitions derived from the Western studies fail to encompass the diverse perspectives that are found in the Eastern spiritual traditions. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the meaning of workplace spirituality from the Eastern worldview as well.
Workplace Spirituality: An Eastern Perspective
As there is a significant variation in the culture from the Middle East to East Asia and since spirituality is a culture specific phenomenon, it is plausible to explore the meaning of workplace spirituality in a specific cultural context. The cultures of the South Asian countries, mainly Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, are dominated by Vedic and Buddhist spiritual traditions, which provides a unique opportunity to comprehend the meaning of workplace spirituality from a different perspective. In my doctoral study in management at Kathmandu University I tried to tap this opportunity of defining workplace spirituality from the perspective of employees working in different organizations who are largely influenced by both the Vedic and Buddhist spiritual traditions. I suggested that unlike in the West workplace spirituality is perceived differently in the current study context and proposed the following definition: WPS is a pattern of experience of employees at work when they feel that all members of the organization exhibit altruism and interpersonal positivity; consider work as their supreme duty (duty orientation); are self-regulated and show concern not only for fellow workers but also for the entire humankind; and are mindful while performing their duty in the job.
This definition suggests that in a culture which is largely dominated by the Vedic and Buddhist spiritual traditions, workplace spirituality is viewed as a multi-faceted phenomenon having six distinct facets or dimensions, viz: altruism, interpersonal positivity, duty orientation, self-regulation, interconnectedness, and mindfulness. Altruism is an inner urge to serve others without any self-interest. Interpersonal positivity refers to the attitudes and behaviors such as being truthful, having friendly feelings and not harming others. Duty orientation, another dimension of workplace spirituality, is about dedicating oneself fully to his/her work with full dedication, honesty and with a higher sense of responsibility. Similarly, self-regulation is an individual’s ability to control and/or influence one’s thoughts, actions, and behaviors. Interconnectedness, on the other hand, refers to an individual’s feeling that all are connected with nature and the creation of nature and all are part of the same existence. Finally, mindfulness, yet another dimension of workplace spirituality, is about one’s awareness of the present without wandering in the past and future or any other distractions.
This definition as well as its facets is quite different from those found in the Western literature. For example, Ashmos and Duchon (2000) definition, one of the most cited definitions of workplace spirituality views it as “the recognition that employees have an Inner Life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community”. This definition characterizes workplace spirituality as a three faceted phenomenon and those three facets being the inner life, meaningful work and community.
Another major difference of the present definition of workplace spirituality is that unlike the Western definitions which conceptualize it as an individual’s own feelings and/or experience in the context of workplace, it suggests that it is the subjective experience of an individual based on the certain attitudes and behaviors demonstrated by his/her co-workers in the workplace.
These definitions and dimensions suggest that workplace spirituality is a culture specific phenomenon the root of which can be traced into the Vedic and the Buddhist philosophies.
References
- Ashmos, D., & Duchon, D. (2000). Spirituality at work: A conceptualization and measure. Journal of Management Inquiry, 9(2), 134-145.
- Sheldrake, P. (2013). Spirituality: A brief history. Sussex, UK: John Wiely
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