Blending Higher Purpose and Spirituality into Business Operations

Learning Objective: Identify the factors in catering for new expectations among employees and how companies and organisations can link these to higher purpose, performance and improved employee wellness.

What if you were rewarded not only for work place efficiency, but also for good karma? Today, employees – especially Millennials – have a different outlook towards work, seeking to work with organisations that are committed to values and ethics, and where there is a ‘higher purpose’ than just simply making profit. How can companies and organisations obtain that? Blending higher purpose into business operations through spirituality may be one of the answers.

An unconventional solution can be found in Buddhism which focuses on attaining a higher meaning and following the path to moksha – or liberation. Buddhism tells its followers to take greater personal responsibility for their doings, to have healthy detachment where necessary and to embrace a wholesome view of their actions.

As such, embracing spirituality within organisations may lead to better decision-making, enhanced creativity, reduced absenteeism, and greater emotional control. And for the company, it means reassessing how they measure performance. Indeed, many large companies such as Google and Target are already employing similar practices and reaping their benefits while others use CSR activities and corporate volunteering programmes.

So how can organisations cater for the expectations of their new generations of employees and foster spirituality and higher purpose? Professor Haley Beer, Warwick Business School, draws on her research to identify the factors in catering for new expectations among employees and how companies and organisations can link these to higher purpose, performance and improved employee wellness.

______________________________________________________

Blending Higher Purpose and Spirituality into Business Operations: The latest in an ongoing series of Council on Business & Society Research Pods – condensed learning capsules inspired from internationally published research in the fields of CSR, management & leadership, HR, sustainable finance & reporting, social enterprise, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and sustainable business practices.

The 3 Ps in a CoBS Pod