How spirituality, climate and

compensation affect job performance

Tung Thanh Do

Tung Thanh Do is Graduate Abstract

Student at the School of Purpose – This paper aims to study the impact of four dimensions of workplace spirituality (engaging
Business Administration, work, spiritual connection, mystical experiences and sense of community), corresponding with
International University, workplace climate and compensation on employee perceived job performance.
Vietnam National Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 207 individuals from an international hospital were
University, Ho Chi Minh interviewed. Preliminary research, sale assessment, correlations and regressions were carried out.
City, Vietnam. Findings – The findings suggest that there are strong, positive and significant relationships between
workplace spirituality (engaging work, sense of community), workplace climate, compensation and
perceived job performance.
Research limitations/implications – This paper relates to only the healthcare services. Hence, it is
highly recommended that further research be administered in other professions and areas with a broader
view and a longitudinal research design.
Practical implications – Some applicable recommendations to enhance personnel’s productivity and
organizational effectiveness are suggested.
Originality/value – This paper could shed new light on the neglected acknowledged phenomena of
spirituality, climate and compensation at work as well as make way for various applications in the working
environment.
Keywords Workplace climate, Compensation, Workplace spirituality, Perceived job performance
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The success of an enterprise is said to hinge on many factors varying from internal to
external. Ulrich (1998) espoused that people are becoming a source of competitive
advantage for most companies, and that the competitive edge of organizations no longer
arises out of their products and services but of their people. Besides, attempts on building
up a motivated workforce to improve productivity are of vital importance to managers of
many companies in recent times. In Vietnam, as many workplace problems still occur
regardless of many research and improvements on the above-mentioned factors,
motivating workers appears to be extreme complexities and never-ending challenges. This
means that, instead of the well-known economic motivators, firms are advisable to seek
alternative strategies to retain their best staffs as well as to obtain the competitive edge
(Ashmos and Duchon, 2000).
Workplace spirituality has come to the forefront in the 1990s (Case and Gosling, 2007),
which has given way to more than 300 books and several academic journals among
management researchers and practitioners (Garcia-Zamor, 2003). Positive spiritual place or
moods of employees could act as a precursor to the enhancement of their performance
(Shaw, 1999; Ayranci, 2011), thereby improving firm’s competitiveness and profitability
Received 26 May 2016
Revised 14 December 2016
(Milliman et al., 2003). As a result, many corporations, such as World Bank, Ford, Nike,
Accepted 24 July 2017 Apple, Aetna and Shell Oil, have embraced and incorporated employee spirituality in their

j j
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workplaces (Casey, 2002). In Vietnam, it appears to be an exceptional topic in management
and remains largely unexplored so far. In addition, according to Lichtman (2007), a
significant amount of attention in the past 30 years has been focused on workplace climate
and its effects on employees’ performance. Apparently, workplace climate stems from the
employees’ perceptions, which, along with their understandings, results in their characters,
behaviors and effectiveness at work (Ramazaninezhad et al., 2009). Therefore, this subject
stands for a phenomenon that not only pervades a firm and its parts but also affects an
individual’s job performance. Besides the above two non-monetary determinants of
employee performance, compensation appears to be a systematic approach to supply
monetary values to workers in exchange for work performance. Employees’ perceptions in
terms of their compensation are regarded as foundation of job performance (Ghazanfar
et al., 2011).
I conducted this research due to the following reason. Undeniably, it is true that some
significant studies have been done on these fields (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Griffith,
2006; Ghazanfar et al., 2011). However, if we are to argue that such researchers provided
some exploration on these phenomena’s impacts, then it remains a matter of serious
concern that there is no empirical evidence evaluating the effects of the burgeoning fields of
workplace spirituality, climate and compensation on perceived job performance, especially
in Vietnamese context.

