The Role of Religiosity in Increasing the Productivity of Steel

Industry Employees in Gresik-East Java: Study at P.T. Semenanjung

Pangeran Agung

Andrian Aziz Widodo

, Aziz Fachrurrozi

, Muhammad Nizom Chotib

and Saripudin Hamzah

Islamic University Jakarta

Keywords: Role of Religiosity, Productivity, Steel Industry, Employees

Abstract: This study aims to determine the role and contribution of religiosity in increasing the productivity of steel

industry employees. The method used is a case study with a qualitative descriptive approach. The results

showed that in P.T. Semenanjung Pangeran Agung (SPA) religiosity plays a role in increasing employee

productivity. Religiosity is reflected in 3 attitudes, namely: 1) Work is the actualization of worship, 2)

Working because of God, and 3) Working effectively and efficiently. Concretely, the contribution of the role

of religiosity in increasing the productivity of steel industry employees in P.T. SPA is the realization of quality

work, namely the fulfillment of quality objectives at each stage of the production process to the final product

produced as determined by the company. The definition of quality objectives includes: 1) Oriented to

customer satisfaction, 2) Creating products that meet SNI quality standards, international and customer

requirements, and 3) Improving effective work processes (on target) and efficient (effective), namely by

minimizing the occurrence of any waste.

1 INTRODUCTION

The issue of religiosity and employee productivity is

becoming a serious concern for experts. In a study

conducted by Arnetz et al (2013) it was revealed that

the values of spirituality and practices of worship

(religiosity) in the workplace had a positive effect not

only on the mental well-being of employees, but were

also able to reduce the stress experienced by

employees. In his study, confirmed by Arnetz et al

(2013) that through the values of spirituality and

worship practices (religiosity), the stress experienced

by employees can be reduced to a lower level than

before. This is evidenced by the decreased level of

fatigue experienced by employees.

The study conducted by Arnetz et al (2013) also

reveals clearly that there is a very significant

relationship between the values of spirituality in the

workplace and the practice of worship (religiosity)

when working with employee health which includes

mental well-being, work fatigue, and stress at

workplace. The higher the spirituality value of

employees in the workplace, the better the inner

welfare of employees, work fatigue decreases, and

job stress is reduced so that ultimately employee

productivity returns to normal and even increases.

The study conducted by Arnetz et al (2013)

reinforces previous studies conducted by Sulistyo

(2011) that in an organization, religious values have

a very significant role in the productivity of

employees. In his study, it was confirmed by Sulistyo

(2011) that religiosity is very important in improving

organizational performance as seen from the

increasing capability of innovation. Sulistyo (2011)

proves that the higher the level of employee

religiosity, the more motivated the work will be, both

from the aspect of the need for achievement, the need

to have power, and the need to be affiliated. If

employees have a need for high achievement and

affiliation, the Islamic work ethic is also increasing.

This can be seen from the increasing dedication to

work, creativity in work, understanding the value or

meaning of work, and collaboration. With the

increase in dedication coupled with high creativity in

the Islamic work ethic that exists in employees, the

capability of innovation in the organization has also

increased.

From experience, the results of initial

observations and searches conducted by researchers

found interesting phenomena to be observed, namely

employees who work in the steel industry sector that

perform positive activities outside of work, namely:

Widodo, A., Fachrurrozi, A., Chotib, M. and Hamzah, S.

The Role of Religiosity in Increasing the Productivity of Steel Industry Employees in Gresik-East Java: Study at P.T. Semenanjung Pangeran Agung.

DOI: 10.5220/0009943704250429

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 425-429

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

425

exercise; pursue hobbies (such as: farming and raising

pets); participate in PHBI (Commemoration of

Islamic Holidays); periodic recreation / spiritual

tourism (such as: travel / pilgrimage guardian);

fasting sunnah (such as: fasting Monday-Thursday

and fasting David); follow religious studies (such as:

Dhuha lectures every Sunday morning, Yasinan /

mujahadah every Friday night), and perseverance in

performing worship, both obligatory and sunnah,

shows better productivity. Not only that, these

positive activities were also able to improve good

relations with God and with others, both at work and

outside of work, such as with family at home. This is

different from employees who, when experiencing

stress, instead carry out immoral activities, such as

alcohol, drugs, cheating, and gambling.

