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Workplace spirituality and employee work attitudes: An exploratory

empirical assessment

Article in Journal of Organizational Change Management · August 2003

DOI: 10.1108/09534810310484172

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JOCM
16,4 Workplace spirituality and
employee work attitudes
426
An exploratory empirical assessment
John Milliman, Andrew J. Czaplewski and Jeffery Ferguson
College of Business, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs,
Colorado, USA
Keywords Work, Beliefs, Employee attitudes, Behaviour, Empirical study
Abstract One important question in the field of workplace spirituality concerns the relationship
of this construct with employee work attitudes. This study attempts to make a rigorous empirical
examination of the relationship between workplace spirituality and five prevalent employee job
attitudinal variables. It assesses the validity and reliability of the measures used and discusses the
results of the analysis, which indicate that each of the three dimensions of spirituality used has a
significant relationship with two or more of the five job attitude variables examined. While
acknowledging that spirituality at work is an abstract concept, this study attempts to provide some
of the first empirical support that there is a positive association between spirituality at work and
employee job outcomes. The paper concludes with a number of implications and research directions
for both academics and business managers, including the need to investigate the comprehensive
impact of spirituality at work on individuals and organizations.

An important trend in business in the twenty-first century is a focus on

employee spirituality in the workplace (Shellenbarger, 2000). Workplace
spirituality has been the subject of many business magazines, such as the cover
story for both Business Week (Conlin, 1999) and Fortune (Gunther, 2001). In
addition, there have been many books written about spirituality at work (see
Neal, 1997). More recently, academics have begun investigating spirituality in
business. This growing body of literature on workplace spirituality has offered
a number of insights, but it also has been criticized for lacking rigor or critical
thinking (Gibbons, 2000).
In the present study, we seek to address some of these limitations in the
following ways. One, we develop one of the first sets of formal hypotheses in
this new field concerning the relationship between workplace spirituality and
five work attitudinal variables. Two, we conduct exploratory empirical
research to test these hypotheses. In doing so, our study also enables us to
examine the construct validity on some of the survey-based measures of
workplace spirituality developed by Ashmos and Duchon (2000). To
accomplish these objectives, this manuscript is organized as follows. First,
Journal of Organizational Change
Management we review the literature on spirituality and propose hypotheses regarding the
Vol. 16 No. 4, 2003
pp. 426-447
relationship between several facets of spirituality and employee work attitudes.
q MCB UP Limited Second, we describe the research instrument and methods utilized in this study.
0953-4814
DOI 10.1108/09534810310484172 Third, we present the research results of the reliability and validity
assessments, and the hypotheses tests. Finally, we discuss the implications for Exploratory
both research and practice. empirical
assessment
Theoretical background
Research on workplace spirituality
In this study we consider the meaning and implications of spirituality within 427
the context of the workplace. While workplace spirituality is considered a
highly personal and philosophical construct, nearly all of the academic
definitions acknowledge that spirituality involves a sense of wholeness,
connectedness at work, and deeper values (Gibbons, 2000). Workplace
spirituality involves the effort to find one’s ultimate purpose in life, to develop a
strong connection to coworkers and other people associated with work, and to
have consistency (or alignment) between one’s core beliefs and the values of
their organization (Mitroff and Denton, 1999). Accordingly, workplace
spirituality can be defined as “. . . the recognition that employees have an
inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place
in the context of community” (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000, p. 137).
It is important to note that for some people spirituality at work involves a
religious connotation while for others it does not (Neck and Milliman, 1994). In
fact, historically much of the interest in spirituality has been rooted in religion.
However, for many others spirituality at work today does not involve a
connection to any specific religious tradition, but rather is based on their own
personal values and philosophy (Cavanagh, 1999; Mitroff and Denton, 1999).
In the last decade, there has been a growing body of literature on spirituality
at work. However, this literature has a number of limitations (Gibbons, 2000).
First, much of the research has concentrated on describing personal spiritual
experiences at work (Konz and Ryan, 1999), rather than on the impact that
dimensions of workplace spirituality have on individual work attitudes and
behaviors. While the focus on personal spirituality experiences is essential, it is
also important to conduct research which helps us understand the potential
positive impact on employee attitudes that can occur when management
supports individuals’ needs in the workplace on a spiritual level (King and
Nicol, 1999). Second, the studies which have dealt with this topic of employee
attitudes often simplistically assume that spirituality at work always has a
positive impact (Gibbons, 2000), rather than formally postulating and
empirically testing for these relationships.
One of the first steps in conducting rigorous research is to clearly define and
measure the workplace spirituality construct. Recently, Ashmos and Duchon
(2000) developed a survey and conducted principal components factor analysis,
extracting seven different dimensions of workplace spirituality. In this paper,
we chose to focus on only three of these dimensions for several reasons. First,
we chose the three dimensions because they have been seen as important in
prior studies (e.g. Hawley, 1993; Milliman et al., 1999; Mitroff and Denton, 1999)
JOCM and are representative of employees’ involvement in spirituality in the
16,4 workplace at three levels of analysis suggested by Neal and Bennett (2000):
individual; group; and organization. Second, it should be recognized that
workplace spirituality is a complex and multi-faceted construct. We did not
focus on the transcendent aspect of workplace spirituality because we believe it
is more likely to impact an individual’s personal life. Instead, the three
428 dimensions were chosen in part because we postulated they are more likely to
have closer relationships with our intended study objective, employee work
attitudes and behaviors. Finally, focusing on three dimensions allows for a
more parsimonious study. These three core dimensions include purpose in
one’s work or “meaningful work” (individual level), having a “sense of
community” (group level), and being in “alignment with the organization’s
values” and mission (organization level). Figure 1 graphically depicts the
conceptualization of workplace spirituality used in this study. It is important to
note that in our study we empirically assess these dimensions at the individual
level of analysis.
We next discuss each of these aspects of workplace spirituality, how these
dimensions vary from traditional organizational behavior variables, and
develop hypotheses concerning their relationship with employee work
attitudes. Before discussing the dimensions of spirituality, we wish to state
two issues upfront concerning this study. First, we acknowledge that using a
survey instrument to measure something as deeply personal and abstract as
workplace spirituality presents numerous challenges. Second, we do not wish
to indicate that examining the relationship between spirituality and employee
job attitudes implies that the single most important purpose of spirituality is its
connection to employee work attitudes and ultimately organizational

