Working for workplace religious diversity, equity & inclusion

E-NEWS ACTION DONATE

Why Should Companies Acknowledge the Faiths of Their Employees?

9 Jul, 2022

Summary by Alessio Atria


Problem: Employees are quitting their jobs due to feeling undervalued, possibly since the companies they work for do not consider how important faith is to them.

Solution: The Intel Corporation’s Craig Carter shows (in the “Love Works” video below) that when companies have cross-faith groups that offer love, excitement, equality, and commonality, employees feel valued and companies benefit. Presented at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s 2022 Dare to Overcome conference at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business in Washington DC.


According to Pew Research, 84% of Americans either claim to have a religious background or identify as atheists or agnostics. Faith does not matter to the other 16%.

Pew Research determined that the amount of people from all around the world affiliated with faiths, except for atheism or agnosticism, may increase from 83% in 2010 to 87% in 2050.

84% of black people, according to Pew Research, view their faiths as significant. The same goes for 70% of women, 68% of hispanic people, 62% of white people, and 60% of men.

By respecting the faith of employees, leaders could create an authentic culture within their companies and, according to a Harvard Business Review, receive 50% higher performance from their teams. Employees could express 76% higher engagement, 106% more energy, 74% less stress, and 29% higher life satisfaction.

One reason why roughly 20% of companies have faith groups and 80% do not is because the creation of faith groups is something they have never done before and, therefore, they probably should not do it. Some might worry that creating faith groups involves proselytizing, i.e., aggressively forcing one’s own religious views onto others. Company leaders may also be unable to identify with people who take faith seriously since they either do not really care about faith or they had a bad experience with it.

It is hard for some companies to recruit people, so they need to become the companies that people want to work for by allowing their employees to be in a more inclusive working environment.

One of the reasons companies retain employees is because of faith-based groups. The faith-based groups at Intel are known to save people from suicide by talking to them.

The factories where Intel’s server chips are built cost between 10 and 20 billion dollars. Intel makes very complex products that require all employees actively to brainstorm and debate to achieve the best solution. By encouraging employees to bring their whole selves to work, this helps Intel succeed.