Developing Spirituality at Workplace: Boon or Bane

Does spirituality involve a belief or faith in a deity or reading a particular religion's book or enchanting hymns loudly or ringing the bells of a religious place or insisting the fellow workers to read a particular religious book or following blindly the self-proclaimed custodians of religion and culture in our country? The concept of spirituality is a matter of debate and controversary since times immemorial and the relationship it shares with the workplace of man is a multidimensional phenomenon which aims to develop core values, morals, ethics, respect, and social justice in the employees along with inculcating the sense of “esprit de the corps” in the employees. Workplace gives a sense of identity and pride to an individual other than providing the source of livelihood to an employee, and when one approaches work with a sense of purpose that transcends the instrumentalities of his or her work, one is able to express his or her spirituality through work.

Spirituality integrates the individual and the whole of humanity and believes in the eternal harmony of the former with self, harmony in social and natural environment, and transcendence. Nowadays, employees face immense job stress and burn out, cut throatism, mutual conflicts, and jealousies which eventually drain them out of their true potential, talent, and creativity so there is an immense need to develop well-planned programs on spiritual well-being at the workplace so as to maximize their capabilities and competencies to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Even though India is a land where religion and philosophy have reached their culminating points, but as a matter of fact nepotism, corruption, compliance, and work stress are still issues in many institutions and organizations in our country. This has in actual necessitated the need to introduce the basic concept of spirituality at workplace so as to create scientific temper in all the employees which would lead to enhanced work production and work-life balance. Spirituality at workplace refers to an employee's attempts to live his or her values and ethics more fully in the workplace. The employer and organizations must develop strategies to fortify and strengthen the intellectual and emotional needs of employees so that workers start engineering and articulating their assigned work as a spiritual path, develop interpersonal relationships with their fellow workers, maintain their integrity at all points of work, and focus on the betterment of society.

To achieve a more fortifying balance between work and life many industries, corporate firms, IT firms, and corporate hospitals have started mandatory morning Yoga and meditation classes for all their workers which apart from giving an essence of well-being to all the workers also aids in the development of basic values of empathy and being truthful. In fact, these spirituality sessions are so inspiring and refreshing that workers are seeking their soul at work and find newer opportunities to prove their worth and show their enhanced skill in their respective fields. It is a blessing or boon when workers themselves express their desire to join their duty station or workplace not for the sake of solely earning money and getting a so-called “social status” but seeking pathways for new learning and finding a deeper value and purpose of work. This in actual transpires them to give their selfless services to the organization.

We need to maximize the potential of our employees by the medium of moral enlightenment which will lead to enhanced productivity and work-life balance in every organization. Raj Yoga meditation of Brahma Kumaris, Yoga is simple, versatile yet cost-effective means of acquiring the spirituality and a journey toward self-discovery.

A meta-analysis by Dent et al.[1] showed the positive association of spirituality with productivity. Several studies maintain that organization high on spiritual values outperform those without it, on the parameters of growth, efficiency, and return on investment than those without them.[2] So need of the hour is proactive propaganda to start spirituality at the workplace and enable every human being to manage his work-life balance and contribute to society and Nation.