Workplace Spirituality: Sustainable Work Experience from a Human Factors Perspective
by
, and
Ricardo Luiz Fernandes Bella
1,*
,
Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas
1,
Fernando Toledo Ferraz
1 and
Marlene Jesus Soares Bezerra
2 1
Department of Production Engineering, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói 24210–240, Brazil
2
Department of Management Systems LATEC, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói 24210-240, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2018, 10(6), 1887; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061887
Submission received: 5 April 2018
/
Revised: 31 May 2018
/
Accepted: 1 June 2018
/
Published: 5 June 2018
(This article belongs to the Section Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability)
Abstract
:It is important to note that spiritual matter here is not about a religious, but a human centered view based on self-awareness, life purpose and community engagement. These three aspects of spirituality are the predominant perspective in the literature of organizational changes. These organizational changes are defining new paradigms for work relationships and impacting work environments. Some of these new paradigms are related to work motivation and job satisfaction, which are highly connected to organizational sustainability. Therefore, we choose to investigate workplace spirituality in order to move towards sustainability. In fact, there are already some reviews about workplace spirituality, and the most cited one organizes the topic in three dimensions: first, the inner life dimension that remains in self-centered matters such as identity and values; second, the sense of purpose dimension that refers to work significance perception; and lastly, the sense of community dimension that remains in connection and engagement. Okay, if we already have reviews about that, what is the point? In this review, we choose the predominant perspective on workplace spirituality to turn theoretical discussions into manageable human factors that are expressed by relationship needs at three levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional. With this new organization of the theme, we expect to support managers to perform actions focused on the type of relationship that is desired to be strengthened. From the review, we identify a total of twelve human factors organized by these three relationship levels, each one with four human factors. The main contribution of this study is a systematic review of workplace spirituality based on a human factor perspective.
1. Introduction
The technological evolution of work is being marked by a new wave of innovation and modernization in industry [1,2]. The changes observed in productive systems have solved several problems; however, they have opened space to debate new issues, such as job satisfaction and work life quality due mostly to a stressful workday focused on productivity [3,4].
From the worker point of view, maintaining productivity requires a self-motivation effort that goes beyond financial rewards [5,6]. In order to support employees in this motivational task, organizations are making efforts with different approaches [7,8]. One of these approaches has been discussed in the organizational changes literature as workplace spirituality, which was defined as “the recognition that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work than takes place in the context of community” [9,10].
This review aimed to support these organizational efforts for sustainable operations by turning the recent theoretical discussion on workplace spirituality into manageable human factors expressed by relationship needs at three levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional.
2. Materials and Methods
The research was marked by two major steps: first was the generation of spiritual human factors by a systematic literature review; after that, a theoretical model was proposed based on analyses of these human factors. The review strategy used was primarily generating a starting nucleus composed of an initial set of articles obtained from successive refinements on the Scopus database. We start from over twenty thousand publications about spirituality in general to two hundred potential articles for review. The first filter used was to limit results to “article or review” and the “business or economies” knowledge areas. At the end of this iteration, there were 842 articles. The second filter limited results to articles that have the words “workplace” and “job satisfaction” in some part of the article. With this iteration, we reached 115 articles. Finally, a third filter was used in order to retrieve some articles that have “workplace” and “job satisfaction” in their text, but were not classified in the “business or economies” areas. With this iteration, another 87 new articles were added. Thus, the starting nucleus was composed of 202 articles from the conjunction of these two samples (i.e., 115 + 87). This process is illustrated in Figure 1.
The starting nucleus allowed the generation of the spiritual human factors. This generation process started from a selection of the most relevant articles to be reviewed. The selection was conducted by a title and abstract reading that elected 34 articles to be fully read. The criteria to select these 34 articles were full text free access and correlation to the research scope judge by the adherence of the article with the sample. These 34 articles were analyzed by coding techniques commonly applied to qualitative studies to transform texts, discourses or situations into useful data [11]. Fragments of these selected articles were highlighted, coded, categorized, grouped and decoded. All these steps are illustrated in Figure 2.
The criteria to identify text fragments that could be coded were previously parameterized by definitions or conclusions about spirituality. For decoding, the parameter used was the perspective of human necessity. The following coding methods were used:
- Holistic coding (attribute a code that conveys the central idea of a larger fragment): This was used first to extract the plurality of expressions of spiritual human factors;
- Descriptive coding (a noun that conveys the central idea of the highlighted text was alighted): This was used second to categorize the spiritual human factors. The categories used were based on the dimensions of spirituality proposed by Ashmos and Duchon [10]. Thirdly, this coding technique was used to group the spiritual human factors by similarity and then translate them into just one resulting factor that expressed the central idea of the grouped spiritual human factors.
