Investigating the relationship between spirituality in the work environment and organizational citizenship behavior of social security employees in Gorgan

Master's Thesis

(Education and Human Resources Improvement)

Abstract:

In today's era, the importance of citizens is understood as one of the most important resources of the organization, and their behavior is also considered very important. This is why many researchers have analyzed citizenship behavior, and on the other hand, the work environment is one of the factors that play a role in organizational citizenship behavior.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between spirituality in the work environment and organizational citizenship behavior of Gorgan social security employees. For this purpose, spirituality in the work environment and organizational citizenship behavior in five dimensions; The virtues of citizenship, conscientiousness, altruism, chivalry, respect and honor are defined and in this regard, a main hypothesis and five sub-hypotheses have been prepared. To test the hypotheses of the research, two questionnaire tools were used, including the standard questionnaire of spirituality in the workplace and the standard questionnaire of organizational citizenship behavior.

The population under study is all employees of the Social Security Organization in 1993, and the sample size was 86 people based on scientific principles and the formula for determining the sample size, which was selected using a random sampling method.

And to analyze the results, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were also used. is The results of the research have shown:

There is a meaningful relationship between spirituality in the work environment and the organizational citizenship behavior of employees, and the higher the level of spirituality in the work environment, the more impact it has on the organizational citizenship behavior and promotes the organizational citizenship behavior, and as a result, the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization's activities.

Keywords:

Spirituality at work, organizational citizenship behavior, conscientiousness, citizenship virtue, chivalry, respect and honor

Introduction

The field of management and organization, both theoretically and practically, has recently been influenced by a powerful force called spirituality, which, if properly managed and guided, seems to have the necessary capacity to lead to the deepest collaboration of efforts, not only in professional fields, but also has the necessary background for the emergence of full-fledged humanity. Although until a few decades ago, the prevailing belief was that this great force is not suitable for the world of management and commerce; Also, this topic was discussed and discussed exclusively in popular literature, but now it is seriously discussed as a topic of academic and scientific research. This powerful force has shed light on the principles of management and commerce and influenced its theories so much that, according to some experts, it is considered as a fundamental evolution and progress in the field of management and commerce. Despite the criticisms and doubts in the experimental and theoretical fields, the growing trend of research and research on this issue among academics, researchers, consultants and theoreticians of management and organization science is undeniable; To the extent that professional management organizations, such as the Academy of Management and the International Academy of Business Studies, recognized this field of study in 2001. (Rojas, 2001) (

2-1 statement of the problem:

Life without work becomes meaningless, but soulless work destroys and kills life, so people are interested in experiencing spirituality not only in personal affairs but also in the work environment and other levels of life. Spirituality in work is an inspiring and motivating force for the continuous search to find purpose and meaning in work life, a deep and profound understanding of the value of work, life, and the vastness of the universe. (Ziaei et al., 1387, p. 37) In other words, spirituality is the effort to create sensitivity towards transpersonal, intrapersonal, and extrapersonal communication in work life in order to achieve personal growth in human and divine excellence (Abdi Jafar, 1386, p. 109). They know that these five dimensions are: the alignment of individual and organizational values, opportunities for an inner life, a shared sense of community, and a sense of enjoyment from work. Another variable of this research is organizational citizenship behavior, which has received much attention in the workplace in the last few decades, and has actually entered the public sphere from the private sphere.

Organizational citizenship behaviors, or the behaviors that go beyond the duties of employees, were largely ignored in the past despite their obvious impact on the performance of organizations. .  In fact, in the initial interpretations of these behaviors, they were considered outside of the job field (Binstock, others, 2003). Most of the researches in the field of organizational citizenship behavior have focused on predicting the factors that cause these behaviors. In this context, variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational identity, organizational justice, trust, types of leadership, leader-follower relationships, and social security of Gorgan have been proposed as factors that create organizational citizenship behavior (Podsakov and others, 2001). We believe that one of the variables that has been neglected in this field so far is spirituality in the workplace, which has a lot of potential to influence organizational variables and possibly organizational citizenship behavior. There is still no agreement about the dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior. There is no unit among the researchers. For example, dimensions such as helpfulness, kindness, organizational loyalty, individual development, civility, and social welfare have been considered in various researches. The five dimensions that have been the focus of the researchers are: altruism, conscientiousness, civility, respect, and respect Other researchers have been placed.

Today, many employees feel dissatisfied, restless and insecure in their work environment. Morris believes that job satisfaction, trust and work ethics are rare in many work environments. Many actions taken by organizations to change and improve in the last two decades, such as downsizing, re-engineering, suspension, dismissal, have weakened the morale and a kind of spiritual confusion among employees. In fact, these measures, which were based on the modern mechanistic and rational paradigm, could not meet the demands of the employees. Globalization, the movement towards knowledge organizations, the growth of employees' demand for rich and nurturing environments, as well as meaningful work, have increased these pressures. In fact, it seems that employees are looking for more than just economic rewards in their jobs

Spirituality in the organization is a new thing that can bring a powerful and deep force to life. This powerful force is achieved when the working life is connected with the spiritual life of the employees. With such a force, employees with almost thousands of working hours can have a more enjoyable, more balanced, more meaningful work. Some researchers believe that there is a fundamental tension between rational goals and spiritual evolution in all workplaces. Gregory Pierce, the publishing director and founder of the Business Leaders Organization for Perfection, Ethics and Justice, says: "We often spend a lot of time working, it would be a shame if we don't find God there." Researchers believe that encouraging spirituality in the workplace has many benefits, benefits that the organization can use to improve productivity and increase employee performance and improve organizational citizenship behavior. In our Islamic society, there are many religious symbols that are also implemented in government organizations and offices. We believe that one of the variables that has been neglected in this field so far is spirituality in the work environment, which has a lot of potential to influence organizational variables and possibly organizational citizenship behavior. Therefore, the problem of this research is to examine the effects and consequences of spiritual-Islamic symbols on employees' citizenship behavior within the framework of scientific research rules. The researcher raises this question: Is there a meaningful relationship between spirituality in the work environment and organizational citizenship behavior of social security workers in Gorgan? 3-1 Importance and necessity: Humans have entered a new and unprecedented era in their lives. The era in which the world is changing and transforming. During the past four hundred years, the West has made a difference between the outer world and the inner world and has completely separated worldly activities from things such as religion, spirituality and mysticism (Neil and Bierman 2003, p. 363). On the one hand, this separation has led to the demystification and negation of the church's dominance over Western man, the domination of nature and the advancement of various sciences and technologies, the extraordinary increase in the welfare of life, the emergence of democracies and the rule of law. . has been To put it simply, it has led to the rule of the rational paradigm and modernity in most parts of the world.