BY: PAUL D. MARCEAU, PhD
Dr. Marceau is vice president, mission and ethics, Trinity Health, Novi, MI.
Does It Differ from the Now-Fashionable Versions Found in Other Organizations?
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SUMMARY
"Spirituality in the workplace" has become something of a fad in
corporate America as companies seek to find a balance between their employees'
personal beliefs and the bottom line.
Does this newfound spirituality-meets-margin differ from the spirituality traditionally
observed in faith-based organizations? Often secular organizations, in an attempt
to be as non-offensive and inclusive as possible, adopt an all-or-nothing approach
to workplace spirituality. This can translate into a celebration of every religious
belief system or a "New Age" appeal to universal human values.
Spirituality in a Catholic health care workplace differs, however. It is quite
specific in that it focuses on the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. It is precisely
this healing ministry that nurtures the spirituality found in Catholic health
care organizations and differentiates it from its secular counterparts.
Although nurturing spirituality in the Catholic health care workplace can be
seen as the job of each person involved, from sponsor to caregiver, chaplains
serve an integral role. Their unique perspective and training can be crucial
to successfully fostering an organizational culture based on the values that
Jesus portrayed in the Gospels.
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Earlier this year, I read the following sentence in a memo from the Catholic
Health Association: "Perform an Internet search for 'spirituality
in the workplace' and more than 9,300 web links will appear. In one month
alone, Google turned up 22 news articles related to corporate America and spirituality."1
No wonder people are confused about the topic! And if you were to read all those
articles, you might wind up with even less clarity and understanding of the
subject than you had before you started.
From corporate offices to the local Wal-Mart to government agencies (not to
mention traditional faith-based organizations), spirituality in the workplace
has become a hot topic. The concept of "spirituality"—like "mission"
and "retreat"—has moved over from the cultures of Western Christianity
(and other religious traditions) to secular corporate culture. (Whether this
signifies a positive addition to secular culture, on one hand, or the watering
down of a rich religious tradition, on the other, would make for an interesting
conversation.)
In this article I will focus, first, on spirituality in the workplace, and
then, more specifically, on its place in Catholic health care delivery organizations
(leaving aside corporate office environments, except by extension). Because
Catholic health care employs and serves people of many cultures and faith traditions
(and people with no professed belief at all), it is important to say a few words
about the more broadly based "secular" understanding of spirituality.
What Is Spirituality?
In framing the question we can ask, somewhat baldly: How can people with
no religious belief have spirituality? Isn't some concept of God or the
transcendent essential to spirituality? Not necessarily; not, that is, if spirituality
is about the workings of the humanspirit and its ways in the world.
Every human person dreams, desires, gets disappointed, hurts, and hopes. And,
in the process of living, every person seeks to come to some personal understanding
and make sense of it all. We strive for meaning and purpose, and in doing so
put together a complex network of categories and values that helps us make sense
of our life and our world. This, in turn, gives us a sense of self-worth and
purpose (mission)—and also helps us to cope along the way! The fashioning
of meaning and purpose is never complete, and whatever sense we make of our
life and world is always provisional. Our world of meaning is always being reaffirmed
or challenged by life's events—it is constantly being fragmented,
unraveled, and put back together again in a new way.
Many people include in their world of meaning and purpose an understanding
of God or the transcendent and develop and nurture a relationship to this God.
In the course of human history, shared understandings of the divine have given
birth to the world's great religions. No two people, however, share exactly
the same understanding of God; all relate personally and differently.
Not every personal world of meaning and purpose, however, contains a reference
to God or another transcendent being or spirit. That is why atheists and agnostics
can still have spirituality. Spirituality is about the ways of the human spirit
in the world, for believers and nonbelievers alike.
Spirituality in the Workplace
All that is fine for church and society—but what connection does a person's
spirituality have to General Motors, Southwest Airlines, or any other workplace
environment? Most simply put, you cannot leave your human spirit at home or
in the parking lot when you go to work. "Work" (and home, family,
synagogue, and society) is where we invest the energy, talents, and professional
training that express, incarnate, and fashion our values and beliefs.
Some employers may seek to foster spirituality in the workplace because it
helps boost "employee engagement" and raises their Gallup scores.
Other employers, however, realize that the "spirit at work" enhances
the product or the productivity of the worker. People seek work that is meaningful,
that is worth their time, talents, and energy—work that is worth their
self.
When there is consonance between the mission of the organization and what employees
truly value and want to do with their lives, there is, of course, greater employee
engagement. The work people do adds to their sense of purpose—and they
do not have to find this only in the areas of life outside the workplace. If
the paycheck is the only motivation, employee dissatisfaction will be high.
If what I do with the major portion of my day is important only to someone else—management,
the board, or the stakeholders of the organization—I will feel little motivation
to do it well. But if the work is important to me and worthy of my best self,
it will get my best self.
How the organization nurtures workplace spirituality takes many forms,
not all of them mutually exclusive. The following are a couple of approaches
(in admittedly stereotyped form), which I will critique, suggesting some ways
in which Catholic health care can be both inclusive of its diverse workforce
and true to its Catholic traditions.
"Generic" Spirituality Some organizations, perhaps in an attempt
to include everyone and offend nobody, foster what I would call a "generic
spirituality." A generic spirituality avoids a transcendent reference and
is articulated mostly in humanistic language (which some characterize as "New
Age" spirituality). This type of spirituality could be seen (more cynically)
as appealing to the "least common denominator" in the workforce; or
(more benignly) as appealing to universal human values.
