Religion at Work

Religion at Work

Topic Author: Lyle Hanna

Posted: 4:24 PM Feb 20, 2009

Replies Posted: 2 comments

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Did you know only three percent of leaders in privately owned for-profit organizations openly express their spiritual beliefs at work and believe that prayer has a place in their organization’s culture? This statistic is only a tiny part of a study recently conducted by SHRM titled Religion and Corporate Culture: Accommodating Religious Diversity in the Workplace.

I ran across this study over a month ago but since that time issues of religion and diversity have been brought to my attention on several different occasions. Spirituality is a very important subject to me, yet it can be very taboo to discuss in a professional setting. Organizations are trying to create caring, open climates for employees to bring innovative ideas to the table; many companies believe displays of religion can jeopardize this atmosphere. Only 17% of companies make dress code and/or personal appearance code exceptions or modifications for religious reasons, and only 15% of companies designate area(s) for employees to use for prayer or meditation. As the president of a very small consulting firm I feel open to express and share my religious beliefs. We start our Monday morning team meetings off with a prayer. Consequently, I have never been asked to make a religious accommodation for an employee; however I know that I would be willing to consider any individual religious requests. According to SHRM, permitting religious accommodations boosts employee morale, retention rates, employee loyalty, workplace productivity, and the reputation of your company.

Do you practice your religion at work? If so, how?

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Posted by: liz Location: lex
yes i pray at work everyday and all day and in my dept we are some praying people because i know where my help comes from and without him there no me.

Posted by: yvonne Location: lexington
I think it is very important that all jobs should pray before the shift start you cant make without the lord in your life so on and off your job you should always put god first. just think the lord for waking you up this morning and starting you on your way.