HRM and workplace spirituality: some thoughts, notes and observations

The topic of spirituality and faith in the workplace is generating increasing interest among numerous stakeholders: business leaders, workers of all ranks, labour union representatives and academic researchers. Despite the challenges and opportunities presented by an array of spiritual and religious issues in the workplace, people management scholars have been relatively slow engaging in this upcoming topic. The aim of the paper is to identify, document, and analyze those scholarly sources where HRM and workplace spirituality, religion included, have been engaged in academic discourse and in documented practice. The article presents results of a keyword search in the 2013 Handbook of Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace (Neal, 2013). It identifies four distinct areas of HRM engagement with workplace spirituality: legal and equal employment opportunity issues; leadership and managerial spirituality; spiritual development programs; and sourcing & recruitment. Based on our review and analysis of the literature we argue that an explicit link between HRM and workplace spirituality has been demonstrated. More research is necessary to further our understanding on the role of HRM in workplace spirituality.