Figure 1.
Conceptualizing
spirituality in the
workplace: individual,
group, and organization
levels of interaction
effectiveness. Despite these concerns, we believe that the relationship between Exploratory
workplace spirituality and employees’ job attitudes is an important and empirical
legitimate area of inquiry and that survey based methods are one way to assessment
attempt to create more rigorous research in this still relatively new field of
study.
429
Dimensions of workplace spirituality
Meaningful work. A fundamental aspect of spirituality at work involves having
a deep sense of meaning and purpose in one’s work. This dimension of
workplace spirituality represents how employees interact with their day-to-day
work at the individual level. The expression of spirituality at work involves the
assumptions that each person has his/her own inner motivations and truths
and desires to be involved in activities that give greater meaning to his/her life
and the lives of others (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Hawley, 1993). The quest
for purpose in work is not a new idea. However, the spirituality view is that
work is not just meant to be interesting or challenging, but that it is about
things such as searching for deeper meaning and purpose, living one’s dream,
expressing one’s inner life needs by seeking meaningful work, and contributing
to others (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Fox, 1994; Neal, 1998). Similarly, Moore
(1992) observes that work is a vocation and a calling as a way to create greater
meaning and identity in the workplace.
Community. A critical dimension of workplace spirituality involves having a
deep connection to, or relationship with, others, which has been articulated as a
sense of community (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000). This dimension of workplace
spirituality occurs at the group level of human behavior and concerns
interactions between employees and their co-workers. Community at work is
based on the belief that people see themselves as connected to each other and
that there is some type of relationship between one’s inner self and the inner
self of other people (Maynard, 1992; Miller, 1992). Neal and Bennett (2000) note
that this level of spirituality involves the mental, emotional, and spiritual (e.g.
“esprit de corps”) connections among employees in teams or groups in
organizations. The essence of community is that it involves a deeper sense of
connection among people, including support, freedom of expression, and
genuine caring.
There have been a few firms that appear to have developed strong
organizational cultures that emphasize a sense of community among
employees. For instance, at Southwest Airlines community includes a feeling
among the employees that they are all part of a larger organizational family,
that employees take care of each other as well as their customers, and that
employees’ families are also an important part of the firm (Freiberg and
Freiberg, 1996; Milliman et al., 1999).
Alignment with organizational values. A third aspect of spirituality in the
workplace is when individuals experience a strong sense of alignment between
JOCM their personal values and their organization’s mission and purpose. This
16,4 component of workplace spirituality encompasses the interaction of employees
with the larger organizational purpose (Mitroff and Denton, 1999). Alignment
with the organization’s values is related to the premise that an individual’s
purpose is larger than one’s self and should make a contribution to others or
society. Alignment also means that individuals believe that managers and
430 employees in their organization have appropriate values, have a strong
conscience, and are concerned about the welfare of its employees and
community (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000). Similarly, Hawley (1993) observed
that part of living by one’s inner truth involves working in an organization
with integrity and a purpose that is beneficial to others beyond simply making
a profit.
Alignment with organizational values involves the concept that employees
desire to work in an organization whose goal is to not just be a good corporate
citizen, but an organization that seeks to have a high sense of ethics or integrity
and make a larger contribution than the typical company to the welfare of
employees, customers, and society. For instance, Malphurs (1996, p. 52) states
that a person “should not work for any organization, sacred or secular, if he or
she does not share to a great degree the same institutional values”
While organizations clearly experience many limitations and remain
imperfect institutions, the alignment with organizational values concept
suggests that there are some firms that have a higher level of commitment to
their workers, customers, and society than others. For example, there is some
evidence which suggests that many of the employees at Southwest Airlines feel
aligned with the company’s cause which includes offering low airfares
(allowing people to fly who normally couldn’t afford to), frequent and on-time
flights, and a personable service characterized by fun and humor (Milliman
et al., 1999). Other examples of firms with strong and socially oriented values
are described by Collins and Porras (1994) in their book, Built to Last.