Theoretical background
Perceived job performance
As stated by Otley (1999), performances can be classified as firm and employee
performance. In this research, firm performance is beyond the research scope and only
employees’ job performance is considered. According to Hunter (1986), job performance
refers to the ability to have good results and high productivity of the employees themselves.
Similarly, Bjarnadottir and Campbell (2001) considered job performance as an individual-
level variable or something done by a single person. Furthermore, there are numerous
appropriate appraisers for performance, for example, immediate supervisor, committees,
peer-rating and self-rating, which have their own pros and cons. In this research, the
emphasis is put on self-rated job performance, namely “perceived job performance”. The
term is summarized as an aftermath of considerations on employees’ perception and
evaluation on their own behaviors in terms of organizational objectives and tasks. Not only
can perceived job performance be an important determinant contributing to enhance the
organizational outcomes and employees’ behavior and traits, it is also made use of as
human resources management strategies through results from a systematic assessment
process.

Workplace spirituality
Markow and Klenke (2005) stated that although more than 70 definitions of spirituality are
existing, there are no widely accepted one. So complex and diverse a term is spirituality
that it is too idiosyncratic and multifaceted to be conceptualized in a common theme.
Pioneering empirical study of Ashmos and Duchon (2000) proposed spirituality at work as
the awareness that employees experience an inner life nurturing and being nurtured thanks
to meaningful work that occurs in community circumstance. This includes three elements:
the inner life, meaningful work and sense of connection and community, measuring this
concept at individuals’ experience, the work unit and organizational levels.
Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003) redefined workplace spirituality as a framework of
corporate values exhibited in the culture that encourages transcendent experience of
individuals through the work procedures, assisting their sense of being associated to others

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 in a way that caters for complete and joyful feelings. The three core components comprise
of meaningful work, sense of community and being in alignment with the organizations
values and mission, which are accessed at the individual level. Compared with Ashmos and
Duchon (2000)’s, this theory might be more explicit. However, its first two dimensions
appear to overlap Ashmos and Duchon’s work.
Then, Sheep (2004) came up with a conceptual convergence of Workplace Spirituality
Person – Organization Fit (WSP-OF), consisting of four themes: meaning in work;
transcendence of self; a self-workplace integration; and self-development of one’s inner self
in the workplace. Workplace spirituality in Sheep’s work is measured on not only how the
individual’s attitudes/expectations are toward spirit at work but also how well the firm
facilitates these expectations.
Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2004) reconstructed workplace spirituality into “spirit at work”,
considering it as “a distinct state that is characterized by physical, affective, cognitive,
interpersonal, spiritual, and mystical dimensions”. In 2006, they redefined it as “a distinct
state that is characterized by cognitive, interpersonal, spiritual, and mystical dimensions”,
composed of four elements: engaging work, spiritual connection, sense of community and
mystical experience.
This research adopts the concept of “spirit at work” developed by Kinjerski and Skrypnek
(2006a) to define workplace spirituality. Not only does this addresses dimensions in
previous study (Ashmos and Duchon, 2000; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003; Sheep, 2004),
but also has mystical component which is a key aspect of workplace spirituality that former
studies have not captured.

Dimensions of workplace spirituality

Engaging work: According to Wrzesniewski (2003), engaging work relates to a cognitively
meaningful tasks and work that establish a sense of joy, thereby linking employees to a
greater good and lifetime perceived important things. In short, engaging work is
characterized by a sense of well-being, a notion of an individual’s engagement to
meaningful work that has a higher purpose, an enlightenment of one’s values-beliefs-work’s
alignment and a feeling of being authentic (Kinjerski and Skrypnek, 2006a). Moreover,
Mitroff and Denton (1999) also argued that firms whose work have stronger meaningfulness
could empower their employees to show off more creativity and flexibility. As a result, in
accordance with the findings of Reave (2005), the more work is deemed as worthwhile, the
more it appears to be more meaningful and consequently boosts employees’ job
performance and commitment as well. Furthermore, they also arrived at a conclusion that
spirituality can make employees experience a sense of deeper meaningful work, thus
triggering off an upsurge in their productivity and performance. Hence:
H1. Engaging work enhances perceived job performance.
Spiritual connection. Emmons (2000) conceptualized a spiritual connection as the focus of
one’s spirit at work on the actual spiritual during work endeavors. The connection refers to
faith in a higher power, a consciousness that could felicitate a sense of peace, contentment,
confidence and hope. Chalofsky (2010) argued that the connection of an individual’s life
and spiritual life might help their work become more blissful, well-balanced, meaningful and
spiritually nourishing. Moreover, because of this integration, a person could expect others to
be more ethical and more productive employees which would be very beneficial. In
addition, the spiritual connection dimension bears a striking resemblance to the broader
and standardized conceptions of spirituality, but is considered in the workplace context.
According to Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2006a), any individuals experiencing workplace
spirituality could have awareness on a connection to something larger than self, for
instance, a higher power, a greater source or a God-within presence. Moreover, that each

