Measuring spirituality in South Africa: Validation of instruments developed in the USA

Walt, Freda van der; Klerk, Jeremias J. de

doi:10.3109/09540261.2014.907129

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Software developers in this sample tended to work longer than the 40 h/week norm in South Africa, with the mean number of working hours being 45.3 h/week (n = 253, SD = 11.7). Although the mean value is higher than the norm, it is not unexpected, as it is common for highly skilled workers in South Africa to work extra hours (Van der Walt & De Klerk, 2014).…”

Section: Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…In order not to compromise on data validity, only cases where respondents actually made use of FWAs, both flexitime and http://www.sajhrm.co.za Open Access telecommuting, were included in the analyses regarding the use of FWAs. Research instruments developed elsewhere in the world do not necessarily have the same structure when applied in an emerging economy (De Klerk, Boshoff, & Van Wyk, 2009;Van der Walt & De Klerk, 2014). The UWES-9 was thus first validated for the South African sample in this study, through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.…”

Section: Data Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the CFA, all the relationships were significant, but estimated errors for three items > 3.7 suggested a restructuring of the model. Based on the EFA and the CFA, three changes to the UWES-9 model were incorporated, namely, removing items 5 and 6, and moving item 7 from dedication to factor 1 (absorption), as recommended by De Klerk et al (2009) and Van der Walt and De Klerk (2014). Table 2 shows the main fit indices for the adjusted model.…”

Section: Validating Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9mentioning

confidence: 99%

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To flex or not to flex? Flexible work arrangements amongst software developers in an emerging economy

Conradie

Klerk

2019

SA Journal of Human Resource Management

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Orientation: Professional workers increasingly have the ability to do their work outside normal working hours, while being away from the workplace or from the comfort of their homes. Advancements in technology have made flexible work arrangements (FWAs) much easier and viable for corporates to consider. Research purpose:Although research mostly confirms the benefits of FWAs, research on the outcomes of FWAs is somewhat inconclusive and sometimes contradicting, both within and across developed and emerging economies.Motivation for the study: It is important to advance our understanding of the use of FWAs and their outcomes so that organisations in emerging economies have a valid basis for considering the implementation of FWAs.Research approach/design and method: This study applied survey-based research to investigate the use and outcome of two of the most common FWAs -flexible working-time hours and telecommuting -amongst software developers in an emerging economy. Main findings:The results indicate that employers in South African software development sector have largely adopted FWAs, and that developers use flexible working arrangements and perceive them to be beneficial for themselves and their organisations. The study results confirm that FWAs do not correlate with fewer working hours but do correlate with increased levels of both engagement and performance.Practical/managerial implications: The findings are important in the light of critical shortage of and the resulting high pressure on software developers. Employers in emerging economies such as South Africa could seriously consider implementing FWAs, can probably do so with confidence and are likely to receive support from their staff. Contribution/value-add:The findings of this study are significant because they confirm that the workplace flexibility provided by FWA is effective, also in a developing economy such as South Africa.

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Section: Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Data Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Validating Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9mentioning

confidence: 99%

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To flex or not to flex? Flexible work arrangements amongst software developers in an emerging economy

Conradie

Klerk

2019

SA Journal of Human Resource Management

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“…The primary motivation for the current article is to explore linkages between the emerging and increasingly popular research domain of workplace spirituality (van der Walt & de Klerk, 2014), with the more traditional research domain of PE fit. Like recent research on POS (Cameron, 2012), workplace spirituality can be been seen as building on mainstay organizational theories like PE fit by focusing more explicitly on the humanistic aspect of work (Lavine, Bright, Powley, & Cameron, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of workplace spirituality for person–environment fit theory.

Milliman¹,

Gatling²,

Bradley-Geist³

2017

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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Person–environment (PE) fit theory is based on the premise that people flourish in work settings that are compatible with their skills, interests, values, and other characteristics. While the premise of PE fit theory appears to be straightforward, it is actually a complex and evolving framework with much left to be understood about what exactly “fit” encompasses and how it relates to human behavior and organizational outcomes. In contrast to the vast literature on PE fit theory, which dates back more than 100 years, workplace spirituality is a more nascent research domain that has gained traction primarily within the last decade. Research on workplace spirituality has been informed not only by traditional organizational behavior (OB) theories, but also has developed in a similar fashion with the positive organizational scholarship (POS) movement in that both seek to more fully examine the humanistic nature of individuals at work, such as whether employees experience their work as fulfilling a higher “calling” for meaning and purpose. The current article seeks to integrate these 2 research domains with the following 3 goals: (a) illustrate similarities between 3 workplace spirituality dimensions and 3 PE fit dimensions, (b) highlight the unique contribution that workplace spirituality can add to traditional PE fit theory, and (c) outline a future agenda for research which integrates workplace spirituality and PE fit theory to further our understanding of the human experience of work as it relates to important individual, group, and organizational outcomes.

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“…Albeit the theory of SpL carries academic rigour and potency, it has not yet converted into an empirically developed and tested instrument within the South African organisational context. (Van Der Walt & De Klerk, 2014) and even more so during a crisis (and the recovery, post the crisis). Spiritual leadership will enhance the followers' wellness because it embraces ethics and honesty and empowers followers in succeeding to achieve fulfilment, higher purpose and ultimately self-actualisation (Ferguson & Milliman, 2008).…”

Section: Background Of and Rationale For The Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The development and validation of a spiritual leadership scale within the South African context

Grobler,

Sibanda

2024

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology

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Orientation: Globalisation and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in a change in leadership in the work environment – this necessitated a relook into classical leadership constructs, but importantly, with the consideration of contextual influences. Spiritual leadership (SpL), which is the focus of this article, has however been predominantly viewed from a Eurocentric perspective.Research purpose: To develop and validate an instrument to measure SpL within the South African context.Motivation for the study: It is argued that SpL is important for organisational performance, employee contentment and wellness. Albeit the theory of SpL carries academic rigour and potency, it has not yet converted into an empirically developed and tested instrument within the South African organisational context.Research approach/design and method: This empirical study was conducted from a quantitative positivist paradigm, utilising a cross-sectional design. A total of 5308 participants completed the self-administered survey from organisations in both the public and private sectors. The analysis includes item screening, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), test for common method bias (CMB), determination of convergent validity and invariance analysis (configural, metric and scalar).Main findings: The results yielded reliable and valid SpL instrument, which is invariant with regards to the private and public sectors used in this study. The results of the study were also not influenced by CMB.Practical/managerial implications: This study provides a validated contextualised scale that can be used to measure leadership efficiency and efficacy.Contribution/value-add: The practical and academic value is the newly developed SpL instrument for the context of South African organisations. It can thus be used with confidence by organisational researchers and academics.

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Measuring spirituality in South Africa: Validation of instruments developed in the USA

Cited by 12 publications

References 46 publications

To flex or not to flex? Flexible work arrangements amongst software developers in an emerging economy

To flex or not to flex? Flexible work arrangements amongst software developers in an emerging economy

The implications of workplace spirituality for person–environment fit theory.

The development and validation of a spiritual leadership scale within the South African context

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