“The most successful businesses encourage an environment in which employees can bring their ‘full self’ to work,” said Brian Grim at the inaugural Religious Diversity Leadership Summit organized by the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, and cosponsored by The Walt Disney Company and DTCC.
The event is the first of a planned annual gathering bringing diversity officers from top U.S. and international corporations to discuss strategies to successfully accommodate religion and belief in the workplace.
One reason that this is a critical tasks facing the corporate world comes down to demographics:
For 85% of the world’s people, faith is a core part how they define themselves. Research shows that businesses need to understand religious demographics and faith values if they hope to effectively serve, employ, market and sustainably grow in today’s world.
Grim went on to say that “in today’s increasingly more competitive business environment, companies will need to draw upon the talent and experience of every employee. They can’t afford to leave anyone out. If they exclude or alienate someone for reasons having nothing to do with a person’s ability to do the job, they might also be excluding the next great business solution or the next great product idea. The very thing a company might need for its success. At the very least, they’ll be missing out on lots of really great talent.”
The Religious Diversity Leadership Summit was introduced by Mark Fowler, Deputy CEO, Tanenbaum. Comments were made by Belinda Frazier, Director, Diversity Outreach, The Walt Disney Company, and Nadine Augusta, Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility, DTCC.
Following Grim’s Keynote Address, Pramila Rao, Associate Professor of Human Resource Management, Marymount University, discussed the latest research on religious diversity challenges in the workplace. She was followed by a session on practical applications led by Neal Goodman, President, Global Dynamics.