3. Results
Workplace spirituality may refer to an individual’s attempts to live his/her own values more fully in the workplace or an organizational effort to support spiritual growth of their employees [12]. The literature had approached this topic through three dimensions: first, inner life or spiritual identity; second, sense of purpose or meaningful work; and third, sense of community or connection. In Table 1, the “X” marks the presence of these dimensions in previous works.
Even with the increase of contributed evidence, organizational efforts are still focused on a short locus of action based on leadership, culture and politics approaches [32]. As we are going to see in the results, we can conduct some alternative actions oriented toward specific factors to experience a linkage to ourselves, others and our environment. Despite this holistic view, it is naturally more common to find literature studies that focus on restricted aspects of workplace spirituality such as performance, commitment, well-being, self-esteem, turnover, decision making, and so on [33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40].
The Twelve Spiritual Human Factors
The first step in the spiritual human factors’ generation process is presented in Table 2. In this table, all the human factors that could be extracted from the reviewed articles were registered based on textual fragments. In each fragment, a bold clipping is marked to represent the codification system. The highlighted words unfold into the spiritual human factors. Each highlighted section corresponds to one factor linked to the holistic coding by a numerical listing.
The second step of the spiritual human factors’ generation process refers to the categorization of these factors according to spiritual dimensions proposed by Ashmos and Duchon [10]. In Table 3, the spiritual human factors are presented according to their Table 2 listing number and grouped into categories by their affinity to workplace spiritual dimensions. In this table, we can see a balance in the total of factors in each category.
The results of the third and last step of the review process are presented in Table 4. At this stage, the spiritual human factors were grouped according to their similarity and decoded in a resulting factor. At the end of this process, twelve spiritual factors were generated. For each spiritual dimension, four human factors were generated. In Table 4, the highlighted number between grouped factors represents the dominant factor that has more influence on factor description.
4. Discussion
The result analyses come up with a pattern in the way that spiritual human factors can be organized. This pattern reveals that inside each spiritual dimension, the factors can be presented by the same structure based on three relationship levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional. The intrapersonal level represents a characteristic of internal orientation about the spiritual dimension, while the interpersonal level an external orientation and the institutional level an organizational orientation. This pattern is illustrated in Figure 3, where different circles represent the arrangement of spiritual factors based on these three relationship levels. In the center of this schema, the factor that expresses the main necessity related to the spiritual dimension is presented.
Based on this pattern, we analyzed the three spiritual dimensions: inner life, purpose and community. The dimension of inner life is comprised of a necessity to organize existential issues such as values, self-image and belonging. The attendance to this need leads to a state of serenity generated by harmonization of these existential questions. In Figure 4a, the spiritual factors in this dimension can be observed. The inner life factor refers to zeal for internal and personal issues, for example feelings, beliefs and values. Themes such as contemplation, humanity, nature, essence, existence, truth and self-knowledge are articulated to express this spiritual need. The values factor refers to personal guidelines for behaviors. This spiritual need represents a demand of alignment between organizational and personal values. The identity factor refers to self-awareness in its entirety. This spiritual need represents a demand for understanding your self-image. The belonging factor refers to capacity for empathy, that is to establish emotional connections. This spiritual need represents a demand for self-positioning to external issues.
The dimension of purpose comprises a necessity to recognize meaning in daily actions. The attendance to this need leads to a state of serenity generated by finding justification and motivation for daily actions. In Figure 4b, the spiritual factors in this dimension can be observed. The purpose factor refer to your daily commitment with a legacy that integrates with all areas of your life. Themes such as future, quality, challenge, evolution, engagement, relevance and legacy are articulated to express this spiritual need. This spiritual need represents a demand for targeting daily actions towards a greater goal. The meaning factor refers to recognition of your contribution to others with the application of your best individual skills. This spiritual need represents a demand for usefulness and relevance at work recognition. The cohesion factor refers to a parallel evolution of professional and personal skills experienced at work. This spiritual need represents a demand for self-development and integration. The coherence factor refers to alignment between tasks’ difficulty level and skills. This spiritual need represents a demand for equilibrated challenges and tasks’ accomplishment.
