The
human is considered to be the vital ingredient for the success of every
business organization. He remains always on his toes to meet any
unforeseeable risks in order to protect the organization. Presently, he
enjoys the prime importance as he is the only player left with the
corporates to have the winning stroke in this global cut throat
competitive era. But then, in this process of winning the game and to be
at the top he has to pay a very high price. Busy business schedules and
round the clock winning approach turns him workaholic which in longer run
might make him mentally and physically disable to perform his role, which
in turn would result in to unproductive performance. This will increase
the level of mental stress and negative interpersonal transactions,
whereby, this intellectual asset will no longer be effective for the
business players. The need is there at this crossroads to have
revitalization of this live resource so as to regain the Power and Will.
Practicing the concepts of Spirituality is observed to be the one
good move in this direction. It is considered to be the life saving drug
for the People suffering from the workaholic diseases, as it has that
magic.
The writer, through this paper has made an attempt to
unfold the magical Power of this Ancient and Sacred Wisdom of the Nature.
What is Spirituality?
According to the Oxford Dictionary the word Spirituality
means "State of being concerned with spiritual matters."While in
the word of N.S.Raghvan of Infosys Technologies Ltd. "Spirituality is
something that gives a certain purpose and meaning to our existence."
Peter Pruzan, Department of Management, Copenhagen
Business School feels that "Spirituality focuses on basic, deep –
rooted human values and a relationship with a universal source, power or
dignity."
Thus this shows that the word Spirituality is open to
many interpretations. Some are relating it with God, while some consider
it as a state of mental peace and happiness. There are people who believe
that spirituality is one best way to detach oneself from the physical
world.
What ever may be the conclusion regarding the
Spirituality, but one thing is crystal clear that it is a process to
develop the sense of morality and ethics within yourself which is helpful
to the human being, to be stable and correct at the time of negative
interpersonal transactions.
Spirituality and Religion
Often it has been observed that Spirituality is mixed with
the term Religion. But in actual condition there is a difference. Religion
is basically the path leading towards the single essence of human life:
Spirituality. Every religion has its own understanding regarding the
nature of creation and Creator. This diversity provides people with
different avenues for realizing the one unified spiritual base which we
share. According to Sri Sri Ravishankar Maharaj "a banana peel
represents religion and the fruit inside is the spirituality."
Why to talk of Spirituality?
It would be better to quote at this movement the feelings
of Napoleon Bonaparte, according to him there are only two powers in the
world – the Spirit and the Sword. In the long run the Sword will always
be defected by the Spirit.
People who have developed the spiritual side of their
life tend to have a stronger sense of purpose and perspective. They are
lighthearted and have a quality of buoyancy and gratitude. They are fully
alive, and they create a contagious atmosphere of charge radiating this
aliveness to others.
The studies have proved that by implanting the concepts
of Spirituality at the workplace the tremendous success has been observed.
The Spirituality in the workplace is nothing but the process of
acknowledging that people come to work with more than their bodies and
minds; they bring individual talents and unique spirits.
Today the Spirituality at workplace has been emerged as
the new trend which is very well noticed by the wide variety of
publications. It is the talk of the town as it remains the central issue
for the discussion during the Conferences and Seminars.
Spirituality is also considered to be important because
of the following points:
(1) Corporate Downsizing and Retrenchment.
(2) Nuclear Families.
(3) Luxurious Lifestyles.
(4) Organizational Structures.
(5) Decline of Traditional Sources of Spiritual Support Systems.
(6) Materialistic Business Approach.
(7) Role Conflicts.
(8) Personnel Management and HRD.
(9) Balancing the Business and Family Life.
(10) Better Productivity and Effective Management.
Besides this, the concept of Spirituality is equally important because of,
the problem of survival in this hyper competitive world where the growth
of the education, Social upliftment, New Economic Policy of the government
and the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are now the
common features. Businesses now have to be more vigilant due to the
awareness on the part of customers, investors and society. Corporate
people are no longer happy with professional success or material gains.
Business is essentially the human based activity centre hence; all the
human related problems will be observed here. This will create relational
problems among the people which can be best dealt by the concepts of
Spirituality.
It has been found out that by practicing the Spirituality at workplace the
workers are feeling better. According to V.S.Vasan, Head of Manufacturing,
Marico Industries "The practice of Transcendental Meditation has
enhanced our ability to handle pressure and stress. This shows that how
important Spirituality is.
Moreover in order to meet the upcoming new challenges and threats, the
Spirituality will be helpful to the business practitioners. The challenges
like attracting and retaining the competent workforce, Ethical behavior
and Social responsibility, Consumerism, Globalisation, etc. are very well
met through the implementation of the various Spiritual based
methodologies.
There are four major goals of life : Dharma, Artha, Kama & Moksha.
Dharma is creating sense of ethics in life. Artha is the tool to satisfy
the desires of the life. Kama is the journey which the individual does in
the life and Moksha is the Spiritual fulfillment of the life. Balance is
necessary among these goals so as to enjoy successful business and
personal life. Spirituality is the ultimate way to achieve that success.
