The Relationship between Islamic ethics and Employee's motivation: A Case Study

Motivation is among the factors considered important by organizations, plays a major role in the performance and efficiency of the staff. On the other hand, the Islamic ethics of labor by sanctifying labor and equating it with worshipping God and Jihad gives more value to labor and encourages people to carry out their duties in the best way and with the aim of gaining God’s acceptance. Hence, this research tries to explain the relation between Islamic ethics of labor and motivation among librarians working at the libraries of the University of Tehran’s faculties. This is a survey research in which the Islamic Ethics of Labor Questionnaire (Ali, 1988) and Motivation Questionnaire (Lodahl, kejner, 1965) were used for data collection. The survey population included all librarians working at Tehran University’s faculties. Out of the 130 librarians, 113 answered the questionnaires. Based on the Pearson's correlation coefficient the data was analyzed. According to the results of data analysis, career motivation is high among librarians, (52.1), and the Islamic ethics of labor, (72.9), shows librarians have a positive view of labor and its value. The extent of Pearson’s correlation coefficient indicated a positive and significant correlation between career motivation and Islamic ethics of labor. The survey’s other findings proved that there is also a positive and significant correlation between different aspects of motivation, such as interest in the job, importance of the job, responsibility, job satisfaction, and Islamic ethics of labor. The results showed that the Islamic ethics of labor has close relation with different dimensions of motivation (except self-confidence) and that more ethical librarians have higher motivation to serve the clients.