Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Donna Brown

Abstract

Employee engagement is a significant problem for leaders in most organizations today. Though many reasons are given for the growing number of disengaged employees, little is understood about what role spirituality in the workplace may play into employee engagement. Humanocracy theory guided the study on three aspects of workplace spirituality, employee engagement, and meaningfulness of work. An online survey combining elements of a Spiritual Well-being Scale, the Work and Meaning Inventory, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was administered to 325 human resource managers. Linear multiple regression results showed a strong negative correlation between spiritual well-being and job engagement, and no significant correlation between spiritual well-being and workplace meaningfulness, which contradicted findings in the literature. Results indicated the need for future research and to further refine a working definition of spirituality as it applies to the workplace and to identify or redefine traditional variables to better assess engagement and meaningfulness within a new workplace landscape. The findings may also be indicative of how the landscape of traditional workplace culture is shifting with the values and motivations of a workforce of newer generations. The findings of this study make apparent the urgency to rethink the definition of spirituality and its application to the workplace and employee engagement. The workplace today is often a barometer of societal norms and values. Understanding the need for new ways to view engagement, spirituality, and meaning has the potential to extend beyond the organization to the communities and society the organizations exist within and serve.

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