Religion in the Modern Workplace: How to Get It Right

Religion unquestionably plays a large role in the everyday lives and experiences of most people, but religious sentiments and ideas are often, by design, conspicuously absent in the modern workplace. The reasons for this are multiple, from the unwelcome difficulty of maintaining diversity and fairness among
religious groups within the workforce, to the risk of discrimination claims by employees who feel their faith or religion has not been valued or respected in the workplace, but the outcome is that most workplaces today assume or even require a strictly secular mindset and demeanor when in the workplace. This prevents a lot of the potential benefits of faith and religion, including on the
worker, from making an impact in the workforce.

Religion is a very effective model for behavioral conditioning, as most major
religions possess guidelines or commandments that instruct followers to model exemplary characteristics like honesty, humility, patience and grace, all of which
make for a more valuable, better adjusted member of staff. Most major religions also have chapter and verse dedicated to exhorting people towards hard work and
perseverance, and these doctrines could have a cultural effect on individual behaviours in ways that increase productivity. These teachings, which are often learned from a young age, can prove as efficient or as motivational as a life coaching session or a work seminar, and have extra significance in the life of the worker because of their spiritual connotations.

There are also social reasons why religion can be a positive in the workplace: it creates an almost instant sense of deep community, which allows us to understand each other better without as much interaction required. In times of stress or actual distress in the workplace, it helps to have a sort of “shorthand” for confronting such crises that is shared by the people you work with, and religion can fill that space for many people.
Religious belief can be highly motivating, and the ability to share that motivation can be very useful in situations where adversity or challenges are also shared by individuals in the workplace.

Potential Landmines
There are, however, a few potential issues one must be on the lookout for if one is
going to permit faith and religion into the workplace, in order to ensure
maximum reward, as well as to minimize risks and costs, of workplace religious
engagement.

Workplace partisanship: A significant risk with introducing religion to the workplace is that such a move could polarize the office atmosphere by making some workers feel they are excluded or intimidated because of their status as members of a minority religion, or because of their lack of faith or religion, while providing others who are of faith with a community resource that is denied to the other members of staff. It is therefore highly important, when introducing
religion to the workplace, that management ensures that it does not come from a place of enforcement or exclusivity. Allowing membership or engagement to be strictly voluntary, as well as emphasizing the open and inclusive nature of the initiative, will help employees get the maximum benefit of faith in the office without allowing it to become a lightning rod.

Politics: Faith and religion are inherently political, because they give us moral
guidance and instructions, which then shape how we observe and act in the world. As every faith or denomination has its own internal moral and social politics, it is important to emphasize to staff that faith-based endeavors in the workplace have a strictly unifying intention, and that controversial talks, proselytizing, and apologetics are inappropriate and unacceptable behaviors at work. Religious discussions and interactions should be of a tolerant, open-minded and uplifting nature, which is incompatible with political arguments.

Special Accommodations
Different religions have different customs, and sometimes those customs may cause a worker to need special accommodations that workers of other faiths or religions do not need. When this need occurs, for example, when a Muslim employee requires a longer lunch break on Fridays to accommodate their prayers, or when a Catholic worker can no longer partake in catered office lunches during Lent without a meatless option on the menu, they raise questions about whether it is more fair to be equitable or accomodating. These challenges could surface at any business or workplace, but they will be of key focus in a workplace that makes faith and religion a priority. When deciding on whether to grant a special accommodation, it is important to ask whether the accommodation is sustainable (could it feasibly be offered to every employee that needs it?), legitimate (is it a common or an acknowledged accommodation?) and fair-minded (is it an accommodation that most people can or want to use?). As long as the accommodation can meet this criteria without significantly disrupting workflow, then it should be considered.

In conclusion, religion can be a beautiful and powerful part of a person’s life, and is deeply significant to many workers, but an office or business that intends to accommodate religion in a modern setting must take concrete steps to protect religious engagement either from distracting workers, or from being manipulated as a tool of division that hinders workflow.