Abstract
Learning organizations are in dire need of teaching professionals eager to develop and grow up fast while maintaining a positive aura around them. An agile workforce consists of upbeat, adjustable, supple, adventurous and pliant employees who perceive life optimistically and flaunt an open mind to gather wisdom for personal development; have better analytical skills; can acclimatize continuously with the changing work environment. Teachers are the soul of any academic institution, and there is an urgent need to cultivate an agile teaching workforce by assisting them to be psychologically empowered. The key purpose of the present study is to establish a relationship between workplace spirituality (WS) and workforce agility (WA) among teaching professionals. The current research article proposes a model or conceptual framework linking the components of WS, WA and psychological empowerment (PSYEMP) in educational organizations. This is an original work that proposes a model where WS has an impact upon the WA of teaching professionals through the mediating effect of PSYEMP. WS is thus an emerging paradigm for augmenting the agility of teaching workforce in educational organizations. Future implications on ways to enhance the agility of teaching professionals are further recommended.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashforth, B. E. (1989). The experience of powerlessness in organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,43(2), 207–242.
Ashmos, D. P., & Duchon, D. (2000). Spirituality at work: A conceptualization and measure. Journal of Management Inquiry,9(2), 134–144.
Avolio, B. J., Zhu, W., Koh, W., & Bhatia, P. (2004). Transformational leadership and organizational commitment: Mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance. Journal of Organizational Behavior,25, 951–968.
Bell, N. E., & Staw, B. M. (1989). People as sculptors versus sculpture. In M. B. Arthur, D. T. Hall, & B. S. Lawrence (Eds.), Handbook of career theory (pp. 232–251). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Breu, K., Hemingway, C. J., Strathern, M., & Bridger, D. (2002). Workforce agility: The new employee strategy for the knowledge economy. Journal of Information Technology,17(1), 21–31.
Chonko, L. B., & Jones, E. (2005). The need for speed: Agility selling. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management,25(4), 371–382.
Condry, J., & Chambers, J. (1978). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning. In M. R. Lepper & D. Greene (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward (pp. 61–84). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Conger, J. A., & Kanungo, R. N. (1988). The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of Management Review,13(3), 471–482.
Dehler, G. E., & Welsh, M. A. (2003). The experience of work: Spirituality and the new workplace. In R. A. Giacalone & C. L. Jurkiewicz (Eds.), Handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance (pp. 108–122). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Dyer, L., & Shafer, R. (2003). Dynamic organizations: achieving marketplace and organizational agility with people. In R. S. Peterson & E. A. Mannix (Eds.), Leading and managing people in the dynamic organization (pp. 7–38). Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
Frese, M., Fay, D., Hilburger, T., Leng, K., & Tag, A. (1997). The concept of personal initiative: Operationalization, reliability and validity in two German samples. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,70, 139–161.
Giacalone, R. A., & Jurkiewicz, C. L. (2003). Handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance. New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Gockel, A. (2004). The trend toward spirituality in the workplace: Overview and implications for career counseling. Journal of Employment Counseling,41, 156–167.
Graber, D. R., & Johnson, J. A. (2001). Spirituality and healthcare organizations. Journal of Healthcare Management,46(1), 39–50.
Gregory, B. T., Albritton, M. D., & Osmonbekov, T. (2010). The mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relationships between P–O fit, job satisfaction and in-role performance. The Journal of Business & Psychology,25(4), 639–647.
Griffin, B., & Hesketh, B. (2003). Adaptable behaviors for successful work and career adjustment. Australian Journal of Psychology,55(2), 65–73.
Hays, P. A. (2007). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Highsmith, J. (2001). History: The agile manifesto. Retrieved from January 10, 2019. http://agilemanifesto.org/history.html.
Hosein, Z. Z., & Yousefi, A. (2012). The role of emotional intelligence on workforce agility in the workplace. International Journal of Psychological Studies,4(3), 48–61.
Jena, L. K. (2018). Develop mechanisms to support and understand emotional health issues in organizations. Business Manager,21(5), 19–22.
Jena, L. K. (2019). Is there room for spirituality at workplace? People Matters. Retrieved August 19, 2019 from https://peoplematters.in/article/life-at-work/is-there-room-for-spirituality-at-our-workplace-20839.