Various studies of experts as well as preliminary

findings of the study indicate that employee

productivity cannot be separated from the issue of

religiosity. Therefore, researchers assume that

religiosity plays an important role in increasing

employee productivity in the steel industry.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Religiosity

Religiosity is a person's religious beliefs based on

monotheism and how these beliefs have implications

for everyday life. It is not uncommon for religiosity

to be interpreted and known by beliefs that are

practiced by ritual and tend to be good or can also be

called morally. Therefore, Nashori and Mucharam

(2007: 237) reiterated that for a Muslim, religiosity

can be known from how far knowledge, belief,

implementation and appreciation of Islam.

In Islam and for a Muslim, religiosity or

religiosity is not only realized in the form of ritual

worship, but also actualized in various other

activities. As a comprehensive system, Islam

encourages its adherents to be religious as a whole as

the word of Allah SWT (QS. Al Baqarah: 208),

namely: "O you who believe, enter into Islam as a

whole, and do not join in the steps of Shaykh. Surely

Syaithan is a real enemy to you. "

Religiosity is related to cognition, namely

religious knowledge or beliefs that influence what is

done with attachment or emotional feelings about

religion and / or behavior, such as: attendance at a

place of worship, reading scriptures and praying.

Someone who is said to be religious are those who try

to understand life and life more deeply than the

outward boundaries that move in the vertical

dimension of life and transcend this life.

Measurement of religiosity can be focused on

involvement in religion and behavior or on attitudes

and orientation towards religion (Bastaman, 1995:

56).

In this study, what is meant by employee

religiosity in the steel industry is the behavior of

Muslim employees that work is an actualization of

worship carried out regardless of the material by

promoting effectiveness (on target) and efficiency

(appropriate).

2.2 Productivity

Productivity implies an understanding of economic,

philosophical, and system concepts. Economic

concepts, productivity with regard to human business

or activities to produce goods or services that are

useful for meeting the needs of human life and society

in general. Philosophical concepts, productivity

contains a view of life and a mental attitude that

always strives to improve the quality of life where the

situation today must be better than yesterday and the

quality of life of tomorrow must be better than today.

This gives encouragement to try to develop

themselves. The system concept, productivity

provides a guideline for thinking that achieving a goal

must have cooperation or integration of the relevant

elements as a system (Anoraga, 2004: 175).

In this study, what is meant by the productivity of

Muslim employees in the steel industry is a mental

attitude to produce quality work.

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Methods

The method used in this study is a case study. Study

methods or case studies are methods that intensively

study a symptom that occurs in one or several places

as a whole (Bhattacherjee, 2012: 93).

Judging from the type of research, this research is

qualitative research. Qualitative methods are used to

examine the condition of natural objects (the

opponent is an experiment) where the researcher as a

key instrument, data source sampling is done

purposively and snowball, data collection techniques

with triangulation (combined), data analysis is

inductive / qualitative and the research results are

more stressful meaning rather than generalization

(Sugiyono, 2011: 15).

The qualitative method in this study emphasizes

the researcher to pay attention to the process, the

researcher as the main instrument of data collection

and analysis so that researchers are directly involved

in the field work. The research findings were

reviewed descriptively and it was hoped that data and

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information from steel industry employees could be

obtained that revealed the role of religiosity in

increasing productivity.

3.2 Data Resource

To obtain the data needed in this study, the

researchers used the following data sources:

1. Primary data is data sourced from informants who

are considered to know about the role of

religiosity in increasing employee productivity.