In either case, a generic spirituality is an inadequate model for Catholic
health care. Although the values of the Catholic health ministry do appeal to
universal human values (and thus can appeal to a diverse workforce), they are
much more than that.
"Eclectic" Spirituality Other organizations, again perhaps
in an attempt to include all and offend none, foster what I would call an "eclectic
spirituality." They seek to ensure that every belief system and personal
spirituality in the broad spectrum of the workforce gets recognized and celebrated,
with its holidays and holy days and rituals: Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah, Chinese
New Year's, and Easter all get celebrated in an effort of inclusivity.
Most Catholic health care organizations do, indeed, make attempts to recognize
and celebrate the diverse faiths and cultures represented in their workforces.
The downside of the eclectic approach, however, is that as an organization aims
to include and celebrate all its members equally, there may be a kind of leveling
effect. That eclectic model alone is an inadequate model for the Catholic health
ministry if adopting it means that the Catholic tradition, and the values associated
with it, will be only one among many to be celebrated.
For the Catholic health ministry, I would argue, both the generic and eclectic
models of spirituality are inadequate.
Spirituality in Catholic Health Care
The spirituality of Catholic health care is grounded neither in the collection
of the individual personal beliefs systems represented in its workforce nor
in universal human values but, rather, in the healing ministry of Jesus. It
is a spirituality neither of the collective (the sum total of all personal beliefs)
nor of the common denominator (simply appealing to that which would appeal to
all). It is the spirituality of the organization and its culture.
How can an organization have spirituality? And what might it look like? The
spirituality of Catholic health care is a spirituality that is:
- Rooted in the healing ministry of Jesus
- Shaped by the traditions of its founders
- Brought forward, reshaped, and nurtured by the organization's current
configurations—its sponsoring congregation (or congregations) or a public
juridic person
The values of Jesus portrayed in the Gospel are particularly applicable to this
ministry. Jesus' ministry was especially devoted to people who were poor
and vulnerable; healing and curing was a special sign of the presence of the reign
of God (see, for example, Lk 7:21 and the verses that follow it). Respect, compassion,
unconditional care, and love characterized his mission and ministry. Generations
of Christians have reincarnated these values in their own times. Religious communities
(and their apostolates)—as well as later organizations and systems—were
founded to live out these values, the values of the healing ministry of Jesus.
Although each Catholic health care organization articulates its own expression
of these values, it shares common ground with all other such organizations.
This is especially true today, as institutions founded and shaped by the tradition
of a particular religious community merge and create new systems. They all stand
in the tradition of their founders and sponsors and are shaped by the founders'
and sponsors' spirit. These institutions adhere to a common set of Gospel
values. (I know of no Catholic health care organization concerned about articulating
its own particular "charism" that would try to use that charism in
a way that made the organization unique in the Catholic health care community.)
While each has its own spirit and articulation of its values, it shares with
others the common ground of the healing ministry.
Organizational Responsibilities
If organizational spirituality is an essential dynamic in the organization's
workforce culture, then nurturing the spirit of the organization is not the
exclusive responsibility of any one department or individual. It cannot simply
be delegated to "Organizational Development" or to the mission leader.
The CEO and senior leaders, who themselves hold primary responsibility for pursuing
the mission of the organization, are key to the success of the effort. There
are, however, other key players: human resources personnel, especially those
in organizational development; the diversity officer; the mission leader; and,
I will argue, chaplains play a critical role in nurturing the organization's
spirit.
Chaplains bring special competencies to this task. They all have theological
training as part of their certification. More important, they are trained to
be sensitive and responsive to the ways of the human heart and spirit. In a
survey of Trinity Health chaplains, most chose "listening" as the
best skill or competency they bring to the ministry of spiritual care. Most
chaplains fulfill this role not only in their one-on-one care of patients and
families but also, frequently, in their interaction with the organization's
employees concerning personal and work-related issues.
There are, however, often varying degrees of resistance to this involvement
in nurturing the organization's spirituality. Some chaplains feel that
such work might pull them too far away from their primary ministry of one-to-one
care. And, given the sometimes skeletal staffing of chaplaincy services, chaplains
sometimes feel that they simply have no time to devote to this task.
Nevertheless, the professional organizations that accredit chaplains recognize
the importance of chaplaincy involvement in this effort. The joint statement
of the Council on Collaboration (which comprises six professional certification
agencies) requires of chaplains a competency to articulate "a conceptual
understanding of group dynamics and organizational behavior" and "an
understanding of institutional culture and systems, and systemic relationships."2
Those responsible for developing an organization's culture need not hesitate
to invite chaplains to participate in the endeavor. Persons who are especially
trained in body-mind-spirit care in their spiritual care ministry have much
to bring to the table, beyond their one-to-one ministry to employees. They know
the ways of the human heart and spirit, and they understand human interactions.
They can play a crucial role not only in education concerning the body-mind-spirit
care of patients but also in the education and formation of staff about how
the spirit works in life—including work life.
Christian Spirituality
Every human person has a spirit and spirituality that he or she brings into
the workplace. Every organization has a spirit and spirituality. For Catholic
health care, this spirituality is not one built on the personal beliefs of the
employee base but, rather, one that comes out of the Christian tradition (in
multiple expressions) and is based on values universal enough to appeal to diverse
faith and cultural backgrounds.
NOTES
- Catholic Health Association, memo of January 14, 2005.
- Competencies TPC5 and PRO3, Common Standards for Professional Chaplaincy,
November 16, 2004, the text of which can be found at www.acpe.edu/council.htm
(bottom of page).
Copyright © 2005 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.