Jena, L.K., & Pradhan, R.K. (2015). Emotions at Workplace: Insights and Challenges in Indian Context. India Journal of Training and Development (IJTD), Indian Society for Training & Development,45(3), 44–53.
Jena, L. K., & Pradhan, S. (2018). Workplace spirituality and employee commitment: The role of emotional intelligence and organisational citizenship behavior in Indian organizations. Journal of Enterprise Information Management,31(3), 380–404.
Karakas, F. (2010). Spirituality and performance in organizations: A literature review. Journal of Business Ethics,94, 89–106.
Kazemipour, F., & Amin, M. S. (2012). The impact of workplace spirituality dimensions on organizational citizenship behavior among nurses with the mediating effect of affective organizational commitment. Journal of Nursing Management,20(8), 1039–1048.
Kazu, H., & Demiralp, D. (2016). Faculty members’ views on the effectiveness of teacher training programs to upskill life-long learning competence. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research,63, 205–224. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2016.63.12.
Kidd, P. T. (1994). Agile manufacturing: Forging new frontiers. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley.
Kim-Prieto, C., & Diener, E. (2009). Religion as a source of cultural variation in the experience of positive and negative emotions. The Journal of Positive Psychology,4(6), 447–460.
Kinjerski, V. M., & Skrypnek, B. J. (2004). Defining spirit at work: Finding common ground. Journal of Organizational Change Management,17(1), 26–42.
Laabs, J. J. (1995). Balancing spirituality and work. Personnel Journal,74(9), 60–72.
Liden, R. C., & Arad, S. (1996a). A power perspective of empowerment and work groups: Implication for human resource management research. In G. R. Ferris & J. J. Martocchio (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 14, pp. 205–251). Greenwich, CT: Emerald Group Publishing.
Liden, R. C., & Arad, S. (1996b). A power perspective of empowerment and work groups: Implication for human resource management research. In G. R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 14, pp. 205–251). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Llorens, S., Salanova, M., Bakker, A., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2007). Does a positive gain spiral of resources, efficacy beliefs and engagement exists? Computers in Human Behavior,23, 825–841.
Marques, J., Dhiman, S., & King, R. (2005). Spirituality in the workplace: Developing an integral model and a comprehensive definition. Journal of American Academy of Business,7(1), 81–91.
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology,52, 397–422.
May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,77, 11–37.
Menon, S. T. (1999). Psychological empowerment: Definition, measurement and validation. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science,31(3), 161–164.
Miller, D. W. (2007). God at work: The history and promise of the faith at work movement. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Mitroff, I., & Denton, E. (1999). A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐ Bass.
Milliman, J., Czaplewski, A. J., & Ferguson, J. (2003). Workplace spirituality and employee work attitudes: An exploratory empirical assessment. Journal of Organizational Change Management,16(4), 426–447.
Muduli, A. (2008). Exploring the determinants of empowerment climate in Indian industry. Management and Labor Studies,33(3), 354–372.
Muduli, A. (2015). High performance work system, HRD climate and organizational performance: An empirical study. European Journal of Training and Development,39(3), 239–257.
Muduli, A. (2017). Workforce agility: Examining the role of organizational practices and psychological empowerment. Global Business and Organizational Excellence,36, 46–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.21800.
Muduli, A., & Pandya, G. (2018). Psychological empowerment and workforce agility. Psychological Studies,63(3), 276–285.
Neck, C. P., & Milliman, J. F. (1994). Thought self-leadership: Finding spiritual fulfillment in organizational life. Journal of managerial psychology,9(6), 9–16.
Nelson, D. L., & Simmons, B. L. (2002). Health psychology and work stress: A more positive approach. In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (pp. 97–119). Washington: American Psychological Association.
Nijssen, M., & Paauwe, J. (2012). HRM in turbulent times: How to achieve organizational agility? The International Journal of Human Resource Management,23(16), 3315–3335.
Olivier, A. L., & Rothmann, S. (2007). Antecedents of work engagement in a multinational oil company. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology,33(3), 49–56.
Ozorak, E. W. (2005). Cognitive approaches to religion. In R. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 216–234). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Paul, M., & Saha, P. (2015). Workplace Spirituality: The essence of modern business organizations. International Journal of Research and Development A Management Review,14(3), 50–56.
Plonka, F. S. (1997). Developing a lean and agile work force. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing,7(1), 11–20.
