Although a positive organizational culture does not ignore problems, it does emphasize showing workers how they can capitalize on their strengths. As management guru Peter Drucker said, “Most Americans do not know what their strengths are. When you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer.” Wouldn’t it be better to be in an organizational culture that helped you discover your strengths and how to make the most of them?

Although most organizations are sufficiently focused on extrinsic rewards such as pay and promotions, they often forget about the power of smaller (and cheaper) rewards such as praise. Part of creating a positive organizational culture is “catching employees doing something right.” Many managers withhold praise because they’re afraid employees will coast or because they think praise is not valued. Employees generally don’t ask for praise, and managers usually don’t realize the costs of failing to give it.

No organization will get the best from employees who see themselves as mere cogs in the machine. A positive culture recognizes the difference between a job and a career. It supports not only what the employee contributes to organizational effectiveness but how the organization can make the employee more effective—personally and professionally.

Is a positive culture a cure-all? Though many companies have embraced aspects of a positive organizational culture, it is a new enough idea for us to be uncertain about how and when it works best.

Not all national cultures value being positive as much as the U.S. culture does and, even within U.S. culture, there surely are limits to how far organizations should go. The limits may need to be dictated by the industry and society. For example, Admiral, a British insurance company, has established a Ministry of Fun in its call centers to organize poem writing, foosball, conkers (a British game involving chestnuts), and fancy-dress days, which may clash with an industry value of more serious cultures. When does the pursuit of a positive culture start to seem coercive? As one critic notes, “Promoting a social orthodoxy of positiveness focuses on a particular constellation of desirable states and traits but, in so doing, can stigmatize those who fail to fit the template.”68 There may be benefits to establishing a positive culture, but an organization also needs to be objective and not pursue it past the point of effectiveness.

Workplace spirituality is not about organized religious practices. It’s not about God or theology. Workplace spirituality recognizes that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work in the context of community.69 Organizations that support a spiritual culture recognize that people seek to find meaning and purpose in their work and desire to connect with other human beings as part of a community. Many of the topics we have discussed—ranging from job design to corporate social responsibility (CSR)—are well matched to the concept of organizational spirituality. When a company emphasizes its commitment to paying third-world suppliers a fair (above-market) price for their products to facilitate community development—as did Starbucks—or encourages employees to share prayers or inspirational messages through e-mail—as did Interstate Batteries—it may encourage a more spiritual culture.70

As noted in our discussion of emotions in Chapter 4, the myth of rationality assumed the well-run organization eliminated people’s feelings. Concern about an employee’s inner life had no role in the perfectly rational model. But just as we realize that the study of emotions improves our understanding of OB, an awareness of spirituality can help us better understand employee behavior.

Of course, employees have always had an inner life. So why has the search for meaning and purposefulness in work surfaced now? We summarize the reasons in Exhibit 16-5.

The concept of workplace spirituality draws on our previous discussions of values, ethics, motivation, and leadership. Although research remains preliminary, several cultural characteristics tend to be evident in spiritual organizations:71

• Benevolence. Spiritual organizations value kindness toward others and the happiness of employees and other organizational stakeholders.

• Strong sense of purpose. Spiritual organizations build their cultures around a meaningful purpose. Although profits may be important, they’re not the primary value.

• Trust and respect. Spiritual organizations are characterized by mutual trust, honesty, and openness. Employees are treated with esteem and are valued, consistent with the dignity of each individual.

• Open-mindedness. Spiritual organizations value flexible thinking and creativity among employees.

Many organizations have grown interested in spirituality but have experienced difficulty putting principles into practice. Several types of practices can facilitate a spiritual workplace,72 including those that support work–life balance. Leaders can demonstrate values, attitudes, and behaviors that trigger intrinsic motivation and a sense of fulfilling a calling through work. Second, encouraging employees to consider how their work provides a sense of purpose can help achieve a spiritual workplace; often this is done through group counseling and organizational development, a topic we take up in Chapter 17. Third, a growing number of companies, including Taco Bell and Sturdisteel, offer employees the counseling services of corporate chaplains. Many chaplains are employed by agencies, such as Marketplace Chaplains USA, while some corporations, such as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Tyson Foods, employ chaplains directly. The workplace presence of corporate chaplains, who are often ordained Christian ministers, is obviously controversial, although their role is not to increase spirituality but to help human resources departments serve the employees who already have Christian beliefs.73 Similar roles for leaders of other faiths certainly must be encouraged.

Critics of the spirituality movement in organizations have focused on three issues. First is the question of scientific foundation. There is comparatively little research on workplace spirituality, and it has been defined so broadly in some sources that practices from job rotation to corporate retreats at meditation centers have been identified as spiritual. Second, an emphasis on spirituality can clearly make some employees uneasy. Critics have argued that secular institutions, especially business firms, should not impose spiritual values on employees.74 This criticism is undoubtedly valid when spirituality is defined as bringing religion and God into the workplace. However, it seems less stinging when the goal is limited to helping employees find meaning and purpose in their work lives. Finally, whether spirituality and profits are compatible objectives is a relevant concern for managers and investors in business. The evidence, although limited, indicates they are. In one study, organizations that provided their employees with opportunities for spiritual development outperformed those that didn’t.75 Other studies reported that spirituality in organizations was positively related to creativity, employee satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.76