Workplace spirituality, work-family conflict and intention to stay

Abstract

Purpose Teaching is generally seen as a calling, rather than just a formal profession. In the context of commercialization of higher education, with increased workloads and lack of community relationships, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of employees’ experience of workplace spirituality on intention to stay with the organization, mediated through work–family conflict. The study seeks to add to theory development in the area of workplace spirituality and its outcomes, by examining the theoretical framework through the lens of self-determination theory of motivation. Design/methodology/approach This descriptive study was conducted among a sample of 350 teachers, working in the private sector higher educational institutes in India, selected through purposive sampling. Validated and widely accepted tests were administered among the respondents and structural equation modeling was done to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The findings of the study suggest that amongst the current generation of teachers, experience of workplace spirituality and work–family conflict (WFC) plays a significant role in predicting intention to stay with the organization. Employees’ experience of dimensions of workplace spirituality had varying influences on WFC and intention to stay with the organization. WFC mediated the relationships between two dimensions of workplace spirituality (meaningful work and sense of community) and intention to stay, but not the relationship between alignment with organizational values and intention to stay. Originality/value This study is pioneering in conceptualizing and testing a theoretical model linking workplace spirituality, work–family conflict and intention to stay, particularly through the self-determination motivational theory perspective. To improve employees’ intention to stay with the organizations, managers need to devise strategies aimed at facilitating connectedness and lowered WFC. Personalized work–family policies might be the need of the hour, as to contain the inherent WFC in contemporary organizations.