ijcrb.webs.com INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS JUNE 2013 VOL 5, NO 2

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1 Effect of Spirituality in workplace on Job Performance MalikehBeheshtifar Management Department, Rafsanjan Branch, Islamic AZAD University, Iran Elham Zare Management Department, Rafsanjan Branch, Islamic AZAD University, Iran Abstract Scholars report a steady increase of interest in spirituality at work issues among management researchers and practitioners. Although the concept of spirituality in the workplace has increasingly gained popularity in the past few years nevertheless, this literature review recognizes that the term spirituality means different things to many people. Spirituality defines as expressing our desires to find meaning and purpose in our lives and is a process of living out one s set of deeply held personal values. Workplace spirituality involves the effort to find one s ultimate purpose in life, to develop a strong connection to coworkers and other people associated with work, and to have consistency or alignment between one s core beliefs and values of their organization. The spirituality at work field by integrating three different perspectives on how spirituality enables or leads to organizational performance: Human resources perspective: Spirituality enhances employee well-being and quality of life; Philosophical perspective: Spirituality provides employees a sense of purpose and meaning at work; Interpersonal perspective: Spirituality provides employees a sense of interconnectedness and community. Indeed, it has been suggested that organizations that encourage spirituality experiences improved their organizational performance and profitability. Keywords: spirituality, spirituality in workplace, performance Introduction A number of scholars mention a paradigm shift in organizational sciences, management theory and practice in the past two decades (Giacalone and Dafna, 2000) These changes in management include a shift from an economic focus to a balance of profits, quality of life, spirituality, and social responsibility concerns (Walsh, et al., 2003). The term spirituality has its roots in 17 th century France, where it described a form of contemplation favored by the quietist movement. By the 19th century, it had become associated with mysticism and piety (Wright, 2004). The term spirituality comes from the Latin word spiritus or spiritualis that means breathing, breath, air or wind (Merriam- Webster). Spiritus is defined as an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms (Merriam-Webster). This implies spirit is the life force that inhabits us when we are alive and breathing (Garcia-Zamor, 2003). Gibbons (2000) discusses spirituality in the context of deeply held values. Over the last decade, scholars report a steady increase of interest in spirituality at work issues among management researchers and practitioners (Cavanagh, 1999). Spirituality, spiritual practices, and spiritual values, have been noticeably absent as variables in organizational research, yet they may be among the most powerful variables related to personal, team, and organizational effectiveness (Heermann, 1997). Although the literature and interest on spirituality at work is growing rapidly; there is confusion around how spirituality influences organizational performance. There are more than seventy definitions of spirituality at work, and still, there is no widely accepted definition of spirituality (Markow and Klenke, 2005). Laabs (1995) points out that defining spirituality in the workplace is like capturing an angel - it's ethereal and beautiful, but perplexing (p.63). Although the concept of spirituality in the workplace has increasingly gained popularity in the past few years nevertheless, this literature review recognizes that the term spirituality COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 248