2. Secondary data or field data, namely data sourced

from the research field. Researchers went directly

to the steel industry as the object of research,

namely P.T. SPA. This is done in order to observe

employees as research subjects.

3. Library data (library research), which is a data

source that is used to find a theoretical basis for

research issues, namely religiosity and

productivity. The source of this literature data is

literature from books, magazines, and relevant

publications for reference.

3.3 Method of Collecting Data

Data collection methods used in this study were

carried out through:

1. Observation. That is, researchers see and listen

to what is done and said or discussed by

informants in their daily activities, both before,

before, when and after. During observation, all

that is heard and seen by the researcher when the

informants do this activity is retold or recorded so

that it is data or research information that can

support, supplement or add information from the

interview. Researchers also participated directly

as observers (participant observers). As for the

advantages of participation observation as

confirmed by Bungin (2008: 16) is that

researchers really dive in and take part directly in

the research so that the accuracy of the data that is

successfully obtained is reliable.

2. In-depth interviews. In this study, there were 2

parties involved as informants at P.T. SPA. The

first is the employee and the second is the

management represented by the general affairs

manager. Interview guidelines are prepared

before the interview is conducted with reference

to the research objectives 3. Documentation, in

the form of information from PT. SPA, such as:

internal and external quality audits.

3.4 Data Analysis Method

The data obtained were analyzed using qualitative

techniques. Qualitative analysis is used to analyze:

comparative (comparing several theories), deductive

(drawing conclusions from general circumstances to

specific things), and inductive (learning something to

determine general conclusions) regarding words,

images, and phenomena which cannot be quantified.

These data were then analyzed so that it obtained an

overview of the role of religiosity in increasing the

productivity of steel industry employees of PT. SPA

in Gresik-East Java.

4 RESULT

Concretely, the religiosity that exists in Muslim

employees contributes to increasing productivity.

This finding is evidenced by the confirmation made

by the researcher to the general affairs manager of

P.T. SPA where the company also realizes the

importance of religiosity values to be adopted into the

work culture.

Since its inception, the company has designed a

quality-based work culture that adopts religious

values such as: sincere and honest; enthusiasm and

cooperation; thankful and self-correction. The

attitudes and behaviors that reflect productivity can

also be seen in the commitment and quality policy,

namely:

1. Oriented to customer satisfaction

2. Creating products that meet SNI quality

standards, international quality standards and

customer requirements,

3. Improving effective work processes and

efficient. Schematically, the role model of

religiosity in increasing employee productivity

in P.T. SPA can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Role model of religiosity in increasing the productivity of steel industry employees at P.T. SPA

The Role of Religiosity in Increasing the Productivity of Steel Industry Employees in Gresik-East Java: Study at P.T. Semenanjung Pangeran

Agung

427

Concretely, confirmed by P.T management. SPA

that the contribution of Muslim employees' religiosity

is the production of quality work, while what is meant

by quality work is the achievement of quality goals.

The more religious Muslim employees on P.T. SPA,

the more potential the achievement of quality

objectives in accordance with their respective

divisions or sections.

5 DISCUSSION

In this study, the attitude studied is the religiosity of

Muslim employees working in the steel industry. The

religiosity is based at the same time reflected by 3

things, namely working is the actualization of

worship, working for God and working effectively

and efficiently. These three attitudes of religiosity can

be explained as follows:

1. Work is the actualization of worship.

Luth (2001: 22-24) asserts that all forms of

human activity that are good are good deeds or

worship. As an actualization, the work contains

the value of worship if done by fulfilling the

following conditions:

a. Ikhlas, namely merging the body, mind

(mind) and heart (heart) in the task or

activity while purifying the intention

because of Allah alone and not for prestige

let alone seeking profit. Working is worship

to Allah SWT, then sincerity must be

imprinted in work.

