Workplace spirituality and organization sustainability: a theoretical perspective on hospitality employees’ sustainable behavior

• Published in: Environment, development and sustainability Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 1583 - 1601
• Main Authors: Rezapouraghdam, Hamed, Alipour, Habib, Arasli, Huseyin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.08.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bedrock; Behavior; Biodiversity; Deterioration; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Economic Geology; Economic Growth; Empathy; Employees; Environment; Environmental Economics; Environmental Management; Inequality; Literature reviews; Natural resources; Organizations; Review; Sense of community; Social capital; Spirituality; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Sustainable practices; Sympathy; Tourism; Uplift; Value orientations; Widening; Work environment; Working conditions; Workplaces; Hospitality employee; Workplace spirituality; Sustainable behavior; Organizational sustainability
• ISSN: 1387-585X; 1573-2975
• DOI: 10.1007/s10668-018-0120-4

Organizations are under pressure to find new, sustainable practices to help deal with the deterioration of biodiversity, widening social inequality, and unsustainable use of scarce resources. The most pressing challenge for organizations is how to engage every employee in organizational sustainability process/practice, which is vital for a collective approach toward achieving organizational sustainability. This issue is even more of a concern in tourism and hospitality, which depends heavily on natural resources on the one hand, but is a labor-intensive sector with a huge number of employees on the other hand. However, there is a gap and lack of adequate focus in hospitality literature regarding workplace spirituality’s role, an employee-friendly work environment that raises the spirit of employees, and its contribution to the promotion of sustainable behavior among the employees. Nevertheless, some studies argue that workplace spirituality enhances the sense of community, increases other-centeredness value orientation, boosts social capital, and promotes empathy and compassion in the work environment. Based on a review of the literature, this study conceptually establishes a connection between workplace spirituality and sustainable behavior of employees at the organizational level. Thus, it is suggested that hospitality organizations can cultivate workplace spirituality and the creation of moral bedrock within the organizational space. The outcome of this process will uplift employees’ commitment to sustainable practices, environmental values, and their organization’s prosperity.