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Understanding religion: As the workplace
grows more diverse and the economy more global,
there is a growing need for understanding
of religious beliefs and how they affect the
workplace and business community. Conducting
business outside the United States involves
negotiating diverse cultures, laws, languages
and attitudes. Closer to home, workplaces
now contain a greater plurality of religions
among their workers, with their own beliefs
about the role of religion at work, religious
holidays, faith-based food requirements and
ethical systems.
It is important that professionals
are educated about religious beliefs to better
serve the needs of clients and patients, and
work effectively with colleagues. People are
additionally spending more time at work and
growing more assertive about how they express
their faith. The workplace is one of the main
places workers meet people of other religions
and talk about religious issues in their lives
and the news. The recent spate of corporate
scandals has also prompted businesses and
individuals to pursue ways to make the marketplace
more ethical, sometimes looking to religion
as a model.
Workplace ethics:
Ethical failures are making the news in
the corporate world, medicine, technology,
law, the military and journalism. The result
is a new focus on teaching values in a business
setting and teaching business ethics in
an educational setting. Federal law now
requires that publicly held companies report
on their integrity, and leaders are expected
to set the tone. Because religions offer
ethical and moral guidance for behavior,
some people believe appealing to faith values
will increase ethical decision-making. Scholars,
authors and business programs are incorporating
religious perspectives in their discussions
of workplace ethics. Some business leaders
or companies now say they take their ethical
cues from religious models. Others limit
ethics programs to secular spheres because
of the diversity of employees' religious
beliefs, religion's potential for creating
conflict or concern of violating government
rules about religion and the workplace.
The nation's surge in interest in religion
and the workplace resembles the second "Great
Awakening" period of evangelicalism
in the early half of the 19th century. A
tenet of the movement was tying religious
devotion to industrial morality, now known
as the "Protestant work ethic,"
and an influence on American business for
decades. Waves of immigrants with different
belief systems began challenging those structures
by the time of the end of the Civil War.
Later, businesses largely moved to more
secular expectations. Today's marketplace
continues to bring diverse beliefs about
religion and work to the workplace, posing
challenges to existing structures, but also
offering potential to draw on ethical beliefs
from many traditions and create a workplace
that respects different religious beliefs.
MU's Center on Religion & the Professions is spearheading discussion
among faculty in MU's professional schools
about religion's role in informing ethical
standards through its Ethics Consortium.
Faculty from several disciplines are discussing
the implications of increased religious
and cultural diversity in America for training
in ethics, and whether - with professionals
and clients coming from a wide range of
religious traditions - teaching methods
and curricula of professional schools need
to be adjusted. New ideas emerging from
this consortium are shared through seminars
and articles in scholarly and professional
journals.
Religion at work:
A growing number of businesses are fostering
expressions of faith by providing time and
space for employees to gather, or by overtly
making faith an integral part of their philosophy.
Retreats emphasize connecting with spirituality
and executives get together for prayer breakfasts
and spiritual conferences. Employees meet
for prayer groups and scripture studies.
Companies such as Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and
Wal-Mart Stores have hired chaplains who
visit employees in hospitals and offer counseling
to deal with stress and depression. At the
same time, a growing number of Christian
ministries are urging members to live out
their faith at work. Recent books encourage
workplace spirituality as an avenue for
self-realization, work as service to the
divine, and spirituality as a guide in leadership,
decisions and ethics.
Some studies have
shown that companies with programs that
use spiritual techniques have increased
productivity and reduced turnover, and that
employees who work for organizations they
consider to be spiritual are less fearful,
less likely to compromise their values,
and more able to throw themselves into their
jobs. Some companies limit religious expression
on company time and property, however, for
reasons ranging from personal philosophy
to respect for federal laws that prohibit
workplace discrimination based on religion,
both positive and negative. Tension about
religion and the workplace remains an issue,
with complaints about workplace discrimination
increasing in the past 10 years. In 2002,
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
reported a 29 percent spike since 1992 in
the number of religious-based discrimination
charges, making those the third-fastest-growing
claim, after sexual harassment and disability.
