Do the values of your company support faith expressions in your HR practices? The expression of a personal faith could have several dimensions, and not necessarily be quantified by a few key behaviors. But what might faith-influenced human resources practices look like?
In a survey of faith-oriented entrepreneurs and leaders of business and non-profit agencies, the research found that faith-oriented managers more often allowed faith to guide their decision-making (Bucci & Bruce, 2013). However, the survey results suggested that there was no noticeable difference with faith-oriented managers as compared to a group of managers from a general population regarding the offering of second chance opportunities to former employees who were terminated for cause; as well as the offering of employment opportunities to former criminals and addicts (Bucci & Bruce, 2013).
The results suggested that just because managers were strongly influenced by their faith to guide their decision-making, this did not necessarily mean that the managers felt compelled to offer second chance opportunities to disenfranchised workers (Bucci and Bruce, 2008). The expression of the manager’s faith in guiding their decision-making as noted in the research could have been evidenced in other areas in which the manager was more comfortable expressing their faith, like contributing funds to charitable causes or serving on a non-profit board. It also could be that policies or practices within the organization limit the manager’s ability to pursue this process of reinstatement.
Yet the results of the survey indicated that offering “second chance” opportunities in the form of hiring former drug addicts and criminals, or even in the rehiring of persons previously terminated for cause from their organizations, was not an activity that was being pursued in these managers’ organizations, nor are these managers seeing this activity if practiced as an effective strategy for their organization (Bucci and Bruce, 2008). But before deciding on which tactics might best express your own faith, examine whether the organization you represent has inherent values which would support such expressions of faith. Until you resolve this issue, you will not be able to effectively establish practices which reflect your faith, whether HR practices or other practices.
* Bucci, J. J., & Bruce, M. L. (2008). Perceived responsibility of faith-influenced managers to offer second chances. In Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference. Indianapolis, IN: Anderson University.
* Bucci, J.J., & Bruce, M.L. (2013). Manager tendencies to offer second-chance opportunities: Follow-up research comparing faith-oriented managers with a general manager population. In proceedings of the Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference. Bourbonnais, IL: Olivet Nazarene University.