Hypotheses
Workplace spirituality has been proposed to be positively related to employee
work attitudes (e.g. Neck and Milliman, 1994). However, few formal hypotheses
have been proposed in the literature between these three dimensions of
workplace spirituality and specific employee attitudinal variables. Based on
our literature review, we formally propose hypotheses concerning the
relationship between three dimensions of workplace spirituality and five
organizational behavior variables: organization commitment, intention to quit,
intrinsic work satisfaction, job involvement, and organization-based
self-esteem (OBSE).
Organization commitment and intention to quit. These two variables are
related to each other in that they both involve how individuals perceive
their relationship to their current organization. Intention to quit concerns
whether an individual is considering leaving their current organization and Exploratory
investigating alternative employment prospects. Like intention to quit, empirical
organizational commitment is strongly related to reduced turnover. assessment
Organization commitment has been defined as a condition in which an
individual feels a bond with their organization and wishes to maintain
membership in the organization (Mowday et al., 1979). More recently, three
components of organization commitment have been hypothesized:
431
continuance, normative and affective (Meyer and Allen, 1997). The latter
of these (affective) relates most closely to Mowday et al.’s (1979) original
conceptualization. We will focus on Mowday et al.’s (1979) conceptualization
of organization commitment since it is the most well known aspect of this
construct and because doing so will enable us to present a more
parsimonious approach. We now examine the literature on how the
dimensions of spirituality relate to these two key job attitudes.
Meaningful work is expected to be related to an individual’s attitudes
toward their organization. Interesting and challenging work has been found to
be negatively related to turnover and absenteeism (Hackman and Oldham,
1976). Since the spirituality concept of meaningful work is seen as a deeper and
more personal concept than job challenge, it can also be expected to positively
impact employee attitudes toward their organization, including turnover.
Several researchers have advanced the idea that a sense of community is
linked to employee commitment and turnover (which is strongly related to
intention to quit). Trott (1996) proposed that spiritual well being, which
includes a sense of community, will be positively related to cooperation and
negatively related to turnover and absenteeism. Milliman et al. (1999)
postulated that having a strong sense of community and strong purposeful
organizational goals were related to greater employee commitment and higher
retention rates. Brown (1992) states that a sense of community also leads to
greater employee satisfaction with the organization.
Alignment with organizational values is also considered to be related to
organization commitment. It has been proposed that organizations which
create an environment where the firm identifies with and is responsive to
employees’ input and sense of values will have employees who:
.
are more adaptable and will help the company succeed (Catlette and
Hadden, 1998);
.
have a greater sense of espirt de corps (Channon, 1992); and
. are more strongly committed to helping the organization succeed
(Hawley, 1993; Catlette and Hadden, 1998).
Altogether this research suggests the following set of hypotheses:
H1a. The greater the experience of personal purpose and meaning in one’s
work, the greater the organization commitment of the individual.
JOCM H1b. The greater sense of community at work, the greater the organization
16,4 commitment of the individual.
H1c. The greater the alignment of one’s personal values with organizational
values, the greater the organization commitment of the individual.

