Working with Faith

 

Note: The following article was included in the Apr. 2014 intercultures e-newsletter. Email the intercultures e-newsletter Editor to receive our next edition in your inbox well in advance of website postings. We offer fresh, intercultural information and insights monthly.

For Believers, April is a month of many holy days. Worldwide, Christians observe a sequence of holy days culminating in Easter Sunday; Baha’i’s observe the nine-day Riḍván Festival; Hindus celebrate Rama Navami; Jews observe Pesach (Passover); Jains honor Mahavir Jayant as their most important religious holiday; both Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christians observe the Lord’s Evening Meal. This list is not intended to be comprehensive. It simply represents the prevalence of holy days observed around the world and by people in a (virtual) workplace near you. Whether colleagues or employees observe faith-based holy days because of their faith, ethnic, national or other cultural affiliations, the bottom line is that work processes can slow or stop and employee absences at key work events can become a liability when people take off from work to observe holy days. For many in our modern era, the traditions associated with a higher power(s) take higher priority than work.

Workers’ observance of faith-based holy days is to be acknowledged and managed as a point of cultural diversity that affects work process and important work events. In our 21st Century workplaces, local and global diversity are realities for all to consider regardless of our status as a cultural minority or majority. Just as it takes everyone to create workplace diversity, workplace diversity is owned by all. For instance, whether you’re a U.S.-based Baha’i working with a German-based atheist or a Brazilian-based Catholic working with an Egypt-based Muslim, planning your work deliverables around the recent four-day Easter holiday observed in a number of countries is a shared responsibility. As with any other point of cultural difference, if you’re a member of a culturally diverse workplace, the responsibility for managing culture to work better together is yours to share.

Faith can be a silent though powerful presence in the workplace. For some, faith is a taboo topic of conversation. For others, faith may be an unspoken reality because of its status as a dominant workplace culture. For all, the observance of faith-based holy days has clear implications for work process and work events.

Managing faith-based observances in the workplace—and employees’ subsequent time off work—can be as basic as adding it to your mental list of practical considerations. Make space for the probability by proactively inquiring about faith-based observances to help ensure the continuation of smooth work processes and attendance at critical work events. For instance:

• When scheduling major target dates for a project plan, review your organization’s list of observed holidays or do a quick Internet search of national holidays or popular holy days in the countries with which you work. Factor in and/ or plan around those days, as appropriate.
• Invite team consultation when scheduling important meetings, retreats or client presentations. When planning logistics for professional development training, include a question to participants about availability in relation to holy day observances in your pre-training assessment.
• Add the topic as a standing and brief item of conversation on regular meeting agendas, or use technology-based meeting planning tools such as Doodle to help anticipate worker availability around holy days.
• Keep a team or personal calendar of often-observed holy days.

Finally, consider the “face” that may be lost and/ or financial costs of scheduling over important holy day observances only to discover that key stakeholders do not attend. Business needs may cause for scheduling work processes on or near faith-based observances after all. Overall, making informed decisions about workplace diversity is a day-to-day part of the practice of intercultural competence.

In all cases and as rules and regulations apply, employers are encouraged to follow relevant employment law and organizational guidelines related to employees’ faith-based affiliations.