Workplace Spirituality: A Predictor of Employee ...

Asian J. Management; 8(2): April- June, 2017

ISSN

0976-495X (Print) 2321-5763 (Online)

www.anvpublication.org

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Workplace Spirituality: A Predictor of Employee Wellbeing Dr. Puja Khatri1, Pragya Gupta2* 1

Professor of Management, University School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sector - 16C Dwarka, Delhi - 110078, India 2 Research Scholar, University School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sector - 16C Dwarka, Delhi - 110078, India *Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The growing awareness of the role of spirituality in bringing about myriad of beneficial organizational outcomes is leading to a surge of interest in the topic in both in Corporates and academic world alike. On the other hand, wellness is witnessing substantial attention, especially regarding adoption of various intervention programs to facilitate healthy living. Interestingly, many wellness models include the dimension of spirituality at the core of their model (Myers, Sweeney and Witmer, 2000). This study attempts at examining the potential influence of workplace spirituality on the overall wellbeing of the respondents. A sample of 298 employees from IT, ITES and BFSI organizations based in Delhi NCR was empirically tested using a survey design to explore the relationship between workplace spirituality and employee wellness. Correlations and regressions were applied to the data and results indicate that workplace spirituality is indeed a significant predictor of employee wellbeing. The reasons for the data findings, its consequences and implications as well as directions for future research have been discussed.

KEY WORDS: Workplace spirituality, employee wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, spiritual wellbeing, social wellbeing, intellectual wellbeing.

INTRODUCTION: The onset of 21st century has elicited enhanced interest in spirituality in businesses and corporates across the world; which is witnessed by the various theoretical and methodological efforts taken by the organizational consultants (Barrett, 2003). Cacioppe (2000) believed that the modern world has been beleaguered by innumerable social, economic and environmental problems due to which the human race has been forced to renew their search for peace and harmony, in essence a spiritual journey.

Received on 31.01.2017 Modified on 20.03.2017 Accepted on 15.04.2017 © A&V Publications all right reserved Asian J. Management; 2017; 8(2):284-292. DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2017.00044.0

The soaring importance of workplace spirituality can be easily mapped by the launch of innumerable spirituality courses in management studies and social sciences; roaring sales of bestsellers like Spiritual Audit of Corporate America (Mitroff and Denton, 1999), Spirit at Work (Conger, 1994), Corporate America (Whyte, 1996); special issues of peer-reviewed journals like Journal of managerial psychology, journal of management enquiry, journal of organizational change management and journal of management, spirituality and religion. As a matter of fact a separate unit namely the Management Spirituality and Religious Interest Group (MSR Group)was formed to address the specific spiritual issues within the American Academy of Management in 1999 (Brown, 2003).

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It is clearly evident that there has been a continual flourishing scientific interest among the researchers to investigate the role of workplace spirituality on bringing about myriad of benefits in the organization. Spirituality at work is an idea that has come of its time, in fact it addresses a host of human activities related to personal development, compassion, meaning and purpose at work, joyfulness, honesty, commitment and general wellbeing of the employees (Petchswang and Duchon, 2012). Despite the growing acceptance of significance of workplace spirituality, there is still a dearth of studies as to application and effect of spirituality on the employees at workplace.

Widely known for their path-breaking study, Mitroff and Denton (1999) have viewed workplace spirituality as an attempt to explore one’s ultimate goal in life, to acknowledge the importance of developing strong ties with co-workers and also have an alignment with the values of the organization. Ashmos and Duchon (2000) have defined workplace spirituality as the acknowledgment that workforces have an inner life that promotes and is sustained by meaningful work done in the context of community. Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2004) carried out a qualitative study comprising of indepth interviews and written surveys on 14 professionals who were asked to reveal their individual experiences of spirit at work and presented their interpretation of the construct as the ‘spirit at work’ which focuses on LITERATURE REVIEW: A review of literature found that the HR professionals individual experiences at work. Further in their 2006 are increasingly becoming aware of the benefits of article, Kinjerski and Skrypnek provided the following fostering spirituality at workplace; further it also brought comprehensive definition: “Spirit at work is a distinct state up the various changing strategies by employers to deal that is characterised by cognitive, interpersonal, spiritual, and mystical dimensions. Spirit at work involves: (1) engaging with organizational needs for spirituality. work characterised by a profound feeling of well-being, a belief that one is engaged in meaningful work that has a higher Definition of Workplace Spirituality and its relevance purpose, an awareness of alignment between one’s values and to the workplace: beliefs and one’s work, and a sense of being authentic; (2) a Despite growing attention on workplace spirituality, the spiritual connection characterised by a sense of connection to scholars have not consented on a specific definition of something larger than self; (3) a sense of community spirituality. Garcia-Zamor (2003) reasoned that characterised by a feeling of connectedness to others and spirituality and religious beliefs are similar but not common purpose; and (4) a mystical or unitive experience identical and they may or may not coexist in an office characterised by a positive state of energy or vitality, a sense of setting; however it is important to appreciate that both perfection, transcendence, and experiences of joy and bliss” are distinct. Anderson (2000) suggested that religion is (Kinjerski and Skrypnek, 2006).