2 means different things to many people. Dr. Judy Neal, founder and president of the Association for Spirit at Work, found that managers often confuse spirituality with religion (Brandt, 1996). There is growing evidence in spirituality research that workplace spirituality programs result in positive individual level outcomes for employees such as increased joy, serenity, job satisfaction and commitment (Reave, 2005). Research performed by University of Southern California s Marshall Graduate School of Business Professor Ian Mitroff (Mitroff, 1999) indicates that organizations which identify themselves as spiritual have employees who: 1) are less fearful of their organizations; 2) are less likely to compromise their basic beliefs and values in the workplace; 3) perceive their organizations as being significantly more profitable; and, 4) report that they can bring significantly more of their complete selves to work, especially their creativity and intelligence. Many studies have indicated that what gives individuals the most meaning and purpose in their job is the ability to realize their full potential as a person (McCoy, 2001). Spirituality in workplace Wagner-Marsh and Conley (1999) suggested that there has been an organizational fourth wave, referring to an aftermath of Toffler s (1980) technological third wave and they called this the spiritually based firm (p.292). The terms spiritual and spirituality relate to the spirit, the unseen makeup of humans (Garrett, 2004). Bruce (2000) surveyed members of the American Society for Public Administration regarding their views about spirituality in the workplace and found that 70% of members defined themselves as spiritual, nearly 60% of respondents felt that their career choice, that of public service, was a spiritual calling, 56% did not believe it was appropriate to talk about spirituality in the workplace. Neck and Milliman (1994, p. 9) define spirituality as expressing our desires to find meaning and purpose in our lives and is a process of living out one s set of deeply held personal values. Therefore, spirituality is generally viewed as some internal substance, a value, belief, attitude, or emotion, that affects people s behavior (Moore & Casper, 2006, p ). Also, Neck and Milliman (1994) defined spirituality in business organizations and suggested how it can affect employee and organizational performance. They discussed how a new leadership theory, thought self-leadership, can assist employees in influencing or leading themselves towards experiencing more spirituality in their work. They argued that spirituality involves an individual's search to fulfill their potential for greater meaning and life purpose in their work, alongside a strong sense of community and need to contribute to the betterment of society. The goal of spirituality is typically to reach a highly evolved personal state or attainment of one's highest potential, which in turn can lead to greater employee creativity, motivation, and organizational commitment. The components of spirituality appear to have some link to the debate as to whether spirituality and religion are related. For example, MacDonald (2000) found five dimensions of spirituality: 1) beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions; 2) transcendental experiences; 3) sense of meaning for existence; 4)belief in the paranormal; and 5) religious behavior and practice. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 249

3 On the other hand, Burack (1999) defined workplace spirituality by using three concepts of spirituality in the workplace as his working definition: Spiritual growth and advancement of the human experience involve mental growth problem solving and individual learning will often be the main vehicles of individual development. Spiritual growth reflects the gratification of individual needs especially belonging and those of higher order such as a sense of achievement. The individual s context for these is broad encompassing work-family connections and work-place settings. Spirituality in the workplace is communicated and reinforced through the institution s leaders, organizational culture, policies and work design among other factors. Sensitivity to interest in the person (employee) must be common to all approaches (p. 281). Also, workplace spirituality has been defined as a framework of organizational values evidenced in the culture that promote employees experience of transcendence through the work process, facilitating their sense of being connected to others in a way that provides feelings of completeness and joy' (Giacalone & Jurkiewicz, 2004, p.129). Spirituality in the workplace is about people who perceive themselves as spirited beings, whose spirits desire and need to be energized through work. It is about experiencing real purpose and meaning at work beyond paychecks and performance reviews. Spirituality is about people sharing and experiencing some common attachment, attraction, and togetherness with each other within their work unit and the organization as a whole (Harrington, 2004). Workplace spirituality involves the effort to find one s ultimate purpose in life, to develop a strong connection to coworkers and other people associated with work, and to have consistency or alignment between one s core beliefs and values of their organization (Mitroff and Denton, 1999). Dimensions of Workplace Spirituality Kinjerski & Skrypnek s (2006) conceptualization of individual spirituality at work has three of the four dimensions as follows: engaging work (meaningful work), sense of community, and spiritual connection (inner life). Another model suggested the following dimensions: 1. Team Sense of Community This item involves having a deep connection to or relationship with others which has been articulated as a sense of community. This dimension occurs at the group level of human behaviors and concerns interactions between employees and co-workers. 1. Alignment Between Organizational and Individuals Values It includes items representing the congruence between the organizational values and the inner life of individuals. Also this descriptor may seem semantically different from the others, it is likely that it means that people feel more aligned/ comfortable when they feel like working in organizations whose leaders seek the social good of the community and not just the selfish interest s of the organization and or/of shareholders. Alignment means that individuals believe that managers and employees in their organization have appropriate values, have a strong conscience and are concerned about the welfare of its employees and community. 2. Sense of Contribution to the Community This aggregates items meaning that work done by the individual is congruent with his/ her personal life values and is helpful for the community. It is similar to the meaningful work dimension proposed by Milliman et al and Ashmos and Duchon. 3. Sense of Enjoyment at Work It comprises items related to the sense of joy and pleasure at work. It is a sub-dimension of the larger dimension identified by Milliman et al and Ashmos and Duchon as meaningful work. It represents a different way to achieve meaning at work. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 250

