Spirituality in the Workplace Design

An Overview of Spirituality in the Workplace

I. Spirituality

1. Over last 40 years

a. Panoply of possibilities on how to understand
b. In 60s not even in vocabulary
c. 70s-80s work associated with every element of life: family,
friendship, marriage, men, women, art, music
i. Looking for the depth or religious (re-ligare to bind/tie
anew) dimension to experience, touch, sustain...
2. Past literature, such as Christian literature, especially ascetical/mystical
tradition, often described the psychological experience and concrete
practices to be in touch with God these became basis and norm
a. Individual: Desert, Spanish mystics
b. Community: Benedictine/monastic
c. Service: Franciscan/Dominican (contemplare et contemplata allis
tradere)
d. Apostolic/Active: Ignatian (contemplativus in actione)
3. Eastern religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, many centering practices
to ground oneself and view life from holistic, unifying way and to be in touch
with the life truth/force/energy
4. 2011 Google: 153,000,000 hits
5. Issues
a. Personal/social
b. Spirituality/religion
c. Secular/sacred
d. Needs
i. Human
ii. Spiritual/religious
iii. Inner/outer
6. Core elements:
a. Uncovering the operative images of ones ultimate concern, the
convictions that ground and guide ones life
i. Vision (convictions, beliefs, images how one notices ultimate
importance or how the Sacred is working)
b. Living out in oneself a way of living consistent with those convictions,
and
i. Lifestyle (a way of being and acting based on fundamental
beliefs)
c. Discovering anew and reflecting on the importance/validity of
(noticing, reflecting on, gaining new insights into) these fundamental
convictions
i. Experience (the context out of which we operate, how life talks
back to us, how we undergo life in the midst of our choices, and
how we reflect on what is happening to us in the midst of our
living) In the midst of all that I am doing what is God doing
to/in/through me?

Page 1
II. Writings on Workplace Spirituality or Spirituality at Work

Workplace Spirituality (Google 170,000 in 2004, 400,000 in 2010, 11,000,000 in

2011)

Spirituality at Work (Google 98,000,000 in 2011)

Writings on corporate America and spirituality

1. Inner Excellence: Spiritual Principles of Life-driven Business, Carol Osborn

(1992)
2. Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday
Life, Thomas Moore (1992)
3. Who We Could Be At Work, Margaret Lulic, (1994)
4. The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate
America, David Whyte (1994)
5. A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at Spirituality, Religion,
and Values in the Workplace (J-B Warren Bennis Series), Ian Mitrof and
Elizabeth A. Denton (1999)
6. 12 Step Wisdom: Transforming Your Life and Your Organization, Hazelden
Foundation, edited by John Hammond, III (2001)
7. Spirituality at Work: 10 Ways to Balance Your Life On-the-Job, Gregory F.A.
Pierce (2001)
8. A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science
and Spirituality, Ken Wilber, (2001)
9. The State of Faith: God in the Workplace: Spirituality in America's Executive
Suites, Gary Lawrence (Author) Rebecca Lunna (Editor) (2002)
10.The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to Spirituality in the Workplace, C. Diane Ealy
(2002)
11.Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership, Douglas A.
Hicks (2003)
12.Working With Spirit: Engaging the Spirituality to Meet the Challenges of the
Workplace, Lucy Reid and Fred Evers (2004)
13.Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Performance, Robert
Surtman Giacalone (2004)
14.Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations, Margaret Benefiel
(2005)
15.God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement, David
W. Miller (2006)
16.Workplace Spirituality: A Complete Guide for Business Leaders, Nancy R.
Smith (2006)
17.Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and
Postmodern World, Ken Wilber (2007)
18.Spirituality in the Workplace: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Make It
Work for You, Dr. Joan Marques, Dr. Satinder Dhiman, Dr. Richard King
(2007)