the path that some choose to nurture their spirit. Much of the literature on spirituality separated the concept of spirituality from that of religion (Piedmont, 2001). Spirituality is distinguished from institutionalized religion by being characterized as a private, inclusive, non-denominational, universal human feeling; rather than adherence to beliefs, rituals, or practices of a specific organized religion institution or tradition (Marques, Dhiman and King, 2007).

As a result of this work, rather than focus on workplace spirituality, Kinjerski and Skrypnek repositioned the construct into what they term “spirit at work”. This formulation is distinct workplace spirituality in that it focuses on the individual’s experience at work, in contrast to other investigators (e.g., Mitroff and Denton, 1999a, b; Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Milliman et al., 2003; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003), who have tended to focus on attitudinal aspects such as desires to Karakas (2010) discovered more than seventy definitions express. of spirituality at workplace following review of literature; it is fascinating to note that despite this there Definitions of spirituality in the workplace often include still is no broadly established definition of spirituality the link to an individuals’ and company’s values. This is (Markow and Klenke, 2005). Workplace spirituality evident in the definition of Mitroff and Denton (1999) considered to be an extremely subjective and that spirituality in the workplace involve an alignment of philosophical theory, most of the academic explanations one’ core values and the values their organization. concede that it comprises of a sense of entity, deep Milliman et al. (2003) also refer to Gibbons’ (2000) view connections at workplace and work values (Gibbons, of the concept as being connected to “deeper values”. 2000). Staude (2005) viewed spirituality as a The importance of the alignment between an employee’s transformational process which integrates the different beliefs, needs and values and the mission of the facets of life viz., physical, emotional, occupational, organisation was strongly emphasised as a determinant of a spiritual organisation. When employees perceive intellectual and rational. this alignment, they regard the organisation as a spiritual one. This is echoed by the spiritual value-based model of Anderson (1997). Thus, workplace spirituality seeks to provide employees with experiences of transcendence,

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meaning in work, and a sense of community in whereas wellness is more holistic, whole of life organizations (Fry, 2005; Pawar, 2009a). experience. Wellness goes beyond the fixed idea of health as an absence of illness, it implies a proactive Kolodinsky, Giacalone, and Jurkiewicz (2008) stance towards achieving optimal physical, mental, emphasized on three distinct conceptual understandings social and emotional wellbeing. Complete health is the of workplace spirituality, namely the individual, absence of physical and mental morbidity and the organizational (macro) and interactive levels. According presence or sufficient levels of physical and mental wellto them, workplace spirituality at the individual level can being. Incomplete health or un-wellness reflects either be viewed as the assimilation of personal spiritual ideas high levels of physical health and well-being but poor and values with the workplace values; while at macro mental health (high morbidity or low well-being) or high level it refers to an organization’s work culture and levels of mental health and well-being but poor physical environment. Organisational spirituality reflects an health (high morbidity or low well-being): and individual's perception of the spiritual values in an completely unhealthy status (high physical and mental organisational setting (Parboteeah and Cullen, 2003). morbidity and low physical and mental well-being) The third conceptualisation of workplace spirituality is (Keyes, 2002). The authors intend to use the word an interactive one wherein workplace spirituality is seen interchangeably owing to the usage of the term in the as the interaction and integration of an individual's literature likewise. personal spiritual values and the organisation's spiritual Diener et al. (2002) reported that the first studies were values. carried out in the early 1900s. Earlier scholars studying The present study adopts the definition of spirituality as subjective well-being define it broadly as experiencing given by (Kinjerski and Skrypnek, 2006) as it "pleasant emotions, low levels of negative moods, and specifically addresses the spiritual dimension of work high life satisfaction" (Diener, et al., 2002). Several and more clearly describes the nature of the individual measures of well-being have been developed, including experience of spirit at work (i-SAW). In addition, we scales that assess satisfaction with life (Diener et al., have also included organizational spirituality defined as 1985), spiritual well-being (Paloutzian and Ellison, an employees’ perceived relationship with their 1982) and positive well-being (Hess, Kelloway, and organization with respect to the extent of his alignment Francis, 2005). Depken (1994) stated the definition of wellness is an all-encompassing concept including with organization’s goals and values. dimensions like physical, psychological/emotional, However, we have also attempted to include social, intellectual and spiritual. organizational spirituality as defined by the extent to which an employee perceives of having an aligned The perceived wellness model by Adams et al. (1997) relationship with their organization by considering how incorporates vertical and horizontal directions; well their own goals and values are akin to their oscillating between illness and wellness poles vertically organization. This is in sync with the definition of and balance seeking forces horizontally. This model spirituality at workplace given by Guillory (2000) who identified six dimensions of wellness namely – Physical, described it as the amalgamation of humanistic Social, Psychological, Intellectual, Emotional and principles, practices and behaviours with business Spiritual. Perceived wellness, a multidimensional performance. This was also echoed by Gibbons (1999) construct is defined as the sense that one is living in a as he defined spirit at work as the “journey toward manner that permits the experience of consistent as well integration of work and spirituality, for individuals and as balanced growth in the physical, social, emotional, organizations, which provides direction, wholeness and occupational, intellectual and spiritual dimension of human existence. connectedness at work”. Dr. Bill Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Workplace Spirituality and Employee wellness: institute (NWI) proposed the interdependent model of Before describing the possible relationships of total wellness commonly referred to as the Six workplace spirituality with employee wellbeing, it is Dimensions of Wellness. Hettler (1980) was crucial to explain the concept of employee wellness. instrumental in introducing the dimension of occupational wellness and argued that wellness is a Employee Wellness: process of becoming aware of it and actively make In the literature, the terms well-being and wellness have optimum lifestyle choices. Renger et al. (2000) defined been used interchangeably but there is a distinctive wellness as consisting of physical, emotional, social, difference as suggested by online dictionaries. Well- intellectual, spiritual dimensions and additionally being is a good or satisfactory condition of existence, a included environmental wellness to recognize the state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity, significant bearing of one’s surroundings, a concept also