432 H2a. The greater the experience of personal purpose and meaning in one’s
work, the lesser the intention of the individual to quit the organization.
H2b. The greater sense of community at work, the lesser the intention of the
individual to quit the organization.
H2c. The greater the alignment of one’s personal values with organizational
values, the lesser the intention of the individual to quit the
organization.
Intrinsic job satisfaction and job involvement. Both of these attitudinal variables
relate to how an employee views or perceives their work experience in their
current job and organization. Intrinsic job satisfaction involves an individual’s
attitudes toward elements related to work such as achievement, responsibility,
advancement, and growth (Herzberg et al., 1959). Job involvement concerns the
degree to which an individual identifies with and actively participates in
his/her job and considers his/her performance to be important to their
self-esteem (Blau, 1986).
Trott (1996) states that those who are open to meaningful and purposeful
relationships, which are key aspects of community, are more likely to grow,
learn, and achieve at work and less likely to experience job burnout. It has also
been proposed that organizations which create an environment that is
responsive to their employees’ sense of purpose and values will have people
who are more motivated in their work (Catlette and Hadden, 1998; Hawley,
1993) and are more likely to have a productive and satisfied workforce (Riordan
et al., 1997; Kraimer, 1997). For example, Milliman et al. (1999) suggest that a
strong sense of community and organizational values is related to employee
satisfaction and motivation. These findings are similar to those of Collins and
Porras (1994) and Peters and Waterman (1982) who found that organizations
with some type of higher meaning have more motivated workforces. Other
studies indicate that employees who feel their organization offers them a strong
sense of connection and genuine sense of purpose also tend to be more creative
and innovative in their work (Hawley, 1993; Harman, 1992), and experience
greater personal growth and development (Hawley, 1993). Meaningful work
can also be expected to influence employee attitudes toward work. For instance,
Jaques (1996, 1998) suggested that when individuals’ work is matched to their
potential capability, they are more likely to achieve their full potential.
Altogether this research leads to the following two sets of hypotheses:
 H3a. The greater the experience of personal purpose and meaning in one’s Exploratory
work, the greater the intrinsic work satisfaction of the individual. empirical
H3b. The greater sense of community at work, the greater the intrinsic work assessment
satisfaction of the individual.
H3c. The greater the alignment of one’s personal values with organizational
values, the greater the intrinsic work satisfaction of the individual.
433
H4a. The greater the experience of personal purpose and meaning in one’s
work, the greater the job involvement of the individual.
H4b. The greater sense of community at work, the greater the job
involvement of the individual.
H4c. The greater the alignment of one’s personal values with organizational
values, the greater the job involvement of the individual.
OBSE. OBSE concerns the degree to which individuals believe they satisfy
their needs and have a sense of personal adequacy in their organizations.
Employees with high OBSE are satisfied with their organizational role and see
themselves as important, meaningful, respected, and worthwhile within their
organization. OBSE has been found to be positively related to job performance,
organizational satisfaction, citizenship behavior, and organizational
commitment (Pierce et al., 1989).
Anderson (1997) postulated that having a sense of community is linked to
employee trust and respect, which are key elements of OBSE. Similarly, Trott
(1996) proposed that spiritual well being, which includes a sense of community
and alignment with organizational values, will also be positively related to an
individual’s psycho/social adjustment.
Alignment with organizational values can also be expected to enhance
employee OBSE. Employees who feel their input is appreciated and are also
aligned with their organization’s values believe they can make a real difference
to the company and to others, (Catlette and Hadden, 1998), feel a personal
responsibility for the organization’s success or failure (Brown, 1992; Rosen,
1992; Catlette and Hadden, 1998), experience a high sense of service (Hawley,
1993), and contribute their thoughts, inspiration, and energies to the company
(Block, 1993; Brown, 1992; Rosen, 1992; Kiefer, 1992). This research suggests
the following hypotheses:
H5a. The greater the experience of personal purpose and meaning in one’s
work, the greater the organization- based self- esteem of the individual.
H5b. The greater sense of community at work, the greater the OBSE of the
individual.
H5c. The greater the alignment of one’s personal values with organizational
values, the greater the OBSE of the individual.
JOCM Methods
16,4 Sample
A cross-sectional survey design was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The
sample population was part-time, evening MBA students attending a business
school in the southwest USA. Almost all of the MBA students included in the
survey were working in full-time job positions. The survey was administered in
434 two ways. First, 167 of the surveys were administered in person and returned
directly to the researchers during several MBA classes with a return rate of 100
percent. Second, 41 surveys were returned out of 60 mailed to distance learning
MBA students for a return rate of 68 percent. Eight of these surveys were later
discarded due to missing variables, resulting in a final usable sample size of
200.
Approximately 56 percent of the sample is over the age of 30. The sample is
47 percent female and 53 percent male. The respondents have worked in their
current company for an average 5.0 years and have an average of 11.4 years of
full-time work experience. About one-half of the sample is currently
supervising other employees. Seventy percent of the respondents work in
for-profit organizations and 30 percent in non-profits. The participants work
in the following industry sectors: 35.8 percent service, 23.8 percent
manufacturing, 10.9 percent military, 9.0 percent government, 8.0 percent
health care, and 12.4 percent other.

Measures
The measures were based on a seven-point scale from 1 (“disagree strongly”) to
7 (“agree strongly”). The exceptions were the satisfaction variables, which were
on a scale from 1 (“very dissatisfied”) to 7 (“very satisfied”). We now briefly list
the source and coefficient alpha for each of the measures used (note that Table I
contains the descriptive statistics for each of the constructs below and also
contains an abbreviated statement for each item used in the study):
.
Meaningful work. This scale includes six items from Ashmos and Duchon
(2000). The coefficient alpha was 0.88.
.
Sense of community. Seven items were developed by the authors of this
paper for this study to tap this dimension. Ashmos and Duchon (2000)
developed a scale that measures “conditions of community” which include
items that assess more the enabling conditions of community. The
community scale developed for this study focuses on the sense of
community experienced by workers rather than enabling conditions or
outcomes of community. The coefficient alpha was 0.91.
.
Alignment with organizational values. This includes eight items from
Ashmos and Duchon’s (2000) spirituality scale. The coefficient alpha was
0.94.
Variablea Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Meaningful work 4.82 1.53 (0.88)

