Is there such a thing as a spirituality of work? And, if so, could a disconnection from it play a part in the disease felt by a lot of us some of the time and some of us a lot of the time in the workplace? Within Western religions, work itself is sometimes seen as a curse. In the Book of Genesis we read that Adam and Eve are evicted from Eden, forced to labour by the sweat of their brow. Within the Roman Catholic tradition, men and women, fashioned in the image of God, share by their work in the activity of the Creator. Within that tradition we continue God's creative activity and further perfect it, advancing the whole of creation by our work, according to Pope John Paul's encyclical Laborem Exercens (1981).
Indeed, the hero within the New Testament story is a carpenter and other trades and professions recorded include tanners, silversmiths, fishermen and revenue officials. Creation spirituality author and priest Mathew Fox has written about the image of God within us expressing itself through our work. For Fox, work is not just a job. A job is just to pay the bills. But work is a creative expression of what lies within us, singular for every person. Through work we connect with other people, even if no personal interaction is involved. Another author who has considered the spirituality of work is author and economist Mr Richard Douthwaite. "Work is one of the main ways by which most people fulfil themselves. It's one of the main ways that you relate to other people. It's a way that you can be of service," he told The Irish Times.
"We use the phrase `someone goes into business for himself' as if it's purely a selfish activity. It's very difficult for it not to be a selfish activity, but providing a good service, good products is a way of serving others. "We need to think about creating a structure in which work can be a vocation. A doctor, a priest, a nurse, a teacher are often recognised as having a vocation. But they shouldn't be the only people who are able to have a vocation.
"We need to be able to change the way that we structure business and think about business so that people can become business people not for themselves, not purely to make money but to be of service."
Asked if, for instance, a teleworker could see their work as a vocation, he admits it's difficult for them to do so. "That is probably not the work that a lot of people would consider doing out of choice. They might do it because it suits them at a particular moment. It's a means to an end. It gives them an income through a particular phase of their lives. But it's probably not a way that they see of realising themselves as individuals." However, even within such a work setting, recognition of the spirituality of work could help workers and the bottom line. For instance, workers can feel depersonalised if their work is too closely monitored, judged by the number of calls answered per hour. They will find it much more difficult to relate to the person on the other end of the phone in a human way.
"Now if managers can alter that structure they're going to create more satisfying jobs for their staff and probably keep them longer and probably enable their staff to give a better, more human service to the people whose calls they take," he says. It has to be genuine. It's not good enough to restructure only to lower costs; that's the wrong reason for doing it. The point is to make jobs more satisfying and to provide a better service to customers. "Of course there are always going to be some employees who won't play fair on this one and if the constraints are taken off them, will abuse. But that's the essence of good management, being able to cope with that sort of thing and limit the potential downside." Mr Douthwaite is author of The Growth Illusion, which argues that current economic growth is unsustainable.
Short Circuit, his second book, which looks at what local money systems and his most recent book The Ecology of Money, which look at the effects different types of money can have on society and the environment. He classifies money types according to, among other things, whether they are debt-based or asset-based.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