The dimension of community is comprised of a necessity for reciprocity and respect for individuality. The attendance to this need leads to a state of serenity generated by sharing and acceptance of authenticity. In Figure 4c, the spiritual factors in this dimension can be observed. The community factor refers to respect for each individual’s basic beliefs and values. Themes such as communication, autonomy, respect, gentleness, attention, support and personality are articulated to express this spiritual need. This need represents a demand for the acceptance of your identity. The connection factor refers to empathy development through attention to personal issues in work relationships. This spiritual need represents a demand for maintaining integrity including your vulnerabilities. The climate factor refers to autonomy, communication and cooperation in professional relationships. This spiritual need represents a demand for lightness in work human interactions. The environment factor refers to freedom to express your personality in an integral way. This spiritual need represents a demand for expressing your individuality and authenticity.
It is important to note that this review adds a new framework to the existent literature of spirituality at work. If the researcher wants to access the major theoretical developments in this area, researchers can read great reviews such as Benefiel et al. [68] that explore the history and future research agenda for the domain definitions, constructs, frameworks and models.
5. Conclusions
This literature review shows that workplace spirituality considers three dimensions: inner life, sense of purpose and sense of community. The main contribution of this review was the generation of workplace spiritual human factors from the previous literature. The inner life dimension brings four human factors: identity, values, belonging and inner life. The purpose dimension brings another four factors: meaning, cohesion, coherence and purpose. The community dimension brings the last four factors: connection, climate, environment and community.
This perspective brings a practical approach to the issue by proposing that by meeting these spiritual needs, satisfaction and work life quality can be improved. The usage of this model can also contribute to individuals and organizations in the matter of understanding that their spiritual health needs attention, as well as their body and mind. Besides that, the model expresses a pattern in the organization of spiritual human factors. This pattern was interpreted in the model by relationship levels that refer to different manifestations of spiritual needs. These relationship levels were defined as intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional. The intrapersonal level represents spirituality manifestation in a relationship with you, while the interpersonal level represents relationships with other people, and the institutional level represents relationships with organizations.
The main application of this finding was on workplace design or work design with the aim of achieving more sustainable relationships at work. For example, the spiritual human factors’ knowledge can be used in strategic planning to increase empathy in the process. The spiritual aspect on organizational changes can also support efforts to make work and its environment a better daily experience. At the team level, the attention to spiritual factors can add self-awareness, motivation and engagement. Finally, spirituality in the workplace is therefore about fostering opportunities for personal growth, opportunities to contribute significantly to society, as well as being more attentive to colleagues, bosses, subordinates and clients. It is about meeting your needs for inner life, purpose, and community, which means a more sustainable way to live, work and grow.
Author Contributions
R.L.F.B. and O.L.G.Q. designed the research. R.L.F.B. performed the review. R.L.F.B., F.T.F. and M.J.S.B. performed the analysis and discussions. R.L.F.B. wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgments
Department of Production Engineering at Fluminense Federal University (UFF); Department of Management Systems at UFF; and the Coordination of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Figure 1.
The starting nucleus for review; source: Scopus (accessed in November 2017).
Figure 2.
The spiritual human factors’ generation; source: [11].
Figure 2.
The spiritual human factors’ generation; source: [11].
Figure 3.
Spiritual human factors’ arrangement pattern; source: analyses.
Figure 4.
The twelve spiritual human factors by dimension: (a) Spiritual factors of Inner life dimension; (b) Spiritual Factors of purpose dimension; (c) Spiritual factors of community dimension; source: Table 2.
Figure 4.
The twelve spiritual human factors by dimension: (a) Spiritual factors of Inner life dimension; (b) Spiritual Factors of purpose dimension; (c) Spiritual factors of community dimension; source: Table 2.
Table 1.
Workplace spiritual dimensions.
| Reference | Inner Life | Purpose | Community |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashmos and Duchon [10] | X | X | X |
| Burack [13] | X | ||
| Fry [14] | X | X | |
| Giacalone and Jurkiewicz [15] | X | X | |
| Graber [16] | X | ||
| Guillory [17] | X | X | |
| Gupta, Kumar and Singh [18] | X | X | X |
| Karakas [19] | X | X | X |
| Kinjerski and Skrypnek [20] | X | X | X |
| Kurth [21] | X | X | X |
| Marques, Dhiman and King [22] | X | X | X |
| Milliman et al. [23] | X | X | |
| Mirvis [24] | X | X | |
| Mitroff and Denton [25] | X | X | |
| Naylor et al. [26] | X | ||
| Neal [27] | X | X | X |
| Neck and Milliman [28] | X | X | |
| Turner [29] | X | ||
| Pawar [30] | X | X | X |
| Petchsawang and Duchon [31] | X | X |
Source: [32].
Table 2.