2. Sense of community 4.72 1.23 0.63* (0.91)
3. Alignment of values 4.51 1.37 0.58* 0.82* (0.94)
4. Organization commitment 4.64 1.30 0.60* 0.77* 0.77* (0.89)
5. Intention to quit 3.57 1.83 2 0.45* 2 0.57* 2 0.56* 2 0.66* (0.84)
6. Intrinsic work satisfaction 4.82 1.34 0.50* 0.52 0.49* 0.54* 2 0.51* (0.86)
7. Job involvement 4.40 1.33 0.51* 0.50* 0.46* 0.63* 2 0.40* 0.42* (0.82)
8. OBSE 5.45 1.27 0.54* 0.68* 0.57* 0.60* 2 0.35* 0.43* 0.48* (0.93)
a
Notes: Reliability estimates are in parentheses; n ¼ 200 for all variables. Scales range from 1 to 7. * Significant at p , 0:01
assessment
empirical

Descriptive
Exploratory

statistics
Table I.
435
JOCM .
Organization commitment. Six organization commitment items were
16,4 selected from Mowday et al.’s (1979) organization commitment scale. The
coefficient alpha was 0.89
.
Intention to quit. The intention to quit items come from multiple sources.
Two of the items are from Jones (1986) and the last item is from Chung
436 (1989). The coefficient alpha for this variable was 0.84.
. Intrinsic work satisfaction. This scale is based on the satisfiers or
motivators from the motivation hygiene theory (Herzberg et al., 1959).
This includes three items based on satisfaction with advancement and
career opportunities and one item based on satisfaction with the nature of
work from Nathan et al. (1991). The coefficient alpha for this scale was
0.86.
.
Job involvement. The job involvement scale includes four items from a
ten-item scale by Kanungo (1982). The coefficient alpha was 0.82.
.
OBSE. Five items were selected from Pierce et al.’s (1989) OBSE scale.
The coefficient alpha was 0.93.

Results
Reliability and validity assessments
Reliability for each multi-item scale was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, and
validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Results of the
reliability analysis are reported in Table I along with the Pearson’s correlations
and descriptive statistics for each variable. Overall, strong reliability is
demonstrated with coefficient alphas ranging from 0.82 to 0.94.
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on each multi-item scale
using the underlying factors identified. For this analysis, SPSS’s Amos 4.01
software was used. Using a conservative strategy, no factor or covariance path
was altered. In addition, no error terms were allowed to covary in any of the
measurement models, and each indicator item was linked to a single latent
variable. Each of the measurement items and their corresponding CFA
loadings and significance values are presented in Tables II and III. Overall
these results indicate a good fit for all the scales used. All item loadings are
above the preferred 0.30 threshold for acceptability. In addition, all t values for
the loadings are significant at p , 0.001.

Hypotheses tests
All hypotheses were tested in the context of structural equation modeling
(SEM). SEM was used for several reasons. First, SEM allows for a simultaneous
examination of all of the proposed hypotheses, rather than five separate
regression analyses. Second, the testing of the fully specified model allows us to
examine which dimensions of the spirituality construct are driving the
relationship with the employee attitude variables. Third, in SEM the overall fit
 Exploratory
Measurement model parameters:
standardized loadings empirical
KSI1 KS12 KS13 t-valuea assessment
Meaningful work
Experience joy in work 0.86 0.00 0.00 –
Spirit is energized by work 0.87 0.00 0.00 16.37 437
Work is connected to what I think is important
in life 0.76 0.00 0.00 12.82
Look forward to coming to work 0.91 0.00 0.00 17.46
See a connection between work and social good 0.33 0.00 0.00 4.65
Understand what gives my work personal
meaning 0.73 0.00 0.00 12.19

Sense of community
Working cooperatively with others is valued 0.00 0.69 0.00 –
Feel part of a community 0.00 0.72 0.00 9.51
Believe people support each other 0.00 0.84 0.00 10.95
Feel free to express opinions 0.00 0.66 0.00 8.73
Think employees are linked with a common
purpose 0.00 0.76 0.00 10.04
Believe employees genuinely care about each
other 0.00 0.81 0.00 10.57
Feel there is a sense of being a part of a family 0.00 0.87 0.00 11.30

