Supporting Spirituality In the Workplace

Workplace Spirituality or Spirituality in the Workplace is a movement that began in the early 1990s. It emerged as a grassroots movement with individuals seeking to live their faith and/or spiritual values in the workplace.

The movement began primarily as U.S. centric but has become much more international in recent years. Key organizations include:

- International Center for Spirit at Work (ICSW)[1]
- European Baha'i Business Forum (EBBF)[2]
- World Business Academy (WBA)[3]
- Spiritual Business Network (SBN)[4]

Key factors that have led to this trend include:

1. Mergers and acquisitions destroyed the psychological contract that workers had a job for life. This led some people to search for more of a sense of inner security rather than looking for external security from a corporation.

2. Baby Boomers hitting middle age resulting in a large demographic part of the population asking meaningful questions about life and purpose.

3. The millennium created an opportunity for people all over the world to reflect on where the human race has come from, where it is headed in the future, and what role business plays in the future of the human race.

In the late 1990s, the Academy of Management formed a special interest group called the Management, Spirituality and Religion Interest Group. This is a professional association of management professors from all over the world who are teaching and doing research on spirituality and religion in the workplace. This action by the Academy of Management was a significant step in legitimizing workplace spirituality and spirituality in the workplace as a new field of study.

"The Selection Committee offers the following broad interpretation of spirituality and spirituality in the workplace as a starting point for consideration, with the recognition that each individual may have his/her own personal definitions.”

• The innate human attribute in spirituality. All people bring this as an integral part of themselves to the workplace. Spirituality is a state or experience that can provide individuals with direction or meaning, or provide feelings of understanding, support, inner wholeness or connectedness. Connectedness can be to themselves, other people, nature, the universe, a god, or some other supernatural power.

• The “vertical” component in spirituality – a desire to transcend the individual ego or personality self. The name you put on the vertical component might be God, Spirit, Universe, Higher Power or something else. There are a great many names for this vertical dimension. This dimension is experienced as a conscious sense of profound connection to the Universe/God/Spirit. This might be experienced internally as moments of awe or peak experiences. A strong, sustained vertical component reflects in outer behaviors as a person (or group) who is centered and able to tap into deep inner strength and wisdom. Generally quiet time, time in nature, or other reflective activities or practices are required to access the “vertical” component of our spirituality. Examples of the vertical component of spirituality might be meditation rooms, time for shared reflection, silence before meetings, ecumenical prayer, and support for employees to take time off for spiritual development.

• The “horizontal” component in spirituality – a desire to be of service to other humans and the planet. In the horizontal we seek to make a difference through our actions. This dimension is manifested externally. A person with a strong “vertical connection” who is also able to demonstrate the “horizontal dimension” has a clear grasp on his/her mission, ethics, values. A strong “horizontal” component is demonstrated by a service orientation, compassion, and well-aligned vision/mission and values that are carried out in Productive effective services and products.

Spirituality in the workplace is

- that employees find nourishment for both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of their spirituality at work.

- about individuals and organizations seeing work as a spiritual path, as an opportunity to grow and to contribute to society in a meaningful way.

- about care, compassion and support of others

- about integrity and people being true to themselves and others.

- that individuals and organizations attempting to live their values more fully in the work they do.

Examples of vertical organizational spirituality include:

- meditation time at the beginning of meetings,
- retreat or spiritual training time set aside for employees
- appropriate accommodation of employee
- prayer practices, and
- openly asking questions to test if company actions are aligned with higher meaning and purpose.

Companies with a strong sense of the horizontal will generally demonstrate some or all of the following:

- caring behaviors among co-workers
- a social responsibility orientation
- strong service commitments to customers
- environmental sensitivity, and
- a significant volume of community service activities

“The vertical and horizontal dimensions should be well integrated – so that motivations (sourced from the vertical) and actions (horizontal manifestations) are explicitly linked.”

“We will be honoring organizations that are financially sound, sustainable, and effective, as well as focused on greater meaning and purpose. We believe that when done properly, Spirit at Work enhances the overall value of the organization.”

The phrase “explicitly nurture spirituality” means that the topic of spirituality is openly discussed - not just assumed or implied. In the past some groups have called their initiatives Team Building or Leadership… yet what they really wanted was to create a more spiritual work environment. The drive to make a difference in the world for them was a spiritual hunger. Now they are willing to discuss this openly.(From the 2008 International Spirit at Work Award Application, p. 2).

Spirituality is shown in a workplace when the following activities are included:

• Bereavement programs.
• Wellness information displayed and distributed.
• Employee Assistance Programs.
• Programs that integrate work/family.
• Management systems that encourage personal and spiritual transformation.
• Servant leadership – the desire to serve others first in preference to self.
• Stewardship – leadership practices that support growth and well-being of others.
• Diversity programs that create inclusive cultures.
• Integration of core values and core business decisions and practices.
• Leadership practices that support the growth and development of all employees.

There are four very important things to learn about communication which will be of help to achieve the desired output.

1. You have to be sincerely open and listen to the other person if you are to reach an understanding of what they see and why they see the world the way they do – the foundation of seeking the third alternatives.

2. Those things you experience before being presented with new information color the way you look at that information. If one second of conditioning can split a room in two, imagine what a lifetime of conditioning can do? What about in your family? How do you interpret things? People may be looking at the same exact facts, but the meaning of those facts is interpreted through prior personal experiences. People create meaning and act on the basis of how they perceive the world. Remember, we dot see the world as it is; we see the world as we are. Perceptions are set long before efforts to synergize. Therefore, the most significant work to be done involves communication that leads to mutual understanding.

3. There isn’t just one way to interpret something. The challenge lies in creating a shared vision that accurately and honestly considers all the differing viewpoints, while still remaining true to the original vision. Who is right when challenges are interpreted differently by different people? Who is right when you and your spouse disagree? Who is right when you and your kids disagree? If you’re into positional power, you’ll make sure there’s only one right answer. The more you invest your ego into your perception, the more rigid your mind becomes and the more frozen your responses are.

4. Most communication breakdowns are a product of semantics – how people define words. Empathy almost instantly eliminates semantics problems. Why? Because when you really listen for understanding, you see words as symbols of meaning. The key thing is understanding meaning, not fighting over symbol.

The Indian Talking Stick

The Talking Stick is a tool used in many Native American Traditions when a council is called. It allows all council members to present their Sacred Point of View. The Talking Stick is passed from person to person as they speak and only the person holding the stick is allowed to talk during that time period. The Answering Feather is also held by the person speaking unless the speaker address a question to another council member. At that time, the Answering Feather is passed to the person asked to answer the query. Every member of the meeting must listen closely to the words being spoken, so when their turn comes, they do not repeat unneeded information or ask impertinent questions. Indian children are taught to listen from age three forward; they are also taught to respect another's viewpoint. This is not to say that they may not disagree, but rather they are bound by their personal honor to allow everyone their Sacred Point of View.

Communication plays a vital role in bringing to the attention of the people the important things that needs to be given priority. Spirituality in the workplace is something that management should focus to elevate the level of connected by their employees in order to produce outputs beneficial to both the employee and the company.