The Higher Calling: Why and Where Religion Fits in the Workplace

Finding the Right Chaplain for Your CompanyDifferent chaplain suppliers have different training routines and standards for the chaplains they hire. Art Strickland of Marketplace Ministries says they may recruit pastors from area churches, and then put them through a program to train them for workplace interaction. Houston-based Rev. Dr. Diana Dale, executive director of the National Institute of Business and Industrial Chaplains, employs chaplains that are trained to the rigorous level of military and university chaplains. Here, she reveals what employers should look for when choosing a chaplain:“The two things we like to see are, first, critical incident debriefing training, for dealing with disasters, accidents, and deaths; and mediation training, like how to do alternative dispute resolution. “Other things we think are important are training in marriage counseling, and drug and alcohol abuse, because those are the two biggest areas [employers and employees] call upon from a counseling point of view.“Another thing to look for is whether the chaplain is willing to articulate a comfort level with dealing with a diverse population: whether they’re willing to respect the secular, economic purposes of this company, and whether they able to work well with labor and management.” When tragedy strikes in the workplace, these typically secular institutions quickly become prayer altars and mourning pillars.“Every time I deal with death in workplace… people talk about being angry at God,” says Rev. Dr. Diana Dale, executive director of the National Institute of Business & Industrial Chaplains. “But they have to go through that because it’s part of their human, social, and religious upbringing.”Dale, a chaplain who counts critical incident debriefing among her counseling specialties, relates a recent experience helping employees at an engineering construction company work through a recent tragedy. “A drunk had plowed his truck right into the crew and killed the team leader.  The team of five that were on-site was traumatized, as they had watched their friend die; the other teams back at the corporate headquarters were also in shock. “When I came in they were sitting in clusters, silently, some with tissues, and others looking angry.  We got the team talking about the details of what had happened, then sharing what a great guy [the team leader] was, and about their concern about helping his wife and two kids.  I went through a debriefing brochure we use to help people recognize and acknowledge their feelings, and that opened up the other set of emotions; great anger at the perpetrator came bubbling up and I helped them deal with that without judgment. “Later feedback was that [this session] had been a healing group time together, which helped them honor their coworker and continue their own healing process.  They said the group process helped them to reach out to each other; it brought them even closer as a work community.”This may seem like an extreme example of how and when faith might occasionally creep into the workplace. But five years after 9/11, implications of the workplace as a constant battlefield still haunt us.   “I mean, a guy was drinking coffee in the morning, and then a plane rammed into his office building,” reflects Art Strickland of Marketplace Ministries, a Dallas-based business that supplies chaplains to workplaces nationwide.  The event brought some issues to the surface for many workers: It conveyed some uncertainty about the safety and friendliness of the workplace.  This uncertainty was reinforced by the Enron scandal, another negative story in a corporate setting. Ever since, say many leaders in industries advocating spirituality in the workplace, many people’s view of the workplace hasn’t been the same. “After Enron and 9/11, employees have been regrouping in terms of what’s important in their lives and families,” says Dale. “There’s a lot more talk about spirituality, and values-type talk that’s not necessarily religious, but spiritual [in the workplace].” Indeed, many bosses are moving to fill the void of employee confidence with religion. It’s a far-reaching move, considering that 90 percent of Americans identified with some religion as of the CIA’s 2002 World Factbook estimate. But what are the benefits of emphasizing such a personal and typically secular practice in the workplace? Could Faith Equal Success? Many successful businesspeople have attributed their success to their faith. Perhaps one of the most successful and openly religious tycoons here in Texas is Howard E. Butt Jr., whose grandparents started what is now one of the largest privately owned grocery chains in America. Now vice chairman of the multibillion-dollar business, Butt has been a pioneer of the faith in the workplace movement. He teamed with Billy Graham in the 1950’s to create Layman’s Leadership Institutes, which provide spiritual programs for business professionals. Though it would be hard to prove that religious people are necessarily better workers, Butt exemplifies how faith can boost motivation and meaning for some. In a recent initiative to focus on faith in the workplace this past Labor Day, he stressed the importance of well-executed w. “Excellent and honest work Monday through Friday brings glory to God,” Butt said. “Despite headlines and high-profile stories about workplace greed and corruption, it is faith that gives balance and meaning to the work we do. It may be fashionable to be cynical about business, but we know better. And part of our job is to disprove the skeptics.” Butt’s message seems to speak directly to the post-Enron cynicism about corruption in the workplace. As such, it seems that harnessing religion in the workplace can go toward boosting workplace morale at least for some, one tool for attracting and keeping motivated employees.Harnessing Spirituality in the Workplace Speculations aside, religious accommodations in the workplace may not only be beneficial, they’re the law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Texas Labor Code both require that employers “reasonably accommodate employees' sincerely held religious practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.” It is unlawful, however, to force an unwilling employee to participate in a religious or spiritual activity. And creating a climate that makes it difficult for employees to reject religious activities for fear of reprimandation can put employers in questionable legal waters as well. Religion in the workplace resources:Workplace chaplains of varying denominations:National Institute of Business and Industrial Chaplains (interdenominational) http://www.nibic.com Marketplace Ministries (varying denominations; Christian-centric) http://www.marketplaceministries.com Islamic Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/chaplaincy Web sites offering articles, events, and other resources to those wishing to integrate religion with their daily work: The Higher Calling.org http://www.thehighercalling.org The Avodah Institute    http://www.avodahinstitute.com The Yale Center for Faith and Culture http://www.yale.edu/faith The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding http://www.tanenbaum.org Legal Resources for employers:The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission http://www.eeoc.gov/types/religion.html Offered on a strictly voluntary basis, employers have a variety of options to offer employees who crave spiritual reinforcement in the workplace, all with different possible advantages. Providing Religious and Spiritual ResourcesMany Fortune 500 companies have recognized the importance of religion in people’s lives. Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc. is a company that has gone the extra step to foster a religious-friendly climate in the workplace. Rather than stay away from the institution, TI has chosen to foster an inclusive spirtual culture. They offer “Serenity Rooms” that employees of any religion can use for prayer or meditation. They also have 30 “affinity” or employee-networking groups, which include both Christian Values and Muslim Initiatives.  The measures have paid off: TI landed spot No. 86 on Fortune’s 2006 list of “100 Best Companies to Work For,” with a voluntary turnover rate listed at 5 percent.Houston-based Methodist Hospital System, one of the nation’s largest non-profit hospitals with record-high patient satisfaction scores, admits a spiritual office culture that seeks out local church leaders to “bring compassion and spirituality to all of its endeavors.” Methodist came in on the list at 78. But there are less expensive resources for businesses that don’t have the room or resources to carve out extra rooms for private worship. One great resource for Christians, for example, is thehighercalling.org, another Howard E. Butt Jr. project. The site provides thousands of motiviational articles and radio bits that speak to dillemas in the work place, including topic heads on everything from perseverence to teamwork to servant leadership. They are aimed at employees, employers, and even pastors as sermon fodder. Another growing trend for providing spiritual resources in the workplace is the addition of well-trained chaplains. These are clergy members usually trained in conflict resolution and counseling and sent to different workplaces as a resource for employees. Workplace ChaplaincyArt Strickland, vice president of public relations at Marketplace Ministries, a chaplain providing company that has grown to serve 38 states and 250 companies nationwide, articulates the motivation behind bringing spiritual support into the workplace.“Just because you walk in the office door, doesn’t mean your personal problems leave. When you get to the office at 6:30 but your wife told you [earlier] that’s she’s leaving, that doesn’t go away just because you stepped into work.”Though one of Marketplace Ministries’ biggest clients is 48,000-employee-strong Pilgrim’s Pride, Strickland says most of the companies they work with have an average closer to 250 workers.  One Marketplace Ministries client is Don Barton, vice president of Human Resources for Austaco, a Taco Bell franchisee. Barton says that while it’s hard to quantify whatever increased productivity or employee happiness has been a direct result of workplace chaplaincy, 13 years of employing workplace ministers has served his business well.“I can say they’re a big reason why I think we keep as many people as we do, and why our turnover, for example, isn’t as great as say our other competitors’ out there,” Barton says.Barton describes chaplains’ support as doing everything from helping employees find apartments or eyeglass replacements, to presiding over their marriages and funerals.Chaplains are also useful for problems related directly to work, according to Diana Dale. Dale stresses that NIBIC-certified chaplains are required to respect the religious autonomy of all they serve. Their purpose, she says, is not to proselytize, but to provide spiritual support.   “We’re doing counseling and consulting with employees, but also a lot of consultation with management about ethics issues in the workplace, stress, bereavement, and that kind of thing; things that would intersect with our wanting to care for the people, and the employers wanting to have high productivity,” Dale says. Strickland agrees. “Anyone can gripe to their coworker; but this one is third-party neutral. The workplace can be a very unfriendly place, and the fact that you’ve got someone to talk to that’s trained and confidential [helps].”Legal Caveats As strongly as some feel about bringing their faith to work, and despite purported benefits, employers have to be careful not to exclude or offend nonreligious employees, or those whose religion differs from the majority religion at a given office. For example, if a strongly Christian employer thinks it a good idea to start the work day leading an office-wide Christian prayer, non-Christians in the office may take offense. “If [a boss] pressures all employees to attend [such an activity], that is religious discrimination,” says professor Douglas Laycock, a law professor alum of UT Austin, who has testified frequently before Congress on issues of religious liberty. “There is a federal court of appeals decision from Texas actually in about 1975 on that very point.  If it's truly voluntary -- no pressure and no consequences for staying away -- it should be OK.  But especially in a small office, that can be hard to achieve.  Employees might say they feel pressured; that they fear job consequences. “Of course, these fearful employees then have to be brave enough to complain.  So there aren't many cases about this.”Employers interested in supplying a spiritual but non-exclusive corporate climate can follow a couple of simple guidelines, says Arlene Switzer Steinfield, who has represented management in labor and employment law with Hughes & Luce LLP for three decades.  “I would say a private employer who is seeking to minimize risk in workplace should, first, not require employees to participate in religious [rituals] of any kind--and be careful to make sure [workers] know they really are voluntary,” Steinfield says. “And an employer should think also think about whether they can accommodate [religious requests]; the law puts forth a high standard for employees to prove that they’ve been discriminated against. But if the employer’s business won’t be adversely affected at end of day due to making religious accommodations for employees- things like granting time off for religious ceremonies, etc… then [employers] should do everything in their power to accommodate.”