Alignment of values
Feel positive about the values of the
organization 0.00 0.00 0.87 –
Organization is concerned about the poor 0.00 0.00 0.52 8.01
Organization cares about all its employees 0.00 0.00 0.89 18.83
Organization has a conscience 0.00 0.00 0.86 17.31
Feel connected with the organization’s goals 0.00 0.00 0.83 16.24
Organization is concerned about health of
Table II.
employees 0.00 0.00 0.83 16.03
Measurement
Feel connected with the mission of the
model: results of
organization 0.00 0.00 0.86 17.24
confirmatory factor
Organization cares about whether my spirit is
analysis for
energized 0.00 0.00 0.78 14.41
independent
Note: a All t-tests are significant at p , 0:001 variables

of the model provides an indication of the validity for the proposed conceptual
model. Finally, SEM is a natural extension of the confirmatory factor analysis
that we conducted above. A structural analysis of the component dimensions of
each of the constructs was conducted using Amos 4.01. Composite scores were
calculated for each multi-item scale and used in structural equation analysis.
Figure 2 depicts a fully specified model with gamma paths from each
dimension of workplace spirituality to the five dependent employee
JOCM Measurement model parameters: standardized
16,4 loadings
ETA1 ETA2 ETA3 ETA4 ETA5 t-valuea

Organization commitment
Proud to tell others I’m part of the
438 organization 0.86 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 –
Organization inspires the very best in me 0.84 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15.47
Glad I chose this organization to work for 0.79 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.83
Talk up this organization to my friends 0.87 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 16.18
Would accept almost any job assignment 0.44 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.35
Really care about the fate of the
organization 0.73 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.26

Intention to quit
Will probably look for a new job next year 0.00 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 –
Scan sources for prospective jobs 0.00 0.83 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.27
Frequently think of quitting my job 0.00 0.81 0.00 0.00 0.00 11.09

Intrinsic work satisfaction

Opportunities for advancement in this job 0.00 0.00 0.91 0.00 0.00 –
Satisfied with chances for advancement 0.00 0.00 0.95 0.00 0.00 21.30
Satisfied with career opportunities 0.00 0.00 0.81 0.00 0.00 15.55
Satisfied with nature of work 0.00 0.00 0.48 0.00 0.00 7.25

Job involvement
Very much involved personally with my
job 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.77 0.00 –
Consider job essential to my existence 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.82 0.00 11.07
Like to be absorbed in my job 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.70 0.00 9.54
Live, eat, and breath my job 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.64 0.00 8.68

OBSE
I count around here 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.95 –
Table III. I am an important part of this place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.96 29.43
Measurement I am trusted around here 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.65 11.48
model: results of I make a difference around here 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.84 18.94
confirmatory factor There is faith in me around here 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.75 14.52
analysis for
dependent variables Notes: a All t-tests are significant at p , 0:001

attitudinal variables. This model is in effect the same as a canonical

correlation approach that allows a simultaneous analysis of five dependent
job attitude variables. Table IV provides the parameter estimates and
corresponding t-values for each path in the model. The fit indices for this
model are very good (comparative fit index ðCFIÞ ¼ 0:98, relative fit index
ðRFIÞ ¼ 0:93, and the Tucker Lewis index ðTLIÞ ¼ 0:94). In addition, the
Chi square (99) to degrees of freedom (10) ratio is also good. Next we
discuss each hypothesis test in more detail.
 Exploratory
empirical
assessment

439

Figure 2.
Relationship between
workplace spirituality
and employee work
attitudes: fully-specified
model

H1 states that the spirituality of the individual is positively related to the

organization commitment of the individual. To test this hypothesis, we
examine the gamma paths between organization commitment and the
spirituality dimensions of: meaningful work; sense of community; and