Issues today:
While businesses are incorporating spiritual
beliefs, religious institutions are also
appropriating business models. Many churches
are using branding techniques to create
an image and impression, while the role
of pastor now often also requires skills
as a business manager. Employment opportunities
exist for those with business savvy to advise
religious institutions, from local houses
of worship to denominational and faith organizations.
In the workplace, businesses are still grappling
with written policies for religious expression.
Many professions have a code of values that
may or may not be consistent with religious
values. Some make assumptions that religion
is always a force for good, but not everyone
in the marketplace believes or finds that
to be true. Some religious groups fear a
rise in pluralism in the workplace comes
with the risk of weakening the faith of
their believers and spreading types of religion
they believe are wrong, and are willing
to take action to counteract it. Today's
businesses also must discern answers to
ethical questions about outsourcing production
or selling inexpensive products at the expense
of workers.
The bottom line in today's marketplace
is that businesses do better when they know
what people want and don't offend them in
the process. Understanding religious and
cultural norms - language, social expectations,
nonverbal communication, dress and appearance,
dining customs, and oral and written communication
- can mean the difference between unsuccessfully
and successfully forming profitable long-term
relationships. Examples may include knowing
that it is proper to eat only with the right
hand in the Middle East; that Hindus consider
odd-numbers to be lucky; or that an Orthodox
Jewish man will not shake hands with a woman.
The goal in understanding
religious beliefs in the business community
is to deliver professional services in a
society of great diversity. Curriculum designed
by the Center on Religion & the Professions
aims to equip professional schools around
the nation with strategies and materials
that prepare students for this environment.
It also helps professionals and students
become more aware and respectful of religious
and cultural beliefs among co-workers, clients
or patients, and of how religion affects
their own perspectives.
Journal
of Society and Christian Ethics
Journal
of Religious Ethics
Business
Ethics Quarterly
American
Academy of Religion Syllabi Search
Business,
Ethics and Society
Dr, John T. Leahy
Depaul University
Religion,
Economy and Values
Ivan Strenski
University of California Riverside
Foundations
of Business Thought
Prof. Calvin M. Boardman
University of Utah
Religion
and the Marketplace
Dr. Linda D. Holler
San Diego State University
Association for Spirit at Work
Association of Muslim Professionals
BBL Forum – Christian CEOs
Business Men’s Fellowship (USA)
Business Men’s Fellowship (Canada)
Business Professional Network – Missions Through Business
The Catenian Association – Fellowship of Catholic Men
CBMC International – Christian Business Association
Center for Faith and Business
Christ Ambassadors Association – Christ-Based Businesses
Christ @ Work
Christian Academics
Christian Business Faculty Association
Christian Business Networking
Christian Business Women’s Fellowship
Christian Chamber of Commerce Association
Christian Entrepreneur Organization
Christian Management Association
Christian Real Estate Brokers Association
Christianity 9 to 5
Christians in Commerce
Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals
C12 Group - Christian CEOs & Owners
Executive Ministries
Faith@Work
Fellowship of Christian Business & Professional Women
Faith and Work Resources
Indian Professionals Network
Interfaith Etiquette Guide (Foundation for Religious Freedom)
International Black Christian Entrepreneurs Association
International Christian Chamber of Commerce
International Coalition of Workplace Ministries
Jewish Communal Professional Association of Greater Baltimore
Jewish Professional Women’s Network
Marketplace Leaders – Christianity in the Workplace
Minaret Business Association
Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace
Muslim Finance Professionals Association
Muslim Professionals UK
Network of Indian Professionals
Opus Dei
Protocol Professionals Book Store
Religion in the Workplace Law
ReligionLink Religion in the workplace legislation
Religious Accommodation in the Workplace (Anti-Defamation League)
Sikh Professional Association of Canada: (613) 747-6934
Spirituality At Work
• See a full list of professional associations and resources here.
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