Towards a spirited workplace

In the aftermath of the tragedy that was 9/11, human resources and organizational development practitioners have increasingly faced questions about the meaning and purpose of work.

"From a career development perspective, we find workers asking hard questions: Where is the meaning in their work? What’s the purpose of staying in the organization? Is there a higher purpose for all the toil or is it only about money and perks?" said Milagros Du-Lagrosa, human resources specialist and professor at the Asian Institute of Management.

Sonny Coloma, associate dean of AIM’s Experience Executive Excellence or EXCELL programs, calls it "the modern day challenge of people being conflicted, walking the tightrope between personal and family life, on the one hand, and career, on the other."

Today, senior executives are continuously being challenged to keep employees spirited or working with enthusiasm and to instill in people a positive sense of purpose in their work. To meet the challenge head on, however, these executives must first work on themselves.

"Even vice-president and senior vice-president seem disempowered, especially in the presence of their bosses. We have executives who, when alone, are self-assured, confident and know where to go, but they shrink like shy violets when the boss is there. They become unable to freely express what they truly think and feel. This leads to a reinforcement of the ‘command and control’ syndrome in most companies as bosses favor conformance rather than divergence or a diversity of views," said Coloma.

New AIM program

To address these issues, AIM’s EXCELL recently launched a three-day program called, "Leading From Higher Ground: Cultivating a Spirit Workplace."

"Corporate spirituality is not about religion or any structured faith system. What is universal for all people is that sense of sacred in their lives. We would like to see them bring this ‘something’ to the workplace," said Lagrosa.

At the end of the program, participants will hopefully be able to to affirm their self-mastery. "They would be empowered to express their real thoughts and feelings, to realize their potentials and aspire for higher levels of achievement. By releasing the latent energy that has remained untapped due to years of suppressing creativity and self-express, participants can attain a sense of wholeness or integrity that will allow them to lead from higher ground," said Coloma.

This higher ground is supposedly the next step or higher level that follows corporate programs on team building or corporate culture building that normally stop at the level of addressing work-related problems.

By combining alternative learning methods like story telling and whole brain learning, the program propagates a new worth ethic that will make the workplace a haven for the soul. "Work can be a truly joyful and pleasurable experience. It’s not just a nine-to six grind. It shouldn’t be a back-breaking tension-filled, anxiety-creating routine," said Coloma.