In the world of corporate diversity and inclusion, first there was race, then gender and ethnicity, then sexual orientation. Now religion is knocking at the door. Prayer breakfasts, once confined to Capitol Hill, are now popular among executives in unexpected sectors such as technology and real estate.

David Miller, executive director of the Yale University Center for Faith and Culture, says the faith-at-work movement will ultimately shape business culture as profoundly as the push for civil rights and equal pay has shaped the environment for minority workers and women.

Retention as a Motivator
At Fannie Mae, which has been a leader in the diversity and inclusion field, Emmanuel Bailey, vice president and chief diversity officer, says, “We want a corporate culture that retains employees, so that they value Fannie Mae as a great place to work.” A company-wide calendar notes religious celebrations throughout the year. As holidays approach, Bailey explains, employee groups write an article about the holiday’s meaning and history and post it on the company intranet. At the bottom is a note directing managers on how to accommodate employees celebrating the holiday.

Corporate leaders resistant to having a faith-friendly workplace may find evidence that religion and spirituality already exists among employees to be persuasive. Georgette Bennett, president of the New York City-based Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, points to a 2005 NBC poll in which nearly 60 percent of respondents said religious beliefs play some role in making decisions at work. An even higher number said such beliefs influence their interactions with coworkers.

Similarly, recent U.S. Census figures show a dramatic rise in the rate of immigration from non-Western countries. In a 2001 survey conducted by the Tanenbaum Center and the Society for Human Resource Management, one-third of human resources professionals said the number of religions in their company increased in the past five years.

Protected Speech
Proselytizing in the workplace is one legal hot spot, according to Deborah Weinstein, who teaches employment law for managers in Wharton’s legal studies and business ethics department. Employers may be surprised to learn the extent of religious expression in the workplace, as stated in the U.S. Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating on religious grounds and requires them to make “reasonable accommodations” for employees’ “sincerely held beliefs.”

However, faith-at-work is not a one-size-fits-all product. Companies have to choose the approaches that fit best. The menu of options for meeting religious and spiritual needs is short, but growing. Popular picks right now include allowing employees to swap holiday time, modifying cafeteria food to meet religious dietary restrictions, providing spaces for prayer or meditation and allowing employees to start faith-based affinity groups.

Stew Friedman, practice professor of management and director of the Wharton Work/Life Integration Project, advises companies to encourage a grassroots approach, in which employees take responsibility for asking the company to meet their individual needs.

“Let’s say you need to pray several times during the workday. How does your being able to pray during the day make the company more effective?” he asks. “If it’s something you really care about, you’ll find a convincing way to make your case.”

Condensed with permission from Knowledge@Wharton, the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.