Since the 1980s, companies that value diversity and inclusion have ncouraged workers with com- mon interests to organize around
race, sexual orientation and
gender at work in employee-resource groups. These companies assert this policy of
inclusion has helped bolster
their bottom line: recruitment,
retention and productivity have
improved as employees feel
more connected to the workplace and to the marketplace.
Yet while many progressive
companies have recognized the
value of diversity and inclusion,
they often are reluctant to
recognize the value of religious
employee-resource groups.
About 20 percent of The 2010
DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for
Diversity® report some interest in
faith-based employee groups, but
only a handful of companies have
successfully instituted them. Two
companies that do this best, albeit
very differently, are American
Express, No. 12 in the DiversityInc
Top 50, and Ford Motor Co., No. 44.
The American Express model
allows different faith-based groups
to be created. The Ford model
creates one larger interfaith group,
which covers all religions. Ford’s
Interfaith Network (FIN), which
is frequently cited as a model
for inclusive religious-employee
groups, began in 2001. Eight
faith traditions are represented
on the board of FIN: four kinds
of Christianity (Evangelical,
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and
Latter-day Saint), Islam, Judaism,
Hinduism and Buddhism. In
addition, members
from other faiths,
including Paganism
and Zoroastrianism,
have joined since
FIN began.
The business
benefits of religious
ERGs are similar to
those that revolve
around other
employee-resource
groups. But all too
often, companies
are reluctant to
broach the issue of
religion in the workplace, an action
that many experts, such as David
Miller, founding director of the
95%
of Americans say
they believe in God
or a universal spirit
NEARLY 50%
say they
talked about their
religious faith
at work that day.
