How the Research Into Workplace Spirituality and Employee

How the Research Into Workplace Spirituality and Employee Well-being Can Benefit the Workplace and Organization

Workplace spirituality and employee well-being are two key aspects of organizations that have increasingly piqued the interest of academicians, human resource practitioners and the organizations’ managers and top leadership. This is due to the impact that they have on the employees and organizations, as well as their emergence as possible solutions to the various issues currently facing human resources and the organizations at large. Whereas workplace has been identified as influencing organizational performance and its ability to overcome the various challenges it faces by impacting on and/or contributing to employee well-being, employee well-being is also on its own of vital importance to the performance of employees and organizations, among other benefits. It is for this reason that research is increasingly being conducted with regard to investigating workplace spirituality and employee well-being and the benefits they have to the employees and organizations, particularly with regard to employee commitment, job satisfaction, employee performance, work-life balance satisfaction, and overall organizational performance. The focus of this essay, therefore, is to explore the ways in which the continuous research into workplace spirituality and employee wellbeing can benefit the workplace (employees) and the organization.

Workplace Spirituality

In the present business environment whereby structural and technological changes, and increased optimization that results in layoffs and workforce downsizing that result in employees experiencing demotivation and low self-esteem (Driver, 2005, cited in Garg, 2017), workplace spirituality has emergent as among the major remedies (Garg, 2017). Therefore, the current dynamic and challenging business environment is one area of research into workplace spirituality that can benefit the workplace and organization. One of the benefits the workplace and organization could draw from workplace spirituality is increased productivity and performance. According to Daniel (2010) and Krishnakumar and Neck (2002) (cited in Garg, 2017), workplace significantly positively impacts on individual employees and organizational teams, which increases their performance. This assertion is supported by Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2013) (cited in Garg, 2017), who identified a positive association between workplace spirituality and organizational productivity.

Promotion of employee well-being is one of the aspects of research into workplace that can benefit employees and the organization. This is due to the existence of a correlation between workplace spirituality and employee well-being. Garg (2017, p.5) posits that:

“Workplace spirituality has been endorsed as a tool to enhance employees’ well-being at workplace.”

Workplace spirituality also contributes to employee well-being by positively impacting on the employees’ individual level outcomes, including job commitment, job satisfaction and increased joy. Therefore, by resulting in employee well-being through its positive impacts on the afore-mentioned individual employee level outcomes, workplace spirituality also benefits job performance. Various researchers, such as Milliman et al. (2003) have also “confirmed an affirmative association between workplace spirituality and employee commitment to the organization, intrinsic work satisfaction and job involvement” (Garg, 2017, p. 6). Organizations that incorporate spirituality and permit free expression of spirituality at the workplace make employees feel authentic and complete while at the workplace, which in turn contributes to improving their welfare (well-being) and also contributes to their commitment to the organization through the establishment of “a climate of trust in the workplace” (Burrack, 1999 (cited in Garg, 2017, p.6)).

The workplace and organization could also benefit from research into workplace spirituality by way of its influence on employee job performance. According to various scholars (such as Altaf and Anwan, 2011; Bodia and Ali, 2012; Chwala and Guda, 2010), workplace spirituality positively impacts on employee job satisfaction, while others (Chand and Koul, 2012) suggest the possible effect of workplace spirituality on employee attitudes- whereby spirituality enhances employees’ ability to manage workplace stress and makes them more hopeful and to experience more meaning at work (Garg, 2017, p.2). Workplace spirituality, by enabling employees to derive more meaning at work, contributes to them performing more ethically, responsibly, creatively and collaboratively. Additionally, workplace spirituality results in empowerment, innovation, increased sense of vision and purpose, and enhance team working. Combined, these factors enable employees to be more productive and thereby improve their job performance, which is a benefit to both the employees and the organization.

Employee Well-being

Improved employee well-being enhances the individual employee’s working as well as personal life, which consequently presents an increased possibility of benefiting the employee and the organization in a range of ways. For example, improved employee well-being at the workplace results in enhanced self-esteem, reduced stress levels, improved morale and job satisfaction levels and improved health. Employee well-being, on the other hand, benefits the organization reputationally, financially and with regard to its smooth operation. Among the benefits that accrue to organizations as a result of employee well-being include: the achievement of a positive image, increased staff morale, reduced employee absenteeism, reduced employee turnover and increased productivity (Hodgins, Fleming and Griffiths, 2016, p.19).

