Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership

Description

How can company leaders and employees negotiate their different religious and spiritual commitments in the workplace? At a time of international debate over religious conflict and tolerance, workforces in various parts of the world are more diverse than ever before. Religion and spirituality are, for many employees, central to their identities. From the perspective of the employer, however, they can be distracting or divisive influences. This book analyzes the current interest in religion and spirituality in US companies. It offers conceptual distinctions and comparative examples (from the pluralistic contexts of India and Singapore) to trace the myriad ways that religion is present at work. It offers a model of respectful pluralism, asserting that the task of effective and ethical leadership in organizations is not to promote a single spiritual or religious framework but to create an environment in which managers and employees can respectfully express their own beliefs and practices.

Dr Douglas A. Hicks is Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies and Religion at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond, Virginia. He is author of Inequality and Christian Ethics, published by Cambridge University Press in 2000. His articles have appeared in The Leadership Quarterly, The Journal of Religious Ethics, World Development, and The Journal of Ecumenical Studies and he contributed to the CD-ROM On Common Ground: World Religions in America. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), he is an editor, with J. Thomas Wren and Terry L. Price, of the three-volume reference work The International Library of Leadership.

'America's increasing religious diversity has challenged and changed our society in many ways, especially in the workplace where we meet and interact on a daily basis. In this important book, Douglas Hicks analyzes workplace isssues from attire, office holiday policies, to discussions around the water cooler. He captures the challenges that religion and spirituality present in the world of the workplace. Above all, Hicks provides an invaluable moral framework in which office managers and co-workers can acknowledge conflict and create genuine, respectful pluralism. This book is a must-read for understanding religion in the rapidly changing workplace.' Diana L. Eck, Director of The Pluralism Project, Harvard University 'A seminal analysis of one of the most important and original topics of our time, spirituality in the workplace.' Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management, University of Southern California, and co-author of Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders 'A landmark study in its chosen field - religion in the workplace - but Hicks' practical proposals for 'respectful pluralism' have a much wider relevance. In the context of increasing religious diversity the book represents an important contribution to enhancing religious literacy and a most useful set of recommendations around the term 'respectful pluralism'. I can envisage a range of professionals finding it of great practical and theoretical use: health professionals, teachers, local government officers, city councillors, as well as those with responsibility for equal opportunities.' Philip Lewis, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford '... intelligent book ... its prescriptions are well worth reading ...'. Theology 'This is a masterly thesis, compellingly and logically argued. The reader is led forward, ineluctably, from one chapter to the next, and the writer creates an eagerness for the reader to reach the end. The supreme value of the book outside the US is bringing to attention issues which could be covert, concealed and neglected, as they often are in the US.' Reviews in Religion and Theology 'This is an admirable contribution to scholarship, one that will prove invaluable for those working in the fields of religious studies, theology, ethics, business and leadership. ... a careful, impressive, well-defended, cogent but modest argument ... This work fills more than one gap in the literature. ... Leaders who take this book seriously will be greatly assisted in managing to address the needs of the business effectively ... Students of (any) religion will find here an examination in depth of how religion is manifested in an arena of life that is too often neglected in their curriculum.' The Heythrop Journal