SPIRITUALITY IN ORGANIZATIONS

Spirituality in Organizations



Abstract

The academic literature on spirituality in organizations has evolved since the early 1990s. This study focuses and extends the academic literature on spirituality in organizations. Although spirituality has gained attention in organizational scholarship during the past decade, there has been little systematic development. Current literature on spirituality in organizations is characterized by divergent approaches to spirituality and a number off organizational foci. The present study, based on qualitative field research in a nursing home, advances understanding of spirituality in organizations by identifying three central characteristics of organizational spirituality: value alignment, personal spirituality, and relationship-based organizing. These central characteristics, supported by the field research and current literature on spirituality in organizations, lead to issues for further research.

Spirituality in Organizations

Introduction

Although the desire to experience and express spirituality in one's work appears to be on the increase, there are two difficulties encountered as soon as one tries to discuss spirituality. The first is the fear that spirituality is inextricably linked to organized religions so that a particular religious focus will try to be imposed. The second is the sense that spirituality is so personal that no one can define it in a way that makes sense for another.

Relationship Of Spirituality And Religion: Literature Review

Much of the research that served to define spirituality also explored the relationship between spirituality and religion. This research has been based primarily in the United States, although studies have also been conducted in Australia and New Zealand. The results of this research can generally be viewed on a continuum. On one end of the continuum are people who identify spirituality and religion as one and the same. At the other end of the continuum are people who see themselves as “individual seekers” involved in a highly personal journey, whose spirituality is not necessarily tied to religion. This personal journey might include practices such as prayer or meditation, activities that some would associate with religion. Research in the 1990s and into the twenty-first century suggests that Americans are moving more toward the latter end of the continuum. However, organized religion, personal spiritual searches, and what might be described as practices drawn from religion are intertwined for many people.

In A Generation of Seekers, Wade Roof described the many aspects of spiritual seeking, including career implications, particularly among the baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964.

The difference between religion and spirituality in the workplace is particularly important to Americans. In their research, Ian Mitroff and Elizabeth Denton found that employees in companies that they consider to be spiritual are more productive and less likely to leave. They also found that people wanted companies to honor spirituality and act in accord with the values of relationship and connection embodied in spirituality, but they did not want companies to be linked to particular religions. This observation supports the findings of other research that attempts to introduce spirituality into the workplace require a gentle touch that is imbued with both an understanding of and respect for diversity and ...