Some people believe that Spirituality is fad. But then what is wrong in
that? Spirituality, being fad also provide better solutions to the
business and personnel problems then such a fad is considered to be good
and useful. This is why, the interest towards Spirituality is observed to
be growing even though it is considered to be fad. See the Spirituality is
fad or not is totally a relative phenomenon and thus it should not be the
point of discussion. Let us see that what benefits we derive by practicing
the Spirituality at workplace.
Tools of Spirituality
Spirituality is being practiced at the workplace through various
tools and techniques. These methods are different in nature but all leads
to the single essence of life, i.e. to awaken your inner self so as to
justify your way of work and to make yourself mentally and morally more
fit. The major methods of Spirituality or the popular tools which are in
practice nowadays are:
(1) Vipassana : Silent form of Meditation
(2) Transcendental Meditation
(3) Pranayama
(4) Sudarshan Kriya
(5) Prayer at workplace
(6) Yoga for fitness
(7) The practice of Raja Yoga.
(8) Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY)
(9) Art of Living by Ravishankarji
(10) Sadhana
(11) Reiki : the healing treatment
(12) Holy Pravarchanas
Though these are the ways to be Spiritual but even though one can be
Spiritual without practicing any of these methods. Spirituality, simply
speaking, is nothing but what ever you do it for the mental and physical
relaxation. It is just a way to spare some time from your busy and hasty
business schedules to be with you. You can go on a walk or you can go on a
weekends, you may listen to the music or you can just feel relax by
closing your eyes and starching your body during your routine schedule.
This will really help you to overcome your working problems.
Is Spirituality really being practiced?
The answer is simply yes. The Spirituality has that power to
obtain the desired results and to minimize the human related problems;
hence it is gaining top priority nowadays in the eyes of professionals as
well as academicians. It will not be wrong to state that Spiritual
Methodologies has been considered as the last hope by the business and
professions, so as to tackle all sorts of problems. In this era of 21st
Century global cut throat competition the survival is only possible for
those companies and businesses which are Spiritual besides professional.
Thus today, Spirituality is the integral part of every business activity.
Today the buzz words like TQM, MBO, and JIT etc. are being replaced by the
word like Ahm Brahmasmi and Tat Tvam Asi. For the young managers Bhagvad
Gita, Mahabharata, Panchatantra and Vedas are the new Encyclopedia for the
management.
Spirituality has always been in existence in the corporate world. The
conference paper presented at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher
Learning, Andhra Pradesh, by William Miller of Global Dharma Center throws
light on the growing interest in the spirituality in the business.
More than 120 companies in India have their tie-up with the Maharshi
Mahesh Yogi's Meditation Courses so as to revitalize their workforce. A
study done at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) showed that
regular practice of Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayama increases the flow of
positive emotions.
At Himachal Futuristic Communication Ltd. The managers and staff attend
lectures on Indian Philosophy every fortnight. The Mount Abu based
Brahmakumaries teaches regularly the Value of listening, tolerance,
adaptability and decision making through the practice of Raja Yoga to the
corporate Personals. Companies like Godrej, Vardhman, IOC, Lupin Labs.etc.
are using the principles of Social Responsibility and good Corporate
Governance. While Tata and Birlas are considered to be highly conscious
towards social and environmental problems. The companies like Wipro and
Infosys are practicing the ethical standards. These and many more, the
list is endless, but one thing is confirm that Spirituality in one way or
the other is accepted by the corporate world.
It has also been experienced that Spirituality is the hot favorite topic
within the class rooms nowadays. Academic institutes are adopting the
Spirituality as the course of study for the higher education in order to
provide the society Spiritual Managers.
Management Centre of IIM Calcutta, S.P.Jain Institute of Management and
Research at Mumbai, Symbiosis of Pune are some such examples. Besides this
certain Spiritual organizations are also coming up to provide guidance and
training in the field of management education. Prominent personalities
like Deepak Chopra, Anil Bhatnagar, Professor S.K.Chakravarty, Maharshi
Mahesh Yogi, Ravishankarji Maharaj, Suresh Pandit, and Swami
Someswarananda etc. are on their toes to spread the wisdom of Indian ethos
to the Indian community for the development of Spiritual Business world.
This proves that Spirituality is really being taken care by the
professionals and the scholars in order to have stress less business and
human life.
Conclusion
Indian Spirituality is waiting in the corporate corridors ready to
serve the business community. The need is for self – awareness towards
it. Spirituality, now is something more than that of, simple meditation
and yoga. It is the art of reliving stress and mental hazards.To conclude,
the writer would like to quote the feelings of Professor S.K.Chakraborty,
IIM, Culcutta. According to him "Industry is boldly mining the depths
of Indian Wisdom, the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, looking for a framework
springing from Indian roots and thought. It is the time we rediscover our
own ethos and cultural context if we are to give meaningful and relevant
management skills to the youth of the nation."