4 4. Opportunities for Inner Life Vail refers to inner life it as the feeling individuals have about the fundamental meaning of who they are, what they are doing and the contributions they are making. This includes descriptors concerning the way the organization respects the spirituality and spiritual values of the individuals. It represents the absence/presence of the blocks to spirituality identified by Ashmos and Duchon. 5. Sense of God Supervision In Islamic thought, god is supervising all our manners and deeds both large and tiny ones, thus and no one can be hidden from his sight and supervision. There is a belief that god even dominates on human s thought, as Qoran commands: God is aware of treachery in people s eyes and hidden ideas in their hearts. Hence, preventing God 's punishments and rendering accounts in resurrection day, the real Muslim tries not to do illegal and wrong actions. Unlike non Islamic societies, this is point for Islamic managers that employers and people know god present and supervisor on their actions (Khanifar, 2010) Spirituality in workplace and Job Performance The anti-materialist characteristic of spirituality may pose important challenges in the scientific investigation of its links to financial performance (Fornaciari and Lund Dean, 2001). Some researchers supporting this position point out to the fact that there may indeed be ethical pitfalls and moral concerns in the research question of whether enabling or incorporating spirituality at work results in better organizational performance or profitability (Dent, et al., 2005). Milliman (1994) claim spirituality values have positive effects on both personal well-being and job performance. So, Harrington et al. (2001) suggested that the more congruent employees' values and spiritual aspirations are with the organization, the greater the possibility that employees will find true meaning at work. Spirituality and its components must be understood with greater precision to allow businesses to adopt policies and programs that energize the spiritual nature of their employees. Karakas (2009) reviewed about 140 articles on workplace spirituality and introduced: (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. Fry and Matherly (2006) identified spiritual internalized general regulative ideal, based on four common aspects of spirituality: self-transcendence, interconnectedness, meaning and one's ultimate concern, that governs what individuals perceive and value and how they act. These moral values practiced over time become virtues. Spiritually virtuous individuals contribute significant benefits to organizations. Harrington et al. (2001) suggested that the more congruent employees' values and spiritual aspirations are with the organization, the greater the possibility that employees will find true meaning at work. Spirituality and its components must be understood with greater precision to allow businesses to adopt policies and programs that energize the spiritual nature of their employees. Fry and Matherly (2006) identified spiritual leadership theory (SLT) as a causal theory for organizational transformation designed to create an intrinsically motivated, learning organization. They argued that employee commitment may be a universal performance dimension in all strategic scorecards and its generalizability along with the proposition that spiritual leadership is a major driver should be investigated in future research. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 251

5 The spirituality at work field by integrating three different perspectives on how spirituality enables or leads to organizational performance: a) Human resources perspective: Spirituality enhances employee well-being and quality of life; b) Philosophical perspective: Spirituality provides employees a sense of purpose and meaning at work; c) Interpersonal perspective: Spirituality provides employees a sense of inter-connectedness and community. Additional research reveals that organizations that have voluntary spirituality programs have had higher profits and success (Dehler and Welsh, 1994 Conclusion Some scholars argue that spirituality can be used to improve organizational performance (Garcia-Zamor, 2003). Spirituality is an essential part of an individual s holistic health and well-being. Here are five key concepts based upon research conducted by Martsolf and Mickley (1998): Meaning- significance of life; making sense of situation; deriving purpose. Values- beliefs, standards and ethics that are cherished. Transcendence- experience, awareness, and appreciation of a transcendent dimension to life beyond self. Connecting- increased awareness of a connection with self, others, God/Spirit/Divine, and nature. Becoming- an unfolding of life that demands reflection and experience; includes a sense of who is and how one knows. (p. 2) Research suggests that the encouragement of spirituality in the workplace can lead to benefits in the areas of creativity, process improvement, customer service, honesty and trust, personal fulfillments, and commitment, which will ultimately lead to increased organizational performance (Krishnakumaret al., 2002). Indeed, it has been suggested that organizations that encourage spirituality experiences improved their organizational performance and profitability. Employees and managers increasingly need to reflect on the ways of incorporating spirituality in workplace as a factor to promote job performance. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 252

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