The other key area of employee well-being that is of importance to employees and organizations regards mental and physical health problems and the impacts and costs they result in among both employees and employers. It is estimated the various health problems account for a significant portion of all the years of life that is lost annually, which results in a range of impacts and costs among individuals and organizations. Mental health problems give rise to direct economic costs due to their behavioral, physical and/or other consequences. For instance, mental health problems impact on an employee’s ability to effectively perform their duties, thereby affecting their productivity and income. Health problems also result in economic costs due to their effect on the family members or caregivers of the ill employees to work. Health problems also result in economic costs to organizations due to issues such as presenteeism (impaired work efficiency), absenteeism and loss of productivity, with various studies estimating that presenteeism costs organizations as much four or five times compared to absenteeism (Lelliott et al., 2008, p.3). Organizations also incur turnover costs due to the need to replace employees who leave their jobs as a result of health problems. As a result, the promotion and maintenance of employee well-being is a vital aspect that organizations must critically take into account in order to minimize the likelihood of their employees suffering health problems, failure to which it risks incurring some or even all of the above health problem-related economic costs that accompany the various health problems.

An understanding of the significance of well-being among employees and the factors that promote employee well-being can also benefit the organization. Employees, like all other humans, have a range of common needs that enable them survive and thrive (Hughes, 2020, p.10). With this understanding, organizations will be able to ensure their growth and performance, since facilitating employees to meet their needs in a balance manner makes them thrive and therefore perform better. However, employees who are unable to meet their needs in balance experience stress, distress, anxiety, low mood or other challenges which impede their optimal performance. Therefore, understanding employee needs, for example through the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or Human Givens theory, will enable them to facilitate employees to meet their needs in balance and/or identify and eliminate barriers that prevent them from meeting their needs in balance, thereby improving their well-being and allowing them to thrive and flourish (Hughes, 2020, pp. 11-13). Employees with an enhanced well-being are also are also able to better learn and develop new skills, thus improving their performance.

Work as a contributor to employee well-being is another vital area of research into well-being that that can benefit the workplace and the organization. Whereas approximately 1/7 of the days lost as a result of a range of mental health problems, and work has been identified as a stressor among some employees in certain instances, recent review of existing studies demonstrate that “work is beneficial to health and well-being” (Lelliott et al., 2008, p.16). As a result, employed individuals visit their GPs less often compared to their unemployed counterparts. The positive effects of work on employee well-being, which apply similarly to employees with mental health problems and those without, should be critically explored by organizations so as to enhance the nature and quality of the work they offer so as to ensure that they contribute to employee well-being. Failure to ensure the adequacy of essential factors such as the social context, nature and quality of work offered by organizations would result in the non-achievement of the benefits of work on employee well-being. Therefore, organizations should adopt and implement the various strategies that enhance the impact of work on the employee’s well-being, including monetary rewards, economic productivity and material benefits to the employees (Lelliott et al., 2008, p.17). In combination, these factors contribute to work playing a key role in employees’ lives- by giving them “social identity and status, social contacts and support, a means of structuring and occupying time, activity and involvement, and a sense of personal achievement” (Warr, 1987, cited in Lelliott et al., 2008, p.17)- thereby enhancing their well-being.

Conclusion

Workplace spirituality and employee well-being are two key organizational aspects that significantly benefit not only the employees, but also the organization through their impacts on employee job satisfaction, job commitment and work-life balance satisfaction. These factors, in combination, positively contribute to improved employee performance, which in turn lead to increased overall organizational performance. Therefore, organizations should draw on existing research into these aspects so as to incorporate spirituality in the workplace and endeavor to enhance their employees’ well-being in order to attain their various benefits relating to effectiveness, productivity and performance.

References

Garg, N., 2017. Workplace spirituality and employee well-being: An empirical exploration. Journal of Human Values, 23(2), pp.129-147.

Hughes, G., 2020. Be Well, Learn Well: Improve Your Wellbeing and Academic Performance. Bloomsbury Publishing. [Kortext custom pages 1-61]

Hodgins, M., Flemming, P. and Griffiths, J. 2016. Promoting health and well-being in the workplace. [Kortext custom pages 1-56]

Lelliott, P., Boardman, J., Harvey, S., Henderson, M., Knapp, M. and Tulloch, S., 2008. Mental health and work.