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discussed by other scholars. Employee wellness as defined as a fit and healthy workforce is an invaluable organizational resource and greatly affects employee productivity (Pawar, 2016) and has other wide-ranging consequences, benefiting both the employees and the organizations (Harter et al., 2003). Zheng et al. (2015) further emphasised that employees’ wellbeing is crucial to the survival and development of organizations at large. The same thought was echoed by Luthans et al. (2013) who noted that the ever growing concern for building sustainable organizations worldwide have led to enhanced focus on the issue of employee wellness. We can summarise the discussion by proclaiming employee wellbeing as the overall goodness or quality of employees’ experiences at work. The next segment of the article will dig out the possible linkages of workplace spirituality with that of employee wellbeing. It is a daunting exercise as not much empirical evidence has been found between workplace spirituality and its relationship with employee wellness. During the 1990s, a significant amount of quantitative research was initiated to explore possible linkages between religion/spirituality and health (Koenig, George and Peterson as cited in Larson and Larson, 2003). Larson and Larson (2003) stated that studies have demonstrated improved health behaviours, such as smoking cessation, diminished alcohol consumption and increased physical activity and more extensive social relationships when associated with religious and spiritual practices. Koenig and Larson (2001) suggested that beliefs centering on, for example, compassion and caring can foster optimistic worldviews and well-being. More recently, studies have shown positive linkages between spirituality and lower levels of psychological distress (Laubmeier, Zakowski, and Bair, 2004), higher quality of health life and psychological well-being (Dalmida, 2006), and improved sleep quality and health status (Phillips, Mock, Bopp, Dudgeon, and Hand, 2006). With such potential benefits, it is perhaps not surprising that Lund Dean and Fornaciari (2007) found, through a survey of the management, spirituality and religion literature, that 17% of empirical studies done by researchers from the domain between 1996 and 2005 were in the health care field. Myers, Sweeney and Wittmer (2005) defined wellness as being “a way of life oriented toward optimal health and well-being in which the body, mind and spirit are integrated by the individual to live more fully within the human and natural community.”

