Impact of Workplace Spirituality on Occupational Stress – A Case Study of Health Sector in Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Over the decades, the research over spirituality in workplace has significantly increased, and has gained recognition from many scholars and researchers. Workplace spirituality is noted to be a disputed topic because of the vast sets of meaning it holds, but due to advance research by scholars, it can be concluded that it simply means that an employee feels a sense of connection between him/herself and the organization. In this fast moving world, keeping up with the competition and constantly evolving has become extremely important for the organizations. This indicates that employees working for these organizations have to face high level of stress, anxiety, burnouts, fear, and breakdown at work. If such stressful working conditions sustain, they can only help produce fruitful result for a shorter period of time only till the pressure is bearable. When exceeds a limit, employees can no longer contribute their best to the organization as the stress causes hindrances in achieving their day-today tasks, hence, their work life is also affected negatively. No organization wishes to face their loss and have come to the realization that employees are the main pillars for operating the business smoothly. Therefore, to overcome such stressful situation, a healthy working environment, where employees are felt seen and heard, have good working relations with their colleagues and peers is considered very important nowadays. Moreover, employees in 21st century seek to find meaning in their work which nourishes their inner values, beliefs, and goals. For this reason, many organizations today are including workplace spirituality in their work surroundings. This not only helps employees be satisfied and committed with their jobs but also majorly contributes to achievement of high-level end results, desirable outputs, productivity, and profitability of the organization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the independent variable workplace spirituality, on the dependent variable occupational stress, with the mediating role of employee satisfaction in the health sector of Islamabad, Pakistan. This will help gain a better understanding of the application of workplace spirituality to find out its impact on reducing stress in the health sector of Islamabad, Pakistan