Meaning of spirituality at workplace and its role in positive organizational

behavior

Prof. Saswata N BiswasInstitute of Rural Management, Anand

Gujarat, IndiaEmail: saswata@irma.ac.in

Plan of Presentation

Spirituality and behaviour in organizationsMeaning of spiritualityResearch questionsStudy 1

MethodResults

Study IIMethodResults

Concluding Remarks

Spirituality and Behaviour in Organizations

Spirituality has been found to be related to several organizational outcomes..

commitment (Rego and De Cunha, 2008), transformational leadership (Hartsfield, 2003), intrinsic work motivation (Biswas and Biswas 2007), connectedness with the workplace (Marques, 2005) management processes and leadership practices (Gotsis and Kortezi 2008)Value to the bottom line of the organization (Eve 2009)

Meaning of Spirituality

The term spirituality - origin in the Latin word "spiritus“

means vapor, breath, or air (that which keeps us alive)

Spirituality = “adhyatma” in SanskritAdhyatma = Adhyan (to study) + Atman (self)In western literature there are two traditions (Carrol 2001)

Relating to religionSearch for meaningIt has having different connotations for different communities (Cawley, 1997)

Study 1

What is the meaning of spirituality as constructed by the present generation of University Students in India?Stage 1: Exploratory item generationAsking 60 students in post-graduate psychology class (MA I & II) in MS University of Baroda to complete five sentences each starting with “For spirituality means…”Content AnalysisDevelopment of a 48 item questionnaire

Study 1: Method

Sample: 150 Post-graduate and Undergraduate students (mean age 21.84 yrs.; SD = 2.14) from various departments and religious groups were administered a 48-item questionnaire and were asked to rate each item on a Likert type 5-point scale ranging from 5 (Completely Agree) to 1 (Completely Disagree)

Distribution of Students

Under Grad27%

Post Grad73%

Distribution of sample by gender

Female68%

Male32%

SAMPLE BY RELIGION

Hindu54%

OTHERS1%

Muslim19%

Buddhist9%

Christian17%

Sample Items

Spirituality means…knowing one's own selfmeditation.abstaining from abusive speech.leading an ethical life.being pleasant and gentle to others.respecting other human beings as own's own self.being useful to others

ResultsItem deletion based on Median Values, repetitive, ambiguityFactor analysis with 26 items using varimax rotation resulted eight factors. The first six factors were meaningful explaining 62.25% variance Factor 1Self-AwarenessFactor 2EmpathyFactor 3Karmic JoyFactor 4 Belief in GodFactor 5 Self-regulationFactor 6 Altruism

STUDY 2Exploring the relationship between dimensions Spirituality (Self-Awareness, Empathy, Karmic Joy, Belief in God, Self-regulation, Altruism) with Subjective Well Being (SWB) and Generalized Self-Efficacy (GSE)Sample: 303 employees of Banking, IT, and BPOs (Mean age 31.54 yrs.)Measures

Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer, et al., 1997)Subjective Well Being (13 items from Hills & Argyle (2002) The Oxford Happiness QuestionnaireSix dimensions of Spirituality as independent Variables

Distribution of Sample accross gender

MALE64%

FEMALE36%

Distribution of Sample by Organization

BANKING 33%

IT30%

BPOs37%

Distribution of Sample by Education

POST_GRADUATE

25%

Graduate29%

HIGHER DEGREE

25%

PROFESSIONAL

DEGREE21%

Distribution of sample by palce of work

HYDERABAD25%

MUMBAI20%

PUNE19%

AHMEDABAD17%

BARODA19%

Variables Beta t Sig.Age 0.050 1.334 0.183Education -0.002 -0.054 0.957SELF-AWARENESS 0.080 1.257 0.210EMAPTHY 0.001 0.023 0.982KARMIC JOY 0.481 7.721 0.000BELIEF IN GOD 0.015 0.242 0.809SELF REGULATION 0.181 2.953 0.003ALTRUISM 0.143 2.670 0.008R 0.791**

R Square 0.626

Results of Regression Analysis with Generalized Self-efficacy as dependent variable (n = 303)

Variables Beta t Sig.Age -0.010 -0.25 0.805Education 0.046 1.164 0.245SELF-AWARENESS -0.029 -0.41 0.684EMAPTHY 0.103 1.519 0.130KARMIC JOY 0.400 5.795 0.000BELIEF IN GOD 0.075 1.093 0.275SELF REGULATION 0.220 3.245 0.001ALTRUISM 0.075 1.255 0.210R 0.736**R Square 0.542

Results of Regression Analysis with Subjective Well Being as dependent variable (n = 303)

Discussion: Spirituality as a guide in meaning making process

A possible explanation for the findings of this study is perhaps that spirituality provides a meaning and purpose to the lives of people. Spirituality provides us meaning in existence by helping us to connect ourselves with something much higher, much bigger than our own selves, which is only a very tiny part of the whole cosmos. When life throws up challenges for our existence search for meaning becomes a major concern, those who find meaning or their existential questions adapt more.

Discussion: Spirituality as a guide to purposeful behaviour

Victor Frankl, a noted psychiatrist and a holocaust survivor in his book “Man’s Search for meaning” mentions; “What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment." (Frankl, 1963:.171). Given the uncertainties created by the changes in the macro environment, particularly for IT, Finance, and BPO organizations, the challenges are such for managers that they try to actively look for a purpose, spirituality in this context seem to be helping in finding a meaningful purpose to act.

Discussion: The empirical linkage

We had conceptualized spirituality as a kind of positive emotion that serves as a thread connecting the non-rational dimensions of human behavior; therefore we sought to establish its link with SWB and GSE Our investigation empirically demonstrates relationship between Spirituality SWB, GSEOne major achievement is focusing on the multidimensionality of the construct of spirituality

Implications

It is important to note that the ‘New Age Spirituality’, a term recently coined, is in fact a part of Indian spiritual tradition (e.g., Buddhism, Jainism, Vedanta). The study holds implications for managers, it is important for leaders in business to motivate people in a sustained manner.Spirituality will increase both SWB and make people more self-efficacious.