Pradhan, R. K., & Jena, L. K. (2016). Workplace spirituality and employee job behavior: An empirical investigation in Indian Manufacturing Organizations. Paradigm,20(2), 159–175.
Pradhan, R. K., Jena, L. K., & Soto, C. M. (2017). Workplace spirituality in Indian organizations: Construction of reliable and valid measurement scale. Business: Theory and Practice,18(1), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2017.759.
Prahalad, C. K., & Hamel, G. (1990). The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review,68(3), 79–91.
Pulakos, E. D., Arad, S., Donovan, M. A., & Plamondon, K. E. (2000). Adaptability in the workplace: Development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology,85(4), 612–624.
Rajan, P. V., Solairajan, A. S., & Jose, C. G. (2012). Agile product development in submersible pump through CAD modeling. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering,2(11), 397–400.
Rutte, C. G. (2003). Social loafing in teams. In M. West, D. Tjosvold, & K. G. Smith (Eds.), International handbook of organizational teamwork and cooperative working (pp. 361–378). Chichester: Wiley.
Ryan, R. M., Huta, V., & Deci, E. L. (2008). Living well: A self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies,9, 139–170.
Seibert, S. E., Wang, G., & Courtright, S. H. (2011). Antecedents and consequences of psychological and team empowerment in organizations: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology,96(5), 981–1003.
Sherehiy, B. (2008). Relationships between agility strategy, work organization and workforce agility. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Louisville: University of Louisville.
Sharifi, H., & Zhang, Z. (1999). A methodology for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations. An introduction, International Journal of Production Economics,62(1-2), 7–22.
Sherehiy, B., & Karwowski, W. (2014). The relationship between work organization and workforce agility in small manufacturing enterprises. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics,44(3), 466–473.
Shin, S. J., & Zhou, J. (2003). Transformational leadership, conservation, and creativity: Evidence from Korea. Academy of Management Journal,46(6), 703–714.
Silberman, I. (2005). Religion as a meaning system: Implications for the new millennium. Journal of Social Issues,61(4), 641–663.
Sjoberg, L., Olsson, G., & Salay, F. (1983). Cathectic orientation, goal setting and mood. Journal of Personality Assessment,47(3), 307–313.
Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimension, measurement and validation. Academy of Management Journal,38(5), 1442–1465.
Spreitzer, G. M. (1996). Social structural characteristics of psychological empowerment. The Academy of Management Journal,39(2), 483–504.
Spreitzer, G. M. (2008). Taking stock: A review of more than twenty years of research on empowerment at work. In C. Cooper, & J. Barling (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational behavior (Vol. 1: Micro approaches, pp. 54–72). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Spreitzer, G. M., Kizilos, M. A., & Nason, S. W. (1997). A dimensional analysis of the relationship between psychological empowerment, and effectiveness, satisfaction, and strain. Journal of Management,23(5), 679–704.
Taylor, F. W. (1947). Scientific management. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Thomas, K. W., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognitive elements of empowerment: An "interpretive" model of intrinsic task motivation. The Academy of Management Review,15(4), 666–681.
Thorlakson, A. J. H., & Murray, R. P. (1996). An empirical study of empowerment in the workplace. Group and Organization Management,21(1), 67–83.
Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organization. New York: Free.
Weitz, B. A., Sujan, H., & Sujan, M. (1986). Knowledge, motivation, and adaptive behavior: A framework for improving selling effectiveness. Journal of Marketing,50(4), 174–191.
Whitaker, B.G., & Westerman, J.W. (2014). Linking spirituality and values through psychological measurement. Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion,11(3), 269–291.
Wolf, T., & Durstmuller, B. J. (2018). Workplace spirituality as a new paradigm for Agile management? Journal of International Business and Economics,18(2), 43–58.
Yusuf, Y. Y., Sarhadi, M., & Gunasekaran, A. (1999). Agile manufacturing: The drivers, concepts and attributes. International Journal of Production Economics,62(1), 33–43.
Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., & Scott, A. B. (1999). The emerging meanings of religiousness and spirituality: Problems and prospects. Journal of Personality,67(6), 889–919.
Funding
No funding agency was involved in this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Standards
The paper has strictly followed the ethical standards.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Paul, M., Jena, L.K. & Sahoo, K. Workplace Spirituality and Workforce Agility: A Psychological Exploration Among Teaching Professionals. J Relig Health 59, 135–153 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00918-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00918-3