More companies in the U.S. are starting to provide chaplain services in the office, in the belief that it enhances the personal wellbeing of employees and raises office efficiency.
One company has even placed in its core value statement that it is a “faith-friendly company (that strives) to honor God.” The availability of a chaplain is found to be a more acceptable option for many employees than an employee assistance program or a therapist would be, the Wall Street Journal said.
Tyson Foods Inc. has some 117,000 employees and 120 chaplains. Other businesses obtain the services of chaplain placement groups. The chaplains are found by some firms to sometimes be more effective in handling office commotion than managers, WSJ said.
Many firms believe the availability of a chaplain has led to reduced employee turnover and enabled many workers to focus more on their jobs. Randy Turnbow, president of EME Inc. said, “If the employee can come to work with a better attitude, feeling better about the rest of their lives, they’re better employees,” WSJ said.
Roving chaplains hired from placement service groups make weekly rounds to companies where they spend time getting to know the employees, giving their contact information and holding one-on-one meetings with workers, WSJ said.
They are also available 24/7 to company workers and will go to see them in hospitals or at their homes, lending comfort and support without charge. They can be accessed, too, for weddings, funerals, counseling about personal woes whether marital, financial or other matters, WSJ said.
One corporate chaplain has helped workers to make a budget and stood beside them as they destroyed their credit cards. The chaplains can be depended upon to keep all confidences, WSJ said.
The tapping of chaplain services by firms is characteristic of how openness is growing in the workplace where spiritual matters are concerned, and reflect how many workers want to be able to articulate their spirituality at work, WSJ said.
A 2008 Barna study showed that 74% of Americans consider faith important to themselves, despite falling church memberships. Some 71% said they have their own religious beliefs although they do not participate in any religious group, WSJ said.
Most corporate chaplains do not proselytize unless an employee asks them to. More often they encourage, pacify, and lend emotional support. They may refer workers to government agencies or company assistance programs, WSJ said.
Supplying chaplain services in the workforce originally prevailed in the Bible Belt in the 1980s and 1990s, but of late it has expanded to other regions too. Some 15% of employers provide prayer spaces including “serenity rooms,” while 9% allow religious groups to meet onsite, WSJ said.
One employee told of how a company chaplain helped him when his sister fell into a coma, then passed away when her life support was removed. Another told of how a chaplain waited with her at the hospital when her son died from surgery, WSJ said.
Still others ask for prayer requests, and one chaplain puts the names on his blackberry because they are so plentiful. Another woman preferred to regularly consult her chaplain regarding stresses because she does not go to any church regularly. She said her faith has grown because she can talk to the chaplain about her personal problems, WSJ said.
A chaplain can minister to a range of people of differing faiths from agnostic to Buddhist to Catholic. Some firms look for chaplains from denominations that are relevant to the larger populace at a workplace. For example, one company arranged for an imam to counsel Somali Muslims who were employed at their Nebraska beef-packing plant, WSJ said.
According to David W. Miller, head of Princeton University’s Faith and Work Initiative, more executives are serious about their faith and access spiritual coaches for themselves and for their companies, WSJ said.