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person experiences a deep connection to humankind or nature could positively affect his or
her work. Consequently, his or her performance will be improved. Therefore:
H2. The better the spiritual connection is, the higher job performance is perceived.
Mystical experience. There are misunderstandings in the concept of mysticism, which
erroneously regard it as a philosophy, a religion or a study of the occult (Underhill, 1999).
According to Newberg (2001), cited in Susan (2010), this dimension basically stands for
inexpressible experience of a person with a natural mystic, accompanied by sense of
placid, bliss, love and assurance. Briefly, it illustrates a positive state of arousal where a
person encounters a natural mystic at work. At that point, not only do they have no sense of
time and space, but also obtain the feelings of bliss, joy and ecstasy (Kinjerski and
Skrypnek, 2006a). Besides, Hunt (1995), also cited in Susan (2010), proposed that mystical
and related states could be representative for an emerging cognitive capacity triggering off
higher development and performance. Thus:
H3. The more the mystical experience is, the higher job performance is perceived.
A sense of community. McMillan (1976) considered it as “a feeling that members have of
belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared
faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together”. Miller
(1992) proposed that community at work referred to the notion that people perceive
themselves as connected to each other and that there are some types of connection
between a person’s inner self and that of others. In short, this element in workplace
spirituality bears a striking resemblance to “the notions of sharing, mutual obligation and
commitment that connect people to each other” (Duchon and Plowman, 2005) and is
“characterized by a feeling of connectedness to others and common purpose” (Kinjerski
and Skrypnek, 2006a). There are various researchers advancing the notion of the
connection between a sense of community and job performance. Milliman et al. (1999)
postulated that greater job performance and commitment stem from a strong sense of
community and strong purposeful organizational goals. Recently, Vanover (2014) has
conducted a research on the effects of sense of community on job performance, with the
findings implying that the higher the community score that an employee gets is, the higher
their work performance score displays. Therefore:
H4. The better the sense of community is, the higher job performance is perceived.

Workplace climate
Verbeke et al. (1998) claimed that there are 32 different definitions of workplace climate.
Dutton and Dukerich (1991) stated that climate appears to be a more intimate set of
attitudes, values and beliefs that embraces a work unit. Bowen and Ostroff (2004)
conceptualized workplace climate as two types: organizational climate and psychological
climate. Employees could be affected by organizational climate, which is derived from
perceptions of how the enterprise is regarding policies, routines, practices and rewards.
Psychological climate applies to employees in their own specific work contexts, on the basis
of the experiential-based evaluation of what people “see” and notify occurring to them as
they are aware of their environment. According to Burke and Litwin (1992), a psychological
state of workplace climate is a set of employees’ perceptions on the local work unit, the way
it is managed and the interconnectedness of them to others. According to previous
research, it is suggested that climate has positive impacts on performance regardless of
various dimensions of climate across studies. Burke and Litwin (1992) regarded workplace
climate as one of the transactional determinants that has a profound impact on motivation
and, in turn, affects job performance. Likewise, Griffith (2006) concluded that warm and
supportive climate enhances job performance at the organizational level. As stated by
Lichtman (2007), many studies by a plethora of scholars were indicative that workplace
climate not only correlates to but also has a crucial part to play on job performance.

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 According to Holloway (2012) and Suliman and Al Obaidli (2013), a positive work climate
triggers off motivation and high performance. Hence:
H5. The better the workplace climate is, the higher job performance is perceived.