Spiritual human factors’ generation.
| Reference | Text Fragment | Holistic Code |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmad and Omar [41] |
|
|
| Albuquerque et al. [42] |
|
|
| Altaf and Awan [6] |
|
|
| Azad and Niknafs [43] |
|
|
| Baran et al. [44] |
|
|
| Chawla and Guda [34] |
|
|
| Cunha et al. [45] |
|
|
| Daniel [46] |
|
|
| De Klerk J.J. [47] |
|
|
| Doram et al. [48] |
|
|
| Duchon and Plowman [49] |
|
|
| Ghazzawi et al. [50] |
|
|
| Hayashi [51] |
|
|
| Houghton et al. [32] |
|
|
| Jurkiewicz and Giacalone [52] |
|
|
| Kessler [53] |
|
|
| Kinjerski and Skrypnek [54] |
|
|
| Kolodins et al. [55] |
|
|
| Kumar and Kumar [7] |
|
|
| Kutcher et al. [56] |
|
|
| Lazar [57] |
|
|
| Marques [58] |
|
|
| Marschke et al. [59] |
|
|
| McCormick [60] |
|
|
| McGuire [61] |
|
|
| Noor and Arif [4] |
|
|
| Pryal and Ramkumar [62] |
|
|
| Ramnarain and Parumasur [63] |
|
|
| Rego et al. [64] |
|
|
| Sani et al. [65] |
|
|
| Thakur and Singh [9] |
|
|
| Van Der Walt and De Klerk [12] |
|
|
| Van Der Waltand and De Klerk [66] |
|
|
| Word [67] |
|
|
Source: references in the table.
Table 3.
Categorization of spiritual dimensions by affinity.
| Inner Life Dimension | Purpose Dimension | Community Dimension |
|---|---|---|
| 5; 10; 12; 13; 15; 18; 19; 21; 22; 23; 24; 27; 28; 30; 32; 36; 37; 40; 52 | 2; 3; 4; 8; 9; 17; 20; 25; 26; 38; 39; 41; 42; 43; 44; 53 | 1; 6; 7; 11; 14; 16; 29; 31; 33; 34;35;45;46;47; 48; 49; 50; 51; 54 |
| Total of 19 Factors | Total of 16 Factors | Total of 19 Factors |
Source: Table 2.
Table 4.
Grouping spiritual human factors by similarity.
| Dimension | Spiritual Factor | Description | Grouped Factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner Life | Identity | Experience an integral self-awareness (i.e., physical, emotional, spiritual and social) | 5; 19; 22 |
| Belonging | Experience belonging and connection with you, others and the universe | 10; 12; 21; 37 | |
| Values | Experience the employment, by you and your colleagues, of your values at work | 13; 28; 30; 36 | |
| Inner Life | Experience zeal for internal issues (e.g., feelings, beliefs and values) | 15; 18; 23; 24; 27; 32; 40; 52 | |
| Purpose | Coherence | Experience the level of tasks appropriate for personal skills | 9; 25; 43; 44 |
| Cohesion | Experience challenges with gradual evolution | 8; 17; 38; 41 | |
| Purpose | Experience daily engagement with a legacy that integrates with your life | 2; 3; 4; 20 | |
| Meaning | Experience alignment of your vocation and sources of job satisfaction (i.e., apply talents and qualities at work) | 26; 39; 42; 53 | |
| Community | Climate | Experience a mild organizational climate (i.e., promoting autonomy, communication and cooperation) | 6; 49; 50; 54 |
| Community | Experience respect for basic beliefs and values | 1; 31; 34; 35; 47 | |
| Connection | Experience personality in work relationships (i.e., high quality relationships) | 7; 11; 14; 45; 48 | |
| Environment | Experience an organizational environment open to expression of personality in an integral way | 16; 29; 33; 46; 51 |
Source: Table 2.
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Fernandes Bella, R.L.; Gonçalves Quelhas, O.L.; Toledo Ferraz, F.; Soares Bezerra, M.J. Workplace Spirituality: Sustainable Work Experience from a Human Factors Perspective. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1887. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061887
AMA Style
Fernandes Bella RL, Gonçalves Quelhas OL, Toledo Ferraz F, Soares Bezerra MJ. Workplace Spirituality: Sustainable Work Experience from a Human Factors Perspective. Sustainability. 2018; 10(6):1887. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061887
Chicago/Turabian StyleFernandes Bella, Ricardo Luiz, Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas, Fernando Toledo Ferraz, and Marlene Jesus Soares Bezerra. 2018. "Workplace Spirituality: Sustainable Work Experience from a Human Factors Perspective" Sustainability 10, no. 6: 1887. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061887
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