Abstract:
Orientation: Organisational commitment remains an ongoing concern for organisations,
especially universities that often struggle to retain academic staff. Universities cannot operate
or fulfil their mandate to society without the critical competencies of academic staff.
Research purpose: This investigation focused on workplace spirituality as a militating factor
in enhancing the commitment of academic staff.
Motivation for the study: As organisational commitment remains a challenge for universities,
this article contributes to a theoretical and empirical understanding of the militating influence
of workplace spirituality. The study is underpinned by social learning theory and proposes
strategic priorities to universities – informed by an empirical study conducted amongst
academic staff members at a South African university.
Research approach/design and method: The study employed a quantitative research approach
and a structured questionnaire was administered to 285 academic staff members (ranging
from junior lecturers to professors) of a South African university. The research design was a
survey and, as a single university formed part of the study, regression analysis was used to
establish the relationship between workplace spirituality and organisational commitment.
Main findings: The empirical findings showed a strong linear relationship between workplace
spirituality and organisational commitment. A regression formula was developed to
statistically calculate the commitment score of individuals.
Practical/managerial implications: The study proposed strategic priorities that may be useful
to university management and human resource practitioners to cultivate increased commitment
amongst academic staff.
Contribution/value-add: The study contributed empirical evidence of the militating effect of
workplace spirituality on organisational commitment, implying that workplace spirituality is
a predictor for organisational commitment.