Compensation
Studies on compensation have gain interests among researchers in the past two decades.
Compensation is “all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits
employees receive as part of an employment relationship” (Milkovich and Newman, 2002).
In addition, according to Christofferson and King (2006), compensation could be defined as
“a pay provided by an employer to an employee for services rendered (i.e. time, effort and
skill)”. Numerous researchers and practitioners have figured out the significance of
compensation in improving employees’ performance. Similarly, Huselid (1995) noted that
one standard deviation increase in employee performance is equivalent to approximately
40 per cent of an employee’s compensation. Undoubtedly, an effective compensation
system could fortify staffs to work harder with a view to enhancing productivity and job
performance (Lai, 2011). Once employees are satisfied with a good compensation offered,
their motivation is on an upsurge at a higher degree, followed by a betterment of their work
performance. Generally, there exists a significant relationship between compensation and
performance (Herzberg, 1968). Therefore:
H6. The better the compensation is, the higher job performance is perceived.

Method and results

Research design and sample
Quantitative method was used as main research design. The researcher also utilized
qualitative method in preliminary research. Convenience sampling was applied and 220
questionnaires are distributed at an International General hospital. Among 211 ones
returned, there were four omitted ones because participants rated only one scale for all
statements, resulting in 207 valid samples.

Measurements
To measure workplace spirituality, this research applied The Spirit at Work Scale (SAWS)
(18 items, a = 0.93) by Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2006a). In addition, a short version
Organizational Climate Scale (CLIOR) (a = 0.94) with 15 items developed by Elsa et al.
(2013) was utilized to measure workplace climate. Compensation management practices
with six items (a = 0.82) developed by Tessema and Soeters (2006) was chosen to
measure compensation. Besides, perceived job performance was measured by ten
Performance evaluation items by Wright et al. (1995) (a = 0.90).

Preliminary research
Raw questionnaires with 49 items in both English and Vietnamese was used in a semi-
structured interview with ten employees in the sample site to examine the
appropriateness. According to their ideas and feedback, there are some changes in
the variables in the measurement scales. Some items were added (“I have
inexpressible experience at work” in mystical experience and “I and my partners work
together to resolve conflicts in a positive way” in sense of community) based on the
respondents’ observations and experience at work. Besides, some items were
perceived to be eliminated because of incomprehensibility of the meanings, no
connection with workplace environment, overlaps of existing variables in other scales.
They are “I am fulfilling my calling through my work”, “At times, I experience a “high” at

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my work” and “I have a sense of personal mission in life, which my work helps me to
fulfill” in engaging work; “At times, I experience an energy or vitality at work that is
difficult to describe” in mystical experience; “The goal of my work are clearly defined”,
“My work is adequately defined”, “Deadlines are adequately met”, “The bosses are
willing to listen to their employees”, “Opportunities for training are offered” and
“Everything is decided from above” in workplace climate. Remarkably, all of three
variables in spiritual connection were also eliminated, triggering off the omission of the
whole dimension. Apparently, Vietnam is a multi-religion country, where people with
their own faiths live in peacefulness with others. This is a good characteristic that
should not be impinged on. Similarly, regarding the workplace environment and
policies at the hospital, the spiritual connection measurement scale, which covers some
terms as “higher power” and “greater source”, is perceived to bear resemblance to
some beliefs about religion. Therefore, they were considered to be unsuitable to be
included in the survey.
Accordingly, research hypotheses were also restated.
H1. Engaging work enhances perceived job performance.
H2. The more the mystical experience is, the higher job performance is perceived.
H3. The better the sense of community is, the higher job performance is perceived.
H4. The better the workplace climate is, the higher job performance is perceived.
H5. The better the compensation is, the higher job performance is perceived.

Scale analysis
After the first round of scale reliability assessment, one item in the workplace climate
scale – “Socially, my work has the prestige it deserves.” with Corrected Item-Total
Correlation <0.3 was perceived rather extraneous in relation to working climate at the
hospital. Besides, after factor analysis of the five independent variables, namely
engaging work, mystical experience, sense of community, workplace climate and
compensation; one item called “When I do something well, my superiors congratulate
me.” was left alone in one component, whose meaning could hardly reflect a concept.
Therefore, my decision was to eliminate it from further analysis. Besides, one item in the
workplace climate scale – “The relationships with my bosses are good” was relocated
to sense of community scale. Overall, after applying semi-structured interview and
initial tests such as Scale Reliability Assessment and Exploratory Factor Analysis, five
items were removed from the scales. The scale reliability was also recalculated. See
Table I for a summary.

