Religious Spiritual Diversity In Organisations

Challenges involved in the interplay between religion and business are incredibly complex, and as such this book thoughtfully considers the critical issue of inclusion and how employers should view its importance. Whilst exploring the intricacies of organised religion, it investigates how mindful religious wisdom can be harmoniously applied within corporate and not for profit environments.

Many observers propose the exclusion of all religious related aspects from organizational life, others promote a more tolerant approach of certain practices, symbols and ceremonies, and few commentators highlight the values, diverse religious beliefs and experiences that employees could bring to the organization. Arguments, conclusions and recommendations are often contradictory and inconclusive due to the complexity and dividing nature of religion diversity. In Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace the editors present a selection of essays, conceptual papers, empirical studies and case studies about how religious diversity and spirituality are managed. The book explores how firms address organizational and managerial challenges deriving from the religion diverse backgrounds of their employees. The different contributions discuss policies and practices, how implicit and unmarked religious norms influence the ’managing’ of religious issues in organizations, and what the benefits of a religion diverse workforce are. It also includes contributions which address aspects of spirituality in the workplace, and the role of legal frameworks and their influence on organizations and their policies and practices regarding religion diversity. The perspectives and contributions include a wide range of disciplines by authors from leading academic institutions around the world.

Many observers propose the exclusion of all religious related aspects from organizational life, others promote a more tolerant approach of certain practices, symbols and ceremonies, and few commentators highlight the values, diverse religious beliefs and experiences that employees could bring to the organization. Arguments, conclusions and recommendations are often contradictory and inconclusive due to the complexity and dividing nature of religion diversity. In Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace the editors present a selection of essays, conceptual papers, empirical studies and case studies about how religious diversity and spirituality are managed. The book explores how firms address organizational and managerial challenges deriving from the religion diverse backgrounds of their employees. The different contributions discuss policies and practices, how implicit and unmarked religious norms influence the a managinga (TM) of religious issues in organizations, and what the benefits of a religion diverse workforce are.It also includes contributions which address aspects of spirituality in the workplace, and the role of legal frameworks and their influence on organizations and their policies and practices regarding religion diversity. The perspectives and contributions include a wide range of disciplines by authors from leading academic institutions around the world.

Employees bring their beliefs and religious values to work, and this can be a source of either positive performance or negative conflict. Social conflicts around religion impact more than societies and communities. They also impact organizations. 'Anti-religion' sentiments tend to be based on the perception that religion can be neatly separated from the 'more acceptable/palatable' spirituality, but this ignores the fact that - for most people - the two are intimately intertwined and inseparable. As religious identity is salient for a majority of the world's population, it is thus an important aspect of organizations - particularly those with a large and diverse body of employees. This handbook provides a timely and necessary analysis of religious diversity in organizations, investigating the role of national context, the intersections of religion with ethnicity and gender, and approaches to diversity management.

Workplace spirituality is an emerging field of study and practice and this book asks the questions: Where have we been in the last ten years as a field and where should we be headed in the next ten years? The editors asked these questions of thought leaders from around the globe, leaders who represent different sectors, faith traditions, worldviews and organizational functions. This volume represents the best of current thinking about the state of the field of workplace spirituality and of what the future holds. There are four themes: (1) management themes such as leadership, ethics, change management, and diversity; (2) workplace spirituality in sectors such as health and wellbeing, policing and creative industries, (3) key issues that are emerging, such as self-spirituality, mindfulness, storytelling and the importance of nature, and (4) cutting edge epistemologies and methodologies including indigenous studies, relational ontology, ethnography, and psychodynamics. These articles were chosen to provoke new thinking, new research, and new practice in the field of workplace spirituality, with the goal of helping the field mature in the next decade.

"The first edition of this book (1999, Free Press) provided the first comprehensive framework of knowledge, values, and skills for addressing spiritual diversity in social work at a time when this topic was little known or accepted. The second edition (2010, Oxford University Press) was revised and expanded to reflect the significant growth of interest in spirituality within social work and other helping professions, in the USA and around the world. This third edition builds on that foundation and much expanded multidisciplinary and international work on the topic during the past eight years, including our own. In particular, this edition includes case examples and insights from a new third author, Hwi-Ja Canda, based on her 30 years of experience as a social work practitioner, in order to make the professional applications of our framework even more vivid and practical. The main new features of the third edition are: - Reorganization of content to enhance flow of ideas and guidelines for practice, including expansion of content on assessment and practice with two added chapters in Part III - Twice as many case examples and vignettes from personal and professional experiences, organized into 40 Scenarios throughout the book - Significantly expanded transdisciplinary literature review throughout the book - Increased integration of the strengths perspective throughout - Increase of international perspective, including analysis of worldwide professional codes of ethics - More exercises to engage the reader in personal and professional growth - Significant refinements of sections on human diversity, religious perspectives, and addition of 12 Steps perspective in Part II"--

Though the majority of Americans claim faith in God and adults spend the majority of their time working, these two important dimensions of life are rarely effectively integrated. It is important for people of every faith tradition to consider how, when and if their faith and work are to be integrated. This is especially true as research shows that the integration of faith and spirituality in the workplace results in numerous benefits for individuals, organizations and society - if done respectfully. This book presents key research insights concerning integration influences and strategies for Christians who seek to integrate their faith and their work. Specifically, it discusses how individual, occupational and organizational factors influence faith and work integration, and suggests diverse ways to integrate the Christian faith at work. The Faith and Work Integration Spheres of Influence Model is presented as a tool to guide individuals in better understanding how to develop their own personal plan for faith and work integration within the context of limiting or enabling occupational and organizational factors. It also suggests areas for further research on this topic. Readers will learn how Christian faith and work integration can be maximized based on individual attributes, occupational characteristics, and organizational factors.