As discussed above, strong positive linkages between religion/spirituality and health have already been established, the researchers continue to find support for these relationships. McKee (2008) presented her findings that “transformational leadership at post-test will have an indirect positive effect, mediated through workplace spirituality, on employees' [a] emotional well-being [b] healthy behaviour, [c] physiological well-being and [d] spiritual well-being”. The last decade has seen a vast progress in the area of spirituality. Practitioners in the helping profession have produced models of spirituality which have been helpful in comprehending spirituality as a potential resource for well-being. Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2004) found that the participants in their study displayed expressions of spirit at work manifested by the presence of positive affect as demonstrated by affective wellbeing and joy. Interestingly, Kolodinsky et al. (2008) hypothesised a negative relationship between organizational spirituality and employees’ experiences of organizational frustration, thereby suggesting a negative relationship between workplace spirituality and negative affective outcomes. de Klerk (2005) too linked the lack of meaning and purpose in life with negative affective outcomes like depression and anxiety. This suggests a strong association of workplace spirituality with psychological and emotional wellbeing of the employees at workplace. de klerk (2005) believed that it is important to understand the construct of spirituality in organization (as represented by role of meaning at workplace) and its potential relationships with work related constructs. Further, he asserted that the relationship between spirituality and wellness is not only theoretically conceptualised but its existence has also been scientifically proven. He then went on to clearly associate spirituality as an essential element of wellness, a way of life oriented towards optimal health and wellbeing in which body, mind and spirit are integrated to live a bountiful life. Sheep (2006) has articulated that workplace spirituality has a strong relevance to the wellbeing of individual employees, organizations and societies and has the potential to significantly improve the employees’ quality of life. Spirit at work is about finding meaning and fulfilment through work; in fact it is looked upon as a belief that if an individual is engaged in meaningful work and has a sense of connection with others and a common purpose, having a connection with something larger and beyond oneself, then it can lead to an experience of profound bliss (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Kinjerski and Skrypnek, 2004, 2006; Mitroff and Denton, 1999). Research is beginning to establish a relationship between spirit at work, employee wellbeing, and organizational performance.

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The recent trend in including spiritual wellness as a part of human well-being pitched another challenge in the field of spirituality: defining spiritual wellness or spiritual well-being. Spiritual wellness is the maturation process “of our higher consciousness developed through the integration of the following three facets viz., relationship with oneself and others 2) strong personal value system, and 3) meaningful purpose in one’s life.” (Kass and Kass, 2000). Ellison and Smith (1991) define spiritual well-being as having two components: existential and religious. Existential well-being includes the individual's sense of purpose in life and life satisfaction, which is a horizontal concept. Religious well-being, includes the individual's belief in God or a spiritual being, which is a vertical concept. During the course of review of scientific research on spirituality, Ratnakar (2012) concluded that there is paucity of empirical studies for assessment of spirituality and its relationship with wellness. Additionally, most of these studies have been conducted in the western settings. Nonetheless, there is great need of conducting scientific research in the eastern cultural settings, especially using instruments that are both culture-free and also free from religious biasness. The purpose of this study is to examine the linkage of workplace spirituality to employee wellness including six aspects of wellbeing viz., physical, social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and occupational wellbeing as defined by Six Dimensional Wellness Model by Bill Hettler (1976). The ensuing aim is to use a relevant organizational theory with practical implications to create a positive workplace environment; provide specific learnings for HR professionals and corporate administrators to implement practices that may lead to growth in employee development, increased performance on the job, lower attrition, employee retention as these are in turn related to the organizational strategies and goal achievement. Before proceeding further, it is important to briefly describe the various forms of employee wellbeing. Initially, wellness was first attributed and studied from the physical perspective of health and was generally considered to include physical activity, nutrition, and self-care (Cooper, 1977). Physical wellness is primarily aimed at cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, and strength (Hettler, 1988). Problems in physical wellness included, physical injuries and disabilities, and sexually transmitted diseases. Emotional wellness is conceptualized as cognizance and control of feelings, as well as a realistic, affirmative, self-valuing and developmental view of the self, ability to deal with conflict and life circumstances, coping with stress and the maintenance of fulfilling relationships with others (Adams et al., 1997). Helliwell (2005) considered

emotional wellness as a continual process that included an awareness and management of feelings, and a positive view of self, the world, and relationships. Social wellness encompasses the need for getting along with others and being comfortable and willing to express one’s feelings, needs, and opinions; supportive, fulfilling relationships (including sexual relations), and intimacy; and the interaction with the social environment and the contribution to one’s community are included in the definition of social wellness (Renger et al., 2000). The more individuals have a strong social network both within family and friends and out in the community or at work, the better their health. According to Hales (2005) intellectual wellness represents a commitment to lifelong learning, an effort to share knowledge with others, and developing skills and abilities to achieve a more satisfying life. Adams et al. (1997) believe that the perception of being energized by an optimum dose of intellectually stimulating activity involving critical reasoning is also important. Hettler (1980) and others (Adams et al., 1997; Renger et al., 2000) defined spiritual wellness as the process of seeking meaning and purpose in existence. Spiritual wellness is found within shared community and there is a continual process of finding meaning and purpose in life, while contemplating and coming to terms with one’s place in the complex and interrelated universe. This dimension is linked to the creation of a positive attitude about personal and professional development. Hettler (1980) defined occupational wellness as the level of satisfaction and enrichment gained by one’s work and the extent one’s occupation allows for the expression of one’s values. Achieving a balance between occupational responsibilities and other commitments is indicative of the level occupational wellness. It is important to note that as per literature wellness of an individual in the workplace has bearings on his wellness in the overall life context (Gavin and Mason, 2004).

