Communicating Workplace Spirituality

Abstract

Workplace spirituality has been the focus of many studies, which underline its importance for organizations and employees. While most larger employers have embraced inclusion strategies that recognize and support neurodiversity, gender, race, ability, and other characteristics, spirituality appears to be excluded from the conversation, despite evidence of its benefits. This study explores the question, “how are large Canadian employers signalling a commitment to workplace spirituality to prospective employees?” Employing content analysis, the websites of 25 large Canadian organizations were examined to discover: (1) how they publicly communicate spirituality; (2) what can be inferred from this communication; and, (3) what first steps organizations can take to signal spirituality to prospective employees. The findings show few of these organizations publicly communicate spirituality, either explicitly or implicitly. We also examine the barriers and opportunities explicit declarations of spiritual support create in attracting and retaining talent.