Spiritual And Humanity, Concepts Of Spirituality In The Workplace

The term spirituality comes from the word, spirit, and a suffix -uality. Spirit has a general meaning of entity or life force, which is not physical. Spirituality thus means anything that has a relationship with spirit and its features or qualities. However, spirituality in human beings has two main components a primary component, spirit and human entities, that is, will and conscience. Spirituality in human beings is what leads to other desirable and undesirable qualities such as integrity and selfishness respectively. It is the only way in which human beings gain hope, comfort, inner peace, and meaning in their lives. Spirituality has been wrongly associated with religion since time immemorial. To me, spirituality is more than what we can simply call religion or faith. Religious beliefs are made of individual spirituality, which are mostly universal. Spirituality is developed outside religion itself.

There are many questions that arise when there is talk about religion in the workplace. In the United States, religion is a very controversial issue. The United States is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world. It is known to recognize at least 1500 religions. The EEOC requires employers to "Reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operations of the employer's business. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion" (Saltarelli, 2013). Everyone has the freedom to exercise their right to choose and practice any religion they want, says the first amendment. Religion in the workplace is ethical, and it is important among employees and should be taken seriously by their employers. I will argue from the utilitarianism theory, that religion in the workplace is ethical and should be allowed in all workplaces as long as the employees follow workplace policies and practices. I will contrasthis view with that of ethical egoism perspective, which would argue that religion in the workplace is ethical and it allows employees to promote their own happiness and by allowing them to practice their religious belief while in the workplace freely.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding why organizations fail and spirituality in the workplace. While many organizations make the claim that God is a stakeholder, these words are of non-effect unless the leader first partakes in whatever is necessary to ensure the followers share the vision and are led by example.

Mark Cress is the founder and former president of Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA) with some 18 years’ experience in corporate chaplaincy. According to his book’s preface, by learning the ‘7 C’s’ of Corporate Chaplaincy will open up new perspectives of leadership and care for individuals, and by implementing them into the life of the business “will transform it for future success and eternally impact the lives of its employees in the process” (Cress, 2005, p. ii). Cress has written his book in seven short chapters – one for each of the principles – each a short story from the perspective of a fictional chaplain new to the job, Reverend Lonnie Peppers, based on real life situations. These situations reflect the principles and their importance, and how the situation changes or improves when each principle is practiced or a favourable outcome is reached when

Religion in the workplace can introduce some of the most challenging concerns employers have to tackle. Solving these issues involves an understanding of the law as well as attempting to balance the business 's needs with an employee 's desire to practice his or her religion. One of the most controversial conflicts when dealing with religion in the workplace is between an employee 's desire to take time off to acknowledge religious days or holidays and the potential reduction in productivity and profitability.

Spirituality does not have one definite definition, it varies depending on who is searching for the meaning. The meaning of spirituality can change within one person, the more they search for answers and find their beliefs. To this writer, spirituality reaches beyond ourselves, it is the connection between ourselves and something greater.

Since our country has a great diversity, employers may decide to hire their employees from a great variety of countries and different religious backgrounds. In an ideal work environment, the religious beliefs of a given employee, or the employer, do not have a conflict. Each individual is free to believe as he or she chooses and, as the work gets done right, neither of them will encounter difficulty with religion. However, in the real world, a good bit of issues can arise to create problems. An employee and employer may discuss, or even argue over, religious principles. What is more, religion is not always simply a matter of belief. The faithful practice their religion through various actions – styles of dres, manner of keeping or wearing one’s hair, follow certain diets, trying to recruit others to their faith, fasting, praying, avoiding certain language or behavior, and observing certain religious holidays.

Spirituality is about seeking a meaningful connection with something bigger than you, which can result in positive emotions. Such emotions can be peace, awe, contentment, gratitude, and acceptance. Emotional health is about cultivating a positive state of mind. This can broaden your outlook to recognize and incorporate a connection to something larger than you. Basically, do not get stuck on negative emotions. It can be difficult to cultivate positive emotions, such as gratitude and compassion. Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. It includes a sense of connection to something

In the course of implementing the ministry of Tyson Food’s corporate chaplains, managers are bearing in mind more efficiency from their employees, as well as improvement

Spirituality is a broad concept with no widely agreed upon definition. Nevertheless, what can certainly be agreed upon is that spirituality is a universal human experience that touches us all. We are born with a fire inside of us, a restless, unquenchable fire pulling us towards something greater than ourselves. Therefore, we all innately have a spirituality - whether we want one or not - beckoning us to do something with it. Wakefield refers to spirituality as “…those attitudes, beliefs, practises which animate peoples lives and help them to reach out towards super sensible realities.” Conversely, Michael Mason defines spiritualty as “…the conscious way of life based on a transcendent referent.” This suggests a heightened awareness and way of life without rejecting the notion of religion (an important aspect of spirituality). Whereas Wakefield refers to spirituality more as a journey towards a transcendent figure. These ideas put together can come to a fuller definition on spirituality. Therefore, spirituality can be best defined as the conscious way of life based on a divine figure, leading to self-transcendence and transformation. This conscious way of life involves the recognition that there are deeper currents operating in life. (The Broken Bay Institute, 2014) It also encompasses an awakening and an increased awareness to ordinary life. This offers greater depth, connection, centeredness and wholeness to the spiritual individual. (The

Cultural differences in the workplace can sometimes become a challenge in the work environment. In order to facilitate these differences, there must be some form of cultural awareness. Cultural awareness can help employees face the challenge of responding to individuals with different religions in the workplace, expose religious practices, and eliminate stereotyping in the workplace. Awareness of religions, and the beliefs associated with different religions, can be accomplished in many ways, such as training courses, workshops or company handouts (Thomas Kochan, 2003, p. 4). Companies must embrace multiculturalism and diversity.

Spirituality is defined by the Merriam-Webster (2015) dictionary as “the quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters.” That is the simple definition of it from a dictionary. In depth, spirituality is defined as a person’s beliefs, attitudes, values and connection

Given that this is a Christian university - Spirituality (in the Christian definition) is encouraged which is a Blessing. What about where you work? Do or should companies embrace spirituality in the workplace or avoid it? Do we include some but not others?

More than half (59%) of participants were women, 40.7% were men and 0.2% were other. The majority of the participants (77.1%) were Caucasian, 9.1% were African American, 5% Asian American, 5.2% were Latino(a), 0.8% were American Indian/Native American, 2.1% belonged to more than one group and 0.6% identified as other. Participants completed the Spirituality Measure, this measure consists of two items on a 4-point, Likert scale. The first item examines the overall importance of spirituality, “How important is spirituality is your life?” The second item attempts to explore the self-rating of spirituality, “How spiritual would you say you are—very spiritual, fairly spiritual, not too spiritual, or not spiritual at all?” The purpose of this measure is to evaluate individuals ‘perceptions of their own spirituality (Taylor, Chatters, & Jackson,

Today there are over 900 religious employee resource groups, according to the International Coalition of Workplace Ministries (Cañas & Sondak, 2010). These affinity groups can help encourage religious understanding by offering panel discussions that educate employees on their beliefs. By allowing open discussion, answering religious questions and creating an open, welcoming religious environment in the workplace employees can better relate to one another through shared religious principles (Cañas & Sondak, 2010). When looking at the business case for diversity, not asking employees to hide their faith at work allows for greater productivity, and time and energy focused on business results (Cañas