The Impact of Religious Diversity Management Strategies on Employee Attitudes

The​ ​following​ ​research​ ​article​ ​utilizes​ ​the​ ​four​ ​frameworks​ ​(faith-avoiding,​ ​faith-based, faith-safe,​ ​faith-friendly)​ ​discussed​ ​by​ ​previous​ ​researchers​ ​Miller​ ​and​ ​Ewest​ ​(2015)​ ​in​ ​order​ ​to evaluate​ ​the​ ​effects​ ​of​ ​religious​ ​diversity​ ​management​ ​strategies​ ​on​ ​varying​ ​employee​ ​attitudes. An​ ​evaluation​ ​of​ ​the​ ​previous​ ​research​ ​in​ ​the​ ​field​ ​of​ ​religion​ ​and​ ​its​ ​effects​ ​on​ ​management strategies​ ​with​ ​a​ ​basis​ ​in​ ​title​ ​VII​ ​laws​ ​is​ ​also​ ​addressed. ​ ​Based​ ​on​ ​a​ ​sample​ ​of​ ​300​ ​participants, significant​ ​results​ ​in​ ​the​ ​frameworks​ ​and​ ​their​ ​corresponding​ ​variables​ ​were​ ​found. ​ ​Of​ ​the​ ​four frameworks​ ​utilized​ ​the​ ​faith-friendly​ ​framework​ ​was​ ​found​ ​to​ ​be​ ​by​ ​far​ ​the​ ​most​ ​favored​ ​of​ ​all regardless​ ​of​ ​religion,​ ​while​ ​the​ ​faith-avoiding​ ​framework​ ​was​ ​displayed​ ​as​ ​the​ ​least​ ​favored. With​ ​the​ ​following​ ​findings​ ​this​ ​study​ ​encourages​ ​future​ ​research​ ​that​ ​addresses​ ​not​ ​only diversity​ ​management​ ​strategies​ ​but​ ​also​ ​strategies​ ​accommodating​ ​to​ ​title​ ​VII​ ​laws​ ​as​ ​well. RELIGIOUS​ ​DIVERSITY​ ​AND​ ​EMPLOYEE​ ​ATTITUDES ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​3 ​ ​​Introduction In​ ​the​ ​past​ ​decade,​ ​the​ ​notion​ ​of​ ​religion​ ​and​ ​spirituality​ ​in​ ​the​ ​workforce​ ​has​ ​been​ ​an ever-increasing​ ​topic​ ​of​ ​debate​ ​(Chan-Serafin,​ ​Brief,​ ​&​ ​George,​ ​2012). ​ ​With​ ​Title​ ​VII​ ​laws​ ​and religion​ ​playing​ ​a​ ​role​ ​in​ ​managerial​ ​decision​ ​making,​ ​evaluating​ ​managerial​ ​strategies​ ​for spiritual​ ​diversity​ ​has​ ​never​ ​been​ ​more​ ​important​ ​(Fernando​ ​&​ ​Jackson,​ ​2006;​ ​Miller​ ​&​ ​Ewest, 2015). ​ ​Thus,​ ​this​ ​paper​ ​will​ ​follow​ ​the​ ​methodological​ ​framework​ ​set​ ​forth​ ​by​ ​researchers​ ​Miller and​ ​Ewest​ ​(2015),​ ​and​ ​compare​ ​the​ ​authors’​ ​four​ ​organizational​ ​approaches​ ​to​ ​spiritual​ ​diversity management:​ ​faith-avoiding,​ ​faith-based,​ ​faith-safe,​ ​and​ ​faith-friendly​ ​frameworks. The​ ​importance​ ​of​ ​this​ ​research​ ​lies​ ​in​ ​the​ ​four​ ​frameworks​ ​used​ ​by​ ​Miller​ ​and​ ​Ewest (2015)​ ​as​ ​they​ ​demonstrate​ ​new​ ​ways​ ​of​ ​satisficing​ ​title​ ​VII​ ​laws​ ​via​ ​the​ ​frameworks management​ ​strategies. ​ ​The​ ​main​ ​distinction​ ​between​ ​the​ ​frameworks​ ​used​ ​in​ ​this​ ​study​ ​and other​ ​frameworks​ ​or​ ​models​ ​used​ ​in​ ​previous​ ​research​ ​is​ ​that​ ​models​ ​like​ ​the​ ​spiritual​ ​leadership theory​ ​tend​ ​to​ ​be​ ​theoretical​ ​or​ ​undefined​ ​(Benefiel,​ ​Fry,​ ​&​ ​Geigle,​ ​2014,​ ​Longenecker, McKinney,​ ​&​ ​Moore,​ ​2004​ ​&​ ​Lynn,​ ​Naughton,​ ​&​ ​VanderVeen,​ ​2009). ​ ​This​ ​has​ ​led​ ​some researchers​ ​to​ ​point​ ​out​ ​the​ ​clear​ ​lack​ ​of​ ​methodology​ ​or​ ​measurement​ ​tools​ ​in​ ​this​ ​field​ ​of research​ ​(Hicks,​ ​2002). Research​ ​on​ ​Religion​ ​at​ ​Work Past​ ​research​ ​has​ ​shown​ ​that​ ​most​ ​people​ ​find​ ​that​ ​some​ ​sort​ ​of​ ​religion​ ​is​ ​important​ ​to them​ ​(Chan-Serafin,​ ​Brief,​ ​&​ ​George,​ ​2012). ​ ​In​ ​fact,​ ​56%​ ​of​ ​Americans​ ​reported​ ​religion​ ​as being​ ​important​ ​to​ ​them​ ​(Chan-Serafin,​ ​Brief,​ ​&​ ​George,​ ​2012). ​ ​Because​ ​U.S.​ ​citizens​ ​work​ ​an average​ ​47​ ​hours​ ​a​ ​week​ ​across​ ​multiple​ ​jobs,​ ​it​ ​is​ ​then​ ​important​ ​for​ ​organizations​ ​to​ ​address the​ ​spiritual​ ​lives​ ​of​ ​their​ ​employees​ ​(Beane​ ​et​ ​al.,​ ​2017). ​ ​Indeed,​ ​many​ ​religious​ ​people​ ​view RELIGIOUS​ ​DIVERSITY​ ​AND​ ​EMPLOYEE​ ​ATTITUDES ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​4 their​ ​endeavours​ ​to​ ​achieve​ ​a​ ​deeper​ ​spiritual​ ​life​ ​as​ ​being​ ​a​ ​24/7​ ​commitment​ ​(Hicks,​ ​2002). Empirical​ ​studies​ ​from​ ​Benefiel,​ ​Fry,​ ​&​ ​Geigle​ ​(2014)​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​Garcia-Zamor​ ​(2003)​ ​have shown​ ​that​ ​including​ ​some​ ​form​ ​of​ ​religion​ ​or​ ​spirituality​ ​in​ ​the​ ​workplace​ ​improves organizational​ ​performance,​ ​productivity,​ ​job​ ​satisfaction,​ ​sense​ ​of​ ​community,​ ​and​ ​alignment​ ​of