b. Love, that is the feeling of longing to get

peace or happiness when meeting the person

who is being asked. Loving work is a must

because in it we can get material and

spiritual added value in the form of

experience to fulfill life's needs. In a broader

paradigm, working well is a psychological

reflection of our love for the Almighty. That

is, Allah SWT does tell us to work and do

good deeds so that when this work order is

obeyed we mean that we love Him and love

ourselves.

c. Istiqomah, which is to remain diligent in

favor of the right. Because work is worship,

we have to be istiqomah, not to justify any

means to earn income. We must be

istiqomah in the sense of remaining on the

right side according to what is commanded

by religion.

d. Willing to sacrifice. Working as worship

requires sacrifice in terms of time, energy,

thoughts, possessions and feelings. Worship

is a struggle or jihad in the way of Allah.

Therefore, willingness to sacrifice and

willingness to accept all trials are also worth

worship.

e. Spending wealth on the right path, which is

to spend part of the sustenance received in

the form of zakat, infaq, alms and others.

This act is nothing more than an effort to

thank God for the blessings that have been

given. If work is worship and worship can

only be realized by working then the legal

status of worship is basically mandatory.

2. Working because of God

Intention to work only because Allah will realize

that:

a. Allah is monitoring the work

b. Allah should be the goal

c. all that is obtained must be grateful,

d. sustenance must be used and spent on the

right path, and

e. realize anything what is obtained is that

there must be accountability to God. This

awareness guides us to always serve God so

that they avoid fraudulent actions in search

of sustenance.

3. Work effectively and efficiently

To understand that work must be done

effectively and efficiently, the Messenger of

Allah affirms the criteria of charity (work) which

must be a principle in carrying out activities

(Fachrurrozi and Mahyudin, 2016: 113),

namely:

a. Charity must be done itqan, namely quality,

both process and product,

b. Quality measures must refer to what

competencies are produced

c. Charity must be carried out with an effective

and efficient system and standard which in

Arabic terminology is called nasyath which

means agility, full of enthusiasm. Effective

and efficient relate to costs and time used

without reducing quality. Do not because

they feel sold in the market then the

products and services are lowered

d. Charity (work) must be in accordance with

the field according to eligibility and

propriety. This contains the element of

intelligence in choosing an environment,

including a religious environment because

the environment in the workplace will help

shape attitudes and behavior, both crafts,

sincerity and sincerity. This means that the

place of work will influence the rise and fall

of one's faith. Therefore, the choice of job

orientation must be based on the integrity of

faith and the flourishing of the level of

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diversity, not solely oriented to the material,

position and position.

It seems clear that attitudes, especially religiosity,

have an important influence on behavior, namely

productivity. A person's attitude usually causes the

person to behave in a certain way (Wibowo, 2015:

54). In this study, the religiosity of Muslim

employees in the steel industry has a significant effect

on their productivity. The significance of the

influence of religiosity can be seen in its role in

increasing productivity. In other words, religiosity

contributes to increasing productivity.

6 CONCLUSIONS

1. At P.T. SPA, religiosity plays a role in

increasing employee productivity. Religiosity is

reflected in 3 attitudes, namely: 1) Work is the

actualization of worship, 2) Working because of

God, and 3) Working effectively and efficiently.

The three attitudes of religiosity mentioned

above have consistency that is in line with the

work culture adopted and guided by the

company, namely: 1) Working with sincerity

and honesty, 2) Working by keeping the spirit

and building cooperation, and 3) Working with

gratitude and always correct / evaluate

themselves.

2. Concretely, the contribution of religiosity in

increasing the productivity of steel industry

employees at P.T. SPA is the realization of

quality work. The meaning is the fulfillment of

quality objectives at each stage of the

production process to the final product produced

as determined by the company. The definition of

quality objectives above includes: 1) Oriented to

customer satisfaction, 2) Creating products that

meet SNI quality standards, international quality

standards and customer requirements, and 3)

Improving effective work processes (on target)

and efficient (right guna), namely by reducing

or minimizing the occurrence of any waste.

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