Parameters Estimate t-value

g1,1 0.15 4.86***

g2,1 20.13 2 1.75
g3,1 0.26 3.49***
g4,1 0.31 4.11***
g5,1 0.18 2.71**
g6,2 0.33 4.36***
g7,2 2 0.28 2 2.69**
g8,2 0.24 2.27*
g9,2 0.23 2.12*
g10,2 0.57 6.11***
g11,3 0.42 5.83*** Table IV.
g12,3 2 0.25 2 2.55** Structural model:
g13,3 0.14 1.39 results of the
g14,3 0.10 0.94 structural equation
g15,3 0.01 0.05 measurement for
Notes: * Significant at p , 0:05; ** significant at p , 0:01; *** significant at p , 0:001 Figure 2
JOCM alignment of values. Each of these gamma path t-values is significant at the
16,4 p , 0:001 level (g1;1 ¼ 4:86, g6;1 ¼ 4:36, g11;3 ¼ 5:83). Based on these results,
H1a-c are supported.
H2 proposes that the greater the spirituality of the individual, the lower their
intention to quit the organization. To test this proposition, we examine the
440 gamma paths between intention to quit and the three latent factors of
spirituality. Sense of community and alignment of values are significant at the
p , 0:01 level and in the predicted negative direction (g7;2 ¼ 22:69,
g12;3 ¼ 22:55). However, meaningful work did not contribute significantly to
the predictive power of the model, although the expected negative direction of
relationship did hold (g2;1 ¼ 21:75). Therefore, H2 is partially supported (H2a
is unsupported while H2b and H2c are supported).
H3 predicts a positive relationship between workplace spirituality and
intrinsic work satisfaction. To test this hypothesis, we examine the gamma
paths between intrinsic work satisfaction and the three spirituality dimensions.
The evaluation of each factor provided mixed results. t-tests for both
meaningful work and sense of community were significant (g3;1 ¼ 3:49,
g8;2 ¼ 2:27). However, the alignment of values variable is insignificant
(g13;3 ¼ 1:39). From this analysis, H3a and H3b are supported, but H3c is not
supported.
H4 states that the greater the workplace spirituality, the greater the job
involvement. Two of the three t-values for the gamma paths are significant
(g4;1 ¼ 4:11, g9;2 ¼ 2:12). That is, meaningful work and sense of community
increased with job involvement. Alignment of values is insignificant in this
model (g14;3 ¼ 0:94). Based on this analysis, H4a and H4b are supported, and
H4c is not supported.
H5 proposes that the greater the workplace spirituality, the greater the
OBSE. This hypothesis was also tested by examining the gamma paths
between OBSE and meaningful work, sense of community, and alignment of
values. Here we see the same pattern as H3 and H4. Meaningful work and
sense of community is significant (g5;1 ¼ 2:71, g10;2 ¼ 6:11), yet the alignment
of values path is insignificant (g15;3 ¼ 0:05). Therefore, H5a and H5b are
supported, while H5c is not supported.
It is important to note that while H3c, H4c, and H5c were unsupported in
this analysis concerning alignment of organizational values, we still believe
that it is an important dimension of workplace spirituality. First, H1c and H2c
were supported in our analysis in regards to this construct. Second, from the
descriptive analysis (Table I) the Pearson correlations show alignment of
organizational values correlating with all five of the work attitude variables.
Therefore, the SEM analysis indicates that alignment of organizational values
simply does not predict three of the work attitudes over and above the
meaningful work and sense of community variables.
Discussion Exploratory
This study has sought to address some of the limitations in past research on empirical
spirituality at work by using a more precise way to measure certain workplace assessment
spirituality dimensions, developing formal hypotheses on the relationships of
these dimensions to key organizational behavior goals, and employing a more
rigorous empirical method to test the proposed relationships. We assessed the 441
relationship between spirituality and employee work attitudes with structural
equation modeling analyses. The analysis results are supportive of the
hypothesized relationships between the spirituality dimensions examined and:
.
organization commitment;
.
an individual’s intention to quit;
.
intrinsic work satisfaction;
.
job involvement; and
.
OBSE.
These are the first empirically based findings on the relationships between
workplace spirituality and these organizational behavior variables.
The structural equation analysis also indicates that the spirituality
dimensions were significantly related to the five job attitude dimensions.
Specifically, the analysis in the fully specified model (Figure 2) indicates that
meaningful work was significantly related to four of the five job attitude
variables (the exception being intention to quit), sense of community was
significantly related to all five of the outcome variables, and that alignment
with organizational values was significantly related to organization
commitment and intention to quit.
These results provide empirical support for the proposed relationships
between these dimensions of workplace spirituality and important employee
attitudes. The findings also provide additional validity support for Ashmos
and Duchon’s (2000) workplace spirituality survey measures. Ashmos and
Duchon’s sample was drawn from the health care sector with a significant
portion of the respondents being female. Our data sample consists of mainly
professionally employed adults in a part-time graduate business program from
a wide range of industries (service, manufacturing, etc.). A slight majority of
the sample is male, and 70 percent of respondents worked in for-profit
organizations in a wide range of industries. While the sample is diverse, it
contains mainly professional employees. Future studies should investigate
lower-level employees to determine if the same relationships hold. The
confirmatory factor analysis results for this sample provide additional
supporting evidence for the construct validity of two dimensions of Ashmos
and Duchon’s (2000) spirituality construct: alignment with organizational
values and meaningful work.
JOCM Limitations and directions for future research
16,4 While these results are encouraging, it is important to consider that this study
is based on a single self-report survey instrument. As mentioned previously,
this is a new area of research and one in which the highly personal nature of the
subject may make it difficult to capture on a survey instrument. Due to the
self-report nature of this study, there is potential for common method variance
442 among some of the scales. In addition, some of the scales had relatively small
standard deviations, suggesting less discrimination. Finally, it should be
considered that the sample is based on graduate business students, although it
important to note that these students are almost completely full-time working
adults with a significant number of years of work experience and
representation from a wide number of industries. Below are our suggestions
for future research to address some of these limitations.
A first need for future research is to conduct further confirmatory analysis of
these spirituality measures on different work samples. In addition, given the
subjective and highly personal nature of the spirituality construct, it would be
ideal if multiple methods of research were used to cross-validate these
measures, including employee interviews, supervisor assessments of
employees, and quantitative organizational measures of employee
effectiveness.
Second, this research indicates that other important organizational behavior
variables, such as organizational citizenship, should be considered for further
examination. Organizational citizenship is discretionary behavior that is not
part of an employee’s formal job duties, but that promotes organizational
effectiveness (Podsakoff et al., 1997). It is logical to assume that employees who
experience deeply meaningful work or who have a strong connection to their
company’s values might be likely to engage in such extra-role job behaviors.
Third, it is important to conduct such research in different institutional
environments, such as differences in for-profit versus non-profit organizations.
Along this same line, research needs to be conducted on how various
organizational variables may moderate or mediate the relationship between
workplace spirituality and employee job attitudes and effectiveness. As an
example, it would be interesting to see if any factors in the extrinsic work
environment, such as the nature of the human-resource-management system,
the supervisor, the organizational structure or culture, and factors in the
employee’s work environment moderate or mediate the relationship between
spirituality and employee work attitudes.
Fourth, research needs to consider potential negative aspects of workplace
spirituality. For example, it may be possible that what one considers to be a
highly spiritual belief or practice may have a negative impact on other people.
Some potential negative implications include the potential for proselytizing a
set of spirituality values as “the only path” which can breed intolerance. It is
also possible that employees who experience a high degree of spirituality at
work may become deeply attached to the current practices of the company and Exploratory
therefore become resistant to change. empirical
Finally, there is concern that organizations may attempt to manipulate and assessment
use the concept of spirituality at work as a tool to increase productivity
(discussed more later). Future empirical research and new methods of
investigation are needed to examine the potential direct or indirect negative
consequences of workplace spirituality.
443

