First, some definitions: To be spiritual is about relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit which is not tangible nor material. Spirit is defined as the vital principle or animating force or energy traditionally believed to be within living beings. The soul is the spirit in man and is often conceived in religions as an immaterial entity that is immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.
Leaders of organizations, who are concerned with positively affecting the soul and providing employees with the freedom to practice their diverse religious beliefs, may decide to manage the workplace environment with spiritual sensitivity.
Experts say U.S. workplaces have become more religiously diverse, forcing companies to rethink everything from vacation policies to the cafeteria menu. And though managers of all faiths are bringing a spiritual touch to the corner office, in the U.S., evangelical Christians are the most active.
Christian managers say there's no inherent contradiction between running a company--even a public one with its commitment to maximize shareholder value--and behaving spiritually. And lawyers say it's generally not a problem to run a public company on faith-based principles, as long as the executives make those principles clear to shareholders, and make sure they don't follow faith to the exclusion of investor interests.
Skeptics say religion in the executive suite can alienate people with other beliefs. Federal law prohibits discrimination in hiring or promotion on the basis of religion. Employers may express religious views as long as staffers of different faiths don't feel pressured or unwelcome.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization is the 'gatekeeper' to the employees and workplace environment. Without an enlightened attitude by corporate leadership, there is a good chance that their private evangelical religious beliefs will be pushed on employees to the exclusion of other faiths; with spirituality at work being downgraded to the boss' favorite flavor of religion. Because most religions firmly believe that theirs is "the only way," it is questionable if most CEOs actually commit to paving the way for religious diversity in the practice of spirituality at work.
The Vital Core in the Practice of Spirituality@Work
I know of one exceptional company that actually provided for a corporate infrastructure, based on the 'servant leader' concept, and took a holistic approach to spirituality at work. In a February 22, 1983 memo to all employees, the management team stated:
"For more than 50 years, this company has been developing into an organization with a special spirit and value system built around a unique group of people--the employees. An underlying principle of the company's development has been to establish an environment which would maximize the opportunity for each employee to grow, develop and serve to his or her greatest potential.
To assure the perpetuation of the company and its ability to continue to serve these aims and ideals, individual ownership of common stock has been replaced by a new Capital Fund which is to be administered by a Board of Trustees to foster corporate growth and financial health and to see that employees are paid fairly and rewarded according to their contribution.
The Trustees have the fiduciary responsibility to see that the corporate values of integrity, excellence and quality, equal opportunity and freedom of religion are maintained and that each generation of management is training its successors. The Trustees elect the Board of Directors who establish overall policy and the Board of Directors elect the Officers and Managers who will implement the policies, manage and operate the company."
In the original by-laws of the Capital Fund (adopted on July 25, 1984), these specific sentences reflect the corporate intent:
"Provide equal opportunity for all employees and associates to develop his or her talents, attitudes and capabilities for the good of the person, the corporation and those in any relationship to the corporation;
Complete religious freedom is to be practiced within the company with no exclusionist pressure applied to support a specific religious viewpoint. At the same time the spiritual impulses motivating individuals may be recognized and appreciated so long as they do not encroach upon the free will of another. All employees shall be free to profess their opinions in matters of religion, without diminishing, enhancing, or in any way affecting their careers in the company.
Encourage and nurture managers to perpetuate the servant leader concept and select, train and develop later generations of managers in this concept;"
This servant leadership example illustrates that spirituality in the workplace is possible and may be helpful to others who wish to create and/or preserve the common sense concept of allowing moral values to transcend belief in a specific religion.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2006 and the original by-laws of an unnamed company's Capital Fund