Page 2
19.Spirituality in Business: Theory, Practice, and Future Directions, Jerry
Biberman and Len Tischler (2008)
20.The Soul of a Leader: Finding Your Path to Success and Fulfillment,
Margaret Benefiel (2008)
21.Spirituality, Inc.: Religion in the American Workplace, Lake Lambert (2009)
22.The Workplace and Spirituality: New Perspectives on Research and Practice,
Edited by Joan Marques, Richard King, Satinder Dhiman (2009)
23.Spirituality and Business: Exploring Possibilities for a New Management
Paradigm, Sharda S. Nandram (Editor), Margot Esther Borden
(Editor), H.H. Sri Ravi Shankar (Foreword) (2009)
24.Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Performance,
Second Edition, Robert A. Giacalone and Carole L. Jurkiewicz (2010)

Page 3
III. Fundamental Workplace Spirituality Components

1. Work environments can:

a. Contribute to a disconnect of personal/work settings
b. Afect professional restlessness
c. Add Stress factors
d. Potentially not align with fit to personal passion
e. Challenge the balance of function/eficiency with the poetry of work
f. Lead to personal/organizational balance issues
2. Spiritual Issues
a. Depth: attentiveness to the extraordinary ordinariness of what we do
b. Wholeness: (source of loyalty, meaning, quality)
c. Integrity: am I my real self at work
d. Spiritual/moral grounded-ness
3. Work experience and fundamental human issues:
a. Meaning and Purpose
b. Motivation (passion)
c. Belonging (loyalty)
d. Success (satisfaction)
4. Sample of Goals for Spirituality in the Workplace
a. Improve Interpersonal Relationships
b. Cultivate Talent, Purpose, and Passion
c. Foster Morality and Building Trust
d. Balance Spiritual Wellness with High Performance
5. Six efects/components of a model for Workplace Spirituality (Ken Rhodes,
Graziadio School of Business and Management/Pepperdine University)
http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/six-components-of-a-model-for-workplace-
spirituality/
a. Emphasizes Sustainability
i. contribute to a greater good, reviewing efects on individual,
society, environment
b. Values Contribution
i. make the world a better place, service to employees,
customers, community
c. Prizes Creativity
i. All possess creative capabilities, needed to navigate changing
times
d. Cultivates Inclusion
i. Core source for community, working together for common
vision
ii. sense that the concepts of love and acceptance within a
cultural context of care builds a sense of community that
supports the work of the company and that has a direct impact
on the bottom line.
e. Develops Principles
i. Ethical principles, promoting personal growth, long-term
character development, and personal connections of faith and
work development
ii. Help employees in integrating personal growth, learning, and
faith with job performance benefits the organization.
f. Promotes Vocation

Page 4
 i. Shared ownership of corporate values by every member of the
organization
ii. helping employees develop a sense of calling or
identification of passion about their lives and their work
6. Spirituality in the Workplace
a. Vision: a way of thinking about self, work, and the organization
within one works
b. Lifestyle: a way of living, and practices assumed to live out that
vision
c. Experience: noticing and reflecting on the way our work environment
talks back to us

Page 5
 7. Sample Health Care Definitions of Spirituality

Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to

o the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and
o the way they experience their connectedness
to the moment,
to self,
to others,
to nature, and
to the significant or sacred.
(Journal of Palliative Medicine, Volume 12, Number 10, 2009, Mary Ann
Liebert, Inc., Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care as a Dimension of
Palliative Care: The Report of the Consensus Conference.)

Spirituality is recognized as a factor that contributes to health in many

persons. The concept of spirituality is found in all cultures and societies.
It is expressed
o in an individual's search for ultimate meaning
o through participation in religion and/or belief in God, family,
naturalism, rationalism, humanism, and the arts.
All of these factors can influence how patients and health care
professionals perceive health and illness and how they interact with one
another (AAMC)

Critical Components to the Design of a Spirituality of the Workplace

Vision
1. How do you name/define/describe what is meant by workplace spirituality
2. How do you frame it in the context of the mission, vision, values of the
organization
Provide a new way of thinking about self, work, organization
3. How do you identify key components/framework/qualities (what it is/isnt)
4. What is the model

Lifestyle
1. Name what does living this look like?
2. What are the resources, practices available to nurture it?
3. What is the structure in place to support the behavior?
4. What is the metrics in place to encourage it?

Experience
1. What are the reflective practices in place to encourage noticing work talking
back?
2. What are the vehicles for sharing the sacred?
3. How embedded are the reflecting on/celebrating experience of spirituality?

Page 6