Correlation analysis
As can be seen from Table II, the dependent variable PJP has highly significant correlations
with the five independent variables EW, ME, SoC, WC and CO via the correlation
coefficients of 0.624, 0.565, 0.604, 0.661 and 0.536, respectively. In addition, the correlation
coefficients between each pair of independent variables varies from 0.358 to 0.638, staying
away from the level of a multicollinearity circumstances (0.70). However, some correlations
such as SoC with EW (r = 0.638), and SoC with ME (r = 0.620) should be carefully
considered in the regression analysis.

Regression analysis
The Adjusted R2 of 0.634 indicates that 63.4 per cent of the variance in perceived job
performance can be predicted from compensation, workplace climate, sense of
community, engaging work and mystical experience combined, which proves to be a

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 Table I Factor loadings for workplace spirituality’s dimensions, workplace climate, compensation and perceived job
performance
Workplace spirituality’s dimensions, workplace climate, compensation and perceived job performance Factor loadings

Engaging work (a = 0.942, N = 5)

I experience a match between the requirements of my work and my values, beliefs and behaviors 0.782
I am able to find meaning or purpose at work 0.816
I am passionate about my work 0.785
I feel grateful to be involved in work like mine 0.857
At the moment, I am right where I want to be at work 0.780
Mystical experience (a = 0.891, N = 4)
I have moments at work in which I have no sense of time or space 0.766
At moments, I experience complete joy and ecstasy at work 0.676
I experience moments at work where everything is blissful 0.625
I have inexpressible experience at work 0.786
Sense of community (a = 0.937, N = 5)
I feel like I am part of “a community” at work 0.788
I experience a real sense of trust and personal connection with my co-workers 0.813
I share a strong sense of purpose and meaning with my co-workers about our work 0.780
I and my partners work together to resolve conflicts in a positive way 0.772
The relationships with my bosses are good 0.747
Workplace climate (a = 0.972, N = 6)
My bosses encourage me when I have problems so that I can solve them 0.766
My suggestions about the work is listening 0.760
If I need help because of a heavy workload, I am given the necessary means 0.728
In my job, innovate contributions are appreciated 0.692
My bosses watch me closely 0.658
My work is inadequately supervised 0.731
Compensation (a = 0.907, N = 6)
There is attractive compensation system at work 0.720
There is equitable internal salary at work 0.757
There is equitable external salary at work 0.806
There is salary that reflects performance at work 0.824
There is salary that encourages better performance at work 0.832
There is salary that reflects the standard of living at work 0.800
Perceived job performance (a = 0.936, N = 10)
On the job, I have an underlying concern for doing things better, for improving situations 0.859
On the job, I exhibit zeal about the job as well as a consequent willingness to energize work 0.856
On the job, I exhibit a willingness to go beyond the job requirements and to act before being asked 0.853
I exhibit an ability to see the whole, its parts and relations in order to set priorities, plans, anticipate and evaluate 0.843
On the job, I always finish things on time 0.838
My supervisor never disappointed in the quality of work that I am in charge of 0.837
My work habits (tardiness, length of breaks, etc.) are exemplary 0.825
I can continue to be productive even when my supervisor is out of the warehouse for an extended period of time 0.822
My supervisor does not need to check up on me 0.796
I am on good terms with my co-workers 0.513

respectable result. The model has the significant of 0.000 (p < 0.05), so it can be
concluded that this research model has fulfilled statistical significance. Looking at Beta
values in Standardized Coefficients, WC stands out from the group by having the largest
beta coefficient of 0.367, followed by 0.233 of CO, 0.210 of EW, 0.189 of SoC and 0.053 of
ME. As regards the Sig., EW, SoC, WC and CO have significant values less than 0.05
(0.000, 0.002, 0.000 and 0.000). However, ME’s Sig. of 0.36 (> 0.05) implies that it does not
make a significant unique contribution to the prediction of PJP. Besides, although SoC has
the VIF value of 2.076 (>2.0), making it under the multicollinearity circumstance; SoC was

