Workplace spirituality and its relevance to workplace flourishing

Abstract

Orientation: Workplace spirituality may previously have been just a new buzzword in the corporate world, but it has now become a topic of serious scientific inquiry, which cannot be ignored or disregarded. The reason for the increased attention given to workplace spirituality in recent years is the positive psychological working environment that it creates for employees. Research purpose: The research established whether workplace spirituality at the individual, work unit and organisational levels influence each other and whether individual spirituality influences workplace flourishing. Motivation for the study: The work and life domains in which employees need to function are not always conducive to their well-being. Therefore, it is necessary to consider to what degree work-related factors such as workplace spirituality influence employees’ flourishing, that is, holistic well-being, in the work context. Research approach/design and method: The study used a deductive approach, employing a correlational cross-sectional research design. Data collection involved a structured questionnaire, resulting in a final sample of 394 respondents. Main findings: The study’s main findings were that individual spirituality impacted emotional well-being. Also, organisational and work unit spirituality influences individual spirituality, and organisational spirituality influences work unit spirituality. Practical/managerial implications: Workplace spirituality should be considered to increase employees’ experience of work-related well-being, expressed as a sense of happiness and contentment and feeling satisfied at work. Furthermore, the spiritual development and growth of spiritual employees should be emphasised. Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to theory development and knowledge creation of the constructs of workplace spirituality and workplace flourishing.

Keywords

• workplace spirituality
• organisational spirituality
• individual spirituality
• work unit spirituality
• workplace flourishing
• emotional well-being
• psychological well-being
• social well-being