Managing high workplace spirituality and employee flourishing in crises: The role of servant leaders
Author Identifier
Muhammad Aftab Alam: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1657-5795
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Title
Academy of Management Proceedings
Publisher
Academy of Management
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
71858
Abstract
Employee flourishing has been emphasized as a vital determinant of organizational success and continuity in the long term. Although previous research has acknowledged the role of a spiritual work environment in promoting the well-being of employees, we lack understanding regarding whether workplace spirituality, constituted by meaningful work, sense of community, and organizational value alignment stimulate employee flourishing. Furthermore, despite recent studies highlighting the potential dark side of workplace spirituality, research has remained largely silent on diminishing outcomes of workplace spirituality, especially in the face of stressful and crisis situations such as COVID-19 pandemic. This paper builds on self-determination theory to investigate the potential benefits and drawbacks of individual dimensions of workplace spirituality on employee flourishing. We further provide a systematic assessment of the moderation effect of servant leadership in the relationship between each dimension of workplace spirituality and employee flourishing. An analysis of data obtained from 405 senior employees of Indian SMEs during the recent COVID-19 lockdown indicates that while meaningful work and sense of community drive employee flourishing, organizational value alignment has a curvilinear relationship with employee flourishing. Furthermore, while the above-mentioned linear relationships are strengthened, the curvilinear relationship is attenuated when CEOs adopt a servant leadership style. Our findings and discussion have substantial theoretical and practical implications for how practitioners can enhance or inhibit employees’ positive emotions in difficult times.
DOI
10.5465/AMPROC.2023.11131abstract
Access Rights
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Comments
Vesal, M., & Alam, M. A. (2023). Managing high workplace spirituality and employee flourishing in crises: The role of servant leaders. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2023(1). https://doi.org/10.5465/amproc.2023.11131abstract