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 Table II Correlation coefficients between independent and dependent variables
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. PJP 1
2. EW 0.624** 1
3. ME 0.565** 0.552** 1
4. SoC 0.604** 0.638** 0.620** 1
5. WC 0.661** 0.485** 0.505** 0.429** 1
6. CO 0.536** 0.366** 0.400** 0.386** 0.358** 1
Notes: **Indicates that correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed), PJP: perceived job
performance, EW: engaging work, ME: mystical experience, SoC: sense of community, WC:
workplace climate and CO: compensation

still considered as acceptable because this value is not larger than the cut-off point to such
a great extent.

Results
Hypothesis testing
H1 suggests a strong and significant, positive relationship between engaging work and
perceived job performance (r = 0.624, b = 0.210). H2 was rejected since it implies that
there is no positive relationship between mystical experience and perceived job
performance (sig. = 0.364 > 0.05). H3 proves a strong and significant, positive relationship
between sense of community and perceived job performance (r = 0.604, b = 0.189). H4
proposes a strong and significant, positive relationship between workplace climate and
perceived job performance (r = 0.661, b = 0.367). H5 makes it clear that there is a strong
and significant, positive relationship between compensation and perceived job
performance (r = 0.536, b = 0.233).

Final model at the hospital

The second regression analysis was conducted with the removal of ME. The new R2 and the
Adjusted R2 are 0.641 and 0.634, respectively. This implies that 63.4 per cent of variance of
PJP can be predicted by the combination of EW, SoC, WC and CO. Besides, the research
model’s significant of 0.000 (p < 0.05) fulfills statistical significance. As can be seen from
the new Coefficients, there are some changes. With significant values of 0.000 (< 0.05), the
remaining determinants get the new Beta values (WC: 0.379, CO: 0.239, EW: 0.219, SoC:
0.209). Moreover, new VIF values of the four components are less than 2, making the
research model not in a multi-collinearity situation. The strong and significant relationships
between the variables can be explained by Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 Significant factors affecting perceived job performance at the hospital

Workplace spirituality

Engaging work 0.219

0.209
Sense of community Perceived job performance
0.379
Workplace climate 0.239

Compensation

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 Discussion and conclusion
Mean value implies how positive the employees perceive about these factors. Beta value
reveals information about the degree of importance of these factors on individual
performance. Hence, the impacts of each dimensions on perceived job performance are
important to be considered in terms of these values, which are calculated and represented
in Figure 2.
This study signifies that since engaging work undergoes an increase, employees’
performance is strengthened accordingly. The findings are reinforced by the studies of
Mitroff and Denton (1999) and Reave (2005), which espoused that the more meaningful the
work is, the more productive the employees perform. In the hospital, employees here
experience an extremely good engaging work (mean = 4.00), though this factor appears to
be not much important (beta = 0.219). In other words, the organization has built a
workplace where a large number of employees could find their work meaningful and
purposeful as well as feel passionate, grateful and suitable with the work they are in charge
of. Thus, it is advisable for employers to maintain and enhance the meaningfulness of work
at the workplace.
Besides, there is a lack of statistically significant correlations between mystical experience
and perceived job performance, which contradicts the statements of Hunt (1995) and
Cardena et al. (2000), cited in Susan (2010). In the hospital, it is apparent that employees
perceived the notion mystical experience as too abstract and that this concept is unfamiliar
and does not engage in the surrounding working environment. Moreover, some statements
in the measures related to the inexpressible experience of employees, for instance,
moments feeling no time or space, might be impenetrable to some extent, thereby being
rated by respondents at random. Hence, as it is concluded that mystical experience bears
no resemblance to the quality and performance of employees, employers at the
organization might think it is inessential to notice.
The research points out that sense of community profoundly affect perceived job
performance. This supports the studies by Miller (1992), Milliman et al. (1999) and Vanover
(2014), who postulated that a sense of community at the workplace enhances job
performance and productivity. In reality, as regards the characteristics of the hospital,
which highly appreciates the cooperation between personnel, especially in surgery and
other treatments, employees here could experience a positive sense of community. It is
proved because this determinant’s mean is 3.95, only smaller than that of engaging work
(4.00). However, in terms of the beta, this variable accounts for the smallest value (0.209),
considering itself as the weakest predictor of job performance perceived by the workers.
This situation could be explained because the nature of hospital might result in high power
distance between specific groups of employees, for example, nurses and doctors, staffs

