Being on the outer: The risks and benefits of spiritual self-disclosure in the Australian workplace

Self-disclosure has been connected to a number of organisational benefits such as increased motivation, trust building, employee well-being, organisational identification, the communication of organisational values and commitment. Curiously, however, little work about self-disclosure has been published in management and organisation journals and still less that is concerned with spiritual self-disclosure, despite increasing employee diversity as globalisation intensifies. This paper reports on the analysis of semi-structured, qualitative, interview data collected from 40 Australian managers and professionals. The findings reveal that spiritual self-disclosure was largely perceived as taboo, ‘risky’ and stigmatising with the potential for negative consequences. These risks are all captured in the concept of being on the outer, a metaphor denoting marginalisation from the social, cultural and spiritual identity of the organisation. In contrast, ‘safe’, inclusive organisational cultures are likely to encourage spiritual self-disclosure and the benefits it can bring to employees, managers and organisations.