Although spirituality at work is increasingly raising academics’ and practioneers’ interest, to date virtually no scientific insights on effects and applications of spirituality at work in Germany are available due to lack of suitable German-language scales. We contribute
to facilitation of future research by developing two culturally adapted German-language spirituality at work scales – based on the Faith at Work Scale (FAWS) and the Spirit at Work Scale (SAWS). In study 1, we evaluate the two German-language instruments, G-FAWS and G-SAWS, using explorative
factor analysis with data from northern Germany (N = 148). On average, we find better scale properties of G-SAWS, and develop a five-item short version (G-S-SAWS). Study 2 (N = 179) provides additional validity analyzes. Based on Study 3 with data from all across Germany
(N = 2,568), we discuss generalizability for Germany with all its spiritually heterogeneous parts.
Spirituality at work is increasingly attracting attention in management research, especially in the Anglo-Saxon and Asian contexts. However, for the German context, we know little about spirituality at work from scientific research, and findings and results from other sources are broadly scattered. Using a mixed-methods approach, we collect first findings on employer’s perception of spirituality at work and specific HRM practices in German workplaces. We analyse daily newspapers and related best-practice publications and conduct a small-scale qualitative employer survey in Northern Germany. To structure the results, we propose three main impact perspectives on spirituality in the workplace (workforce diversity, employee needs, and employer capabilities) as well as different employer stances in dealing with these three perspectives, from faith-avoiding to faith-based (Miller & Ewest, 2015). In all three perspectives and stances, companies already implement different HR activities under different expectations and perceptions. Some German organisations already address the needs perspective by room-related tools, working time-related tools, food-related offers, and instruments that facilitate coordination and cooperation in multi-religious settings. Employer stances differ concerning religious and non-religious spirituality. While employers view nonreligious spirituality in the company as generally positive (faith-friendly), they are often sceptical of religious spirituality at work (faith-avoiding or faith-safe).
Although research has established a positive link between spirituality or religiousness and job satisfaction, this influence’s pathways remain a ‘black box’. Whether it is an effect of a trait- relationship or of a need-satisfaction-relationship remains an open question. Additionally, data and results for West European countries are largely missing. Following King and Williamson (2005), and with a large-scale dataset for Germany (N = 2,551), we empirically assess the link between religiousness and job satisfaction, considering individual employees’ desire to express religiousness and actual expression at work in a serial mediation model, scrutinizing also the influences of discrimination experiences and perceived employers’ stances on religiousness at work. Results strongly support the needs-satisfaction perspective, implying high relevance of workplace spirituality for human resource management (HRM) but also of the research field of management, spirituality and religion in general. Contrary to our expectations, experiences of religious-based discrimination and the perception of a negative employer stance influence the desire to express religiousness at work and de facto expressions positively.
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