Figure 2 Mean and data of EW, SoC, WC and CO

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and employers. Members of each group appear to attach to each other merely in their
teams instead of the community. Although employees are connected and have a good
feeling of fellowship with others, they fail to discern obviously about the significance of
sense of community, thereby perceiving it as unnecessary.
The outcome of this study also reveals that climate at work plays an important part in the
perceived job performance. This is also in line with some former researches of many
authors such as Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) and Ostroff and Bowen (2000), who
indicated that climate obtained at organizations correlates and increases work
performance. Actually, in the hospital, workplace climate acts as the strongest predictors of
employees’ perceived job performance with the highest beta of 0.379. However, the mean
value of just 3.84, which is smaller than engaging work and sense of community, implied
that the personnel here are satisfied with this factors less than the others. Therefore,
maintaining and promoting positive working climate is the most importance.
Compensation is a pivotal factor which significantly influenced work performance perceived
by employees. This result is advocated by a research of Herzberg (1968), who pointed out
that compensation directs and fosters both employees’ behaviors of accomplishing goals
and job satisfaction, thereby boosting up their work performance. In the hospital, the beta
value of 0.239 and the mean value of 3.68 (the smallest) in compensation factor means that
the satisfaction of employees with compensation is low and the impact of this determinant
on their perceived job performance is relatively below average. Hence, compensation is
better off being taken into consideration with relevant strategies for improvement.
On the other hand, this research has some limitations. First, the study only relates to the
healthcare services; therefore, further research should administer other professions and
areas with a broader view such as education and other industrial sectors. Second, there is
insufficient number of participants from the surveys. Although the quality of data gathered
are serviceable in the thesis objectives, other studies are suggested to be conducted with a
longitudinal design and larger sample size. Third, this thesis is approached in terms of
quantitative method for the main research. However, because of the high subjectivity and
personality of workplace spirituality construct, it would be advisable that various research
methods be used with a view to cross-validation of chosen measurement scales such as
qualitative approach (in-depth interview, focus group). Finally, the focal point and the
measures of this research are on the positive side of workplace spirituality, without the
consideration of religions. Future studies are essential to examine other potential aspects
with other measures.
Overall, the conceptual and statistical results of this research consolidate and broaden the
knowledge of SAWS by Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2004, 2006a). In addition, it significantly
contributes to the study of spirituality at work by presenting empirical evidence indicating
remarkable, positive links between two dimensions of workplace spirituality (sense of
community, engaging work) and perceived job performance. On top of that, other relations
between workplace climate, compensation and perceived job performance are also
rigorously demonstrated, which covers both monetary and non-monetary factors of
employees’ performance and introduces a comprehensive conceptual framework for future
studies to apply or develop at other sample sites.

Implications and recommendations

As regards workplace climate, the organization should have adequate supervision and
mentoring programs, involving a mentor and mentee working together to improve the
mentee’s knowledge, skills and abilities in a particular area, with a sufficient and adequate
extent so that the employees will not get annoyed or uncomfortable at work. Besides,
employee support and encouragement programs should be designed to provide
assistance to not only departments but also individual staffs for personal or job-related