Implications for practice

This study uses rigorous survey-based research methods and presents some of
the first empirical data indicating a positive association between three
dimensions of workplace spirituality and five employee work attitudes. In
addition, the five work attitude variables examined here have been empirically
linked to other variables of interest to organizations, such as reduced turnover
and absenteeism and improved creativity and job performance. As mentioned
above, we do have concerns about how well workplace spirituality can be
captured in survey research and whether workplace spirituality may have
negative side effects. Nonetheless, this study provides some initial empirical
support for the premise that workplace spirituality can also have a positive
impact on employee work attitudes and ultimately the organization. As such,
this investigation supports the findings from a number of other applied studies,
such as Collins and Porras’s (1994) Built To Last, The Service Profit Chain
(Heskett et al., 1997), and best companies to work for (Grant, 1998). All of these
studies indicate that providing maximum avenues for personal values, growth,
and development benefits not only the employee, but also the organization. In
fact, it may be fruitful to study the linkages and similarities between research
on best companies to work for and studies on spirituality at work. Research in
both of these areas may likely provide important insights into the type of
organizational environment and culture that is needed for employee well being
and longer-term organizational effectiveness.
While there clearly are significant potential positive outcomes of workplace
spirituality, the concern that organizations may attempt to manipulate or use
the concept of spirituality at work as a tool to simply increase productivity
must be acknowledged. As such, effective organizational change approaches
are needed to implement spirituality at work philosophies if these benefits are
to accrue to employees and the company. Some suggestions for successful
organizational change approaches are as follows. First, we believe that
organizational change approaches must be guided by a clear philosophy that
workplace spirituality represents truth and is the right thing to do, not because
it may lead to higher profits. Workplace spirituality must be practiced in an
authentic manner before it has a positive impact on employees or on the
longer-term effectiveness of organizations.
JOCM Second, it is essential that organizational change and development programs
16,4 associated with spirituality at work have strong employee participation so that
input is heard from all levels of the firm. An important aspect of this
spirituality at work development process is creating forums for open
discussion and greater clarification of what spirituality at work means, since
the concept is highly personal and abstract. Strong company values will need
444 to be developed to ensure that the values and rights of all employees are
respected. Such a discussion is exciting, but will stretch the boundaries of what
levels of freedom of expression are allowed in firms. Training programs on
interpersonal communication and listening skills will likely be required to help
promote this process.
Third, workplace spirituality must take place within the context of
appropriate organizational goals (e.g. do the goals of the practices have a
potential direct or indirect negative impact on employees or other stakeholders
of the organizations?). For this reason we suggest that change efforts
incorporate feedback mechanisms from internal (e.g. employees) and external
(e.g. customers, consultants, suppliers, etc.) sources to ensure that ongoing
assessments occur regarding the true impact of the workplace spirituality
approaches. Clearly, future research is needed to explore how companies can
effectively change and implement authentic workplace spirituality
philosophies.
In conclusion, this study has provided some empirical data confirming the
validity of multiple dimensions of spirituality at work as well as the predictive
validity of these dimensions with a number of employee work attitudes. While
this is a promising study, more research is needed on the comprehensive nature
of the relationship of workplace spirituality to both individual well being and
work attitudes. Such studies need to be guided not only by more rigorous
methods, but also critical thought, if we are to learn more about the true nature
of workplace spirituality and its impact on employees and organizations.

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