RESEARCH QUESTION: The study aims to answer the following research question:  To examine the linkage of spirituality at workplace with enhanced employee wellbeing. HYPOTHESES: Based on the above research question and literature review, the study attempts to test the following hypothesis: H1: There exists a significant and positive relationship between Spirituality at Workplace and physical wellbeing of the employee H2: There exists a significant and positive relationship between Spirituality at Workplace and Social wellbeing of the employee

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H3: There exists a significant and positive relationship between Spirituality at Workplace and emotional wellbeing of the employee H4: There exists a significant and positive relationship between Spirituality at Workplace and spiritual wellbeing of the employee H5: There exists a significant and positive relationship between Spirituality at Workplace and intellectual wellbeing of the employee H6: There exists a significant and positive relationship between Spirituality at Workplace and occupational wellbeing of the employee

RESEARCH METHOD: A comprehensive questionnaire survey was designed for collection of data. The first section of the questionnaire consisted of demographic variables, including age, gender, education level, sector, belief in spirituality, etc. The second section of the questionnaire included the following standardized instruments:  Individual Spirituality at Work (I-SAW) by Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2006) scale measuring the four components of spirituality at work – Engaging Work (EW), Mystical Experience (ME), Spiritual Connection (SpC) and Sense of Community (SoC). The items displayed a good internal consistency level (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.907)  The organizational spirituality was measured by using Alignment of organizational values scale (adapted from Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Milliman et al., 2003) which depicts the match between workers’ spiritual values and the spiritual values exuded by the organization. This scale also demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.922)  Six Dimensional Wellness Model by Bill Hettler (1976) measuring the six components of employee wellbeing – Physical wellbeing, Social Wellbeing, Emotional Wellbeing, Spiritual Wellbeing,

Intellectual Wellbeing and Occupational Wellbeing. This measure also showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.856) The questions were rated on Likert scale of five points ranging from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest level of response (strongly agree) and 1 being the lowest (strongly disagree). The sampling in this study was proportionate stratified random sampling wherein two organizations each from IT, ITES and Banking sectors were shortlisted based on select parameters. The list of level-wise employees was taken from the HR department of each of these six organizations and a final list of names of 80 was prepared from the initial list based on random sample number generator, ensuring to include each hierarchical level in proportion to the size of that level. A web-based survey was prepared and an online link was shared with all the chosen set of employees. After a month of launching the web-survey, we received 298 usable responses out of 480 solicited. Responses where more than 50% of the data was missing were not included for the purpose of data analysis.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS: Prior to administering the questionnaire, a short description of the concept of workplace spirituality was provided to the respondents for their understanding. In addition, the respondents were assured of the anonymity of the survey being conducted and their prior consent was taken. To test the proposed objective, Pearson’ product moment correlation was administered; the correlations between and reliability levels for all study variables are presented in Table I.

Table I: Descriptive Statistics, reliability and correlations of workplace spirituality and employee wellbeing Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Individual 3.66 0.56 (0.907) Spirituality 2. Organizational 3.43 0.76 0.604** (0.922) Spirituality 3. Workplace 3.57 0.56 0.924** 0.863** (0.927) Spirituality (overall) 4. Emotional 3.59 0.58 0.231** 0.195** 0.240** (0.649) Wellbeing 5. Social 3.80 0.53 0.197** 0.169** 0.206** 0.423** (0.666) Wellbeing 6. Physical 3.62 0.59 0.170** 0.165** 0.187** 0.388** 0.329** (0.68) Wellbeing 7. Spiritual 3.62 0.61 0.361** 0.282** 0.364** 0.643** 0.479** 0.417** (0.71) Wellbeing 8. Intellectual 3.61 0.45 0.424** 0.334** 0.429** 0.526** 0.394** 0.289** 0.594** Wellbeing 9. Occupational 3.86 0.56 0.613** 0.564** 0.66** 0.361** 0.239** 0.335** 0.408** Wellbeing Notes: Cronbach’s α reliability coefficients for scales are in parentheses on the diagonal of the table. *p