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 problems interfering with their work performance. By doing so, the employers are helping
them create a feeling of connection and collaboration that enhances across departmental
boundaries. In addition, recognizing and appreciating employees for their suggestions and
innovative contributions are crucial to make them perceive themselves as highly valued. For
example, when doctors or nurses find out new treatments or applicable solutions to some
kinds of diseases during work, they are awarded accordingly.
Next comes compensation. As regards the characteristics of the hospital, in which every
surgery or treatments are in need of a group work, the entrepreneurs always seek ways to
reward cooperation between departments and individual employees. In this case, a
combination of rewarding individual and group contributions is suggested, as a
compensation and reward program which takes individual achievements in addition to team
performance into account could trigger extra incentive for employees. What is more, it is
highly recommended that compensation be awarded in an honor way that lays the
emphasis on the significance of performance and employees’ contributions. In other words,
employers are better off organizing the hospital in which excellent performance triggers
competitive compensation. On the other hand, in designing such a compensation system,
the evaluation criteria for receiving compensation must be clearly spelled out for every
employee in advance of consistent implementation. Afterwards is the reinforcement of
original communication with regular meetings with a view to introducing and promoting the
new program. Moreover, their involvements in creating this program could be regarded as
so great a chance to engage them in clarifying what makes them satisfy and perform
effectively.
Regarding workplace spirituality with sense of community, the hospital should facilitate
employees with other programs such as job sharing, childcare, eldercare, sabbaticals,
picnics and parties, so that employees perceive themselves as highly valued and to be
members of a community, thus combining their work with other aspects of life and
producing wholeness at the workplace as well as the community. What is more, managers
should provide trainings in creative problem-solving and advanced facilitation skills for
employees to resolve conflicts positively with their own workgroups. Additionally, spiritual
leaders who will foster spiritual values in the hospital are essential as well. They are
suggested to ensure that all parts of the enterprise are working together in terms of the
same goals and missions favoring corporate spiritual values. Besides, the hospital should
make the staffs get the feelings of being valued and supported by their employers by
arranging small talks or meetings between lower hierarchical employees and senior
management. Meaningful communication refers to the way employers obtain and reflect on
employees’ opinions, then respond constructively with proactive language and point out
specific feedback balanced between the negative and the positive. Small modifications in
how employers communicate, for instance, the way they convert complaints into requests,
causing a subtle difference in spirituality of the workplace. Finally, but most importantly, the
hospital can implement corporate social responsibilities in their workplace, focusing more
on the philanthropic level. In other words, the organization can voluntarily donate their
services and time to enhance human welfare and goodwill; for example, corporate giving
and donations, formation of their own fund to facilitate social healthcare. Some seminars
should be organized to educate and communicate about corporate social responsibilities
within the hospital. By doing so, the employees will gain valuable insights on a socially
responsible culture within their organization, thereby not only understanding more about
responsibilities and priorities, but also becoming more empowered to collaborate toward
the same purpose, meaning and vision at work (Preeta and Vanita, 2010).
To enhance engaging work, the hospital has to concentrate on designing meaningful job
characteristics and thoughtfully examining work–life balance, employees’ need and
expectations. There should be some alternation of policies so that employees are allowed to
have contemplative breaks during work, relevant spiritual talks or a place for reflection and

PAGE 406 j SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL j VOL. 14 NO. 2 2018

silence. Moreover, flexible time and creative scheduling practices should be encouraged so
that staffs could spare more time with things they love and are passionate about.
Additionally, the managers could challenge employees by allocating them tasks that can
stretch them beyond their competence and confidence degree. By doing so, staffs will have
opportunities to develop and learn from mistakes, thereby avoiding being suffered from
boredom and negative feelings. These assignments bring about valuable chance of
implementing something in a new way or starting doing something new, thus making the
employees more passionate and grateful. However, it is recommended that the balance of
challenge, clarity and support be included. Regardless of them, employees might possibly
experience anxiety and frustration when they face challenges. Besides, on account of the
results of challenges and ideas of employees, some modifications on job allocation system
should be implemented to ensure that they are right at what they want to be at work.

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About the author

Tung Thanh Do graduated from International University and gained his Bachelor of Arts
degree in International Business in November 2015. In February 2016, he continues his
study by enrolling in the linked program between Northeastern University, Boston,
Massachusetts and International University – Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam with a view to achieving a Master of Science degree in Leadership in April-May
2017. The research fields of his interests are leadership and human resource management.
Tung Thanh Do can be contacted at: tungdo93@gmail.com

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