Helping Employees Bring their Souls to Work

By John Halstead

 Today’s workplace is changing. Unemployment is at a record low and skilled people are in high demand at all levels in every industry. From retail to high tech, from tradesmen to executives, demand exceeds supply. Due, in part, to this shortage stress and pressure on the job continues to increase. Even with high pay, increasing benefits, and new perks, people are seeking more from their employment relationship. Frequently, the exchange of time for purchasing power is not sufficient.

People want to bring their hearts and souls to work, not just their bodies. And, so should employers! People who are fully engaged in their work, whose work aligns with their values, goals, and consciences, are more reliable, dedicated, and committed employees.

There is a tremendous amount of information and discussion on the market today having to do with “bringing your soul to work” or “spirituality in the workplace”. Whether surfing the net for websites and articles, scanning Amazon.com, or cruising your local bookstore, it’s clear that this is a worldwide phenomenon. From the US to the UK to New Zealand, companies are beginning to offer their employees more than wages, benefits, and stock options.

One such book, A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America, by Ian Mitroff and Elizabeth Denton, assesses the role of spirituality, religion and values in the workplace. 1995, Laurie Beth Jones wrote her book Jesus CEO using Jesus Christ as an archetype for the new leadership model, and more recently, Dorothy Marcic wrote Managing with the Wisdom of Love extolled by none less than Tom Peters who writes “Work…Virtue…Love. The three can—and should—fit in the same workspace.” And, then, he begs the question: “Why Not?”

While noting that people clearly distinguish between religion and spirituality, Mitroff and Denton found that “the search for meaning, purpose, wholeness and integration … is a constant, never-ending struggle. To confine this search to one day a week or after hours violates people’s basic sense of integrity, of being whole persons. In short, the soul is not something one leaves at home.”

So, what does spirituality in the workplace mean? It means, according to Marcic, that behaviors demanded in the workplace must support and reinforce each person’s values and ideals. —Actions that are honest, create unity, maintain dignity, show humility, demonstrate and develop competence, and, in short, comply with the “Golden Rule”. To do a turn on an old phrase, when you have their hearts and minds, the rest of them will follow.

To illustrate the point, Marcic cited two examples of companies faced with potential major personnel lay-off. One, AT&T, was forced to restructure and downsize by 40,000 people (13% of its workforce), in 1995, in part due to the previous acquisition of NCR at a lofty price of $7.5 billion. Though the stock market responded favorably netting the Chairman a $5 million gain in his company stock on top of a $5.3 million annual salary, 40,000 people were out of work. In contrast, in 1994 the Brazilian firm Semco faced a similar situation when the Brazilian economy collapsed. The owner offered employees the option of layoffs or a 13% pay cut while management took a 40% cut, him included. As a result, nearly every employee retained their job, and the company is once again thriving. 

Which decision engendered trust, unity, humility and inspired confidence and commitment on the part of the surviving employees?

Progressive companies seeking exceptional returns have long recognized that their only sustainable competitive advantage is their people. Now the true leaders are finding that creating an environment that nurtures the whole person engenders increased performance, higher productivity, and even greater commitment.

To prove that virtue is indeed rewarded, Marcic sites the likes of Texas Instruments, Amoco, ServiceMaster and others to equate their spiritual principles and behaviors to business and economic success. Similarly, she points to corporations who have suffered the consequences of behaviors that disregarded spiritual principles in their decision-making process and suffered a cost accordingly.

Spiritual principles need not carry religious doctrine or dogma. To the contrary, the underlying spiritual foundation of all religious traditions offers common ground to recognize the dignity of every individual. Building a culture that embodies these issues will serve the company and its employees well in both good times and lean times. It will inspire commitment, and enable higher productivity, low turnover, and lower recruiting and training costs.