This book provides the results of research that was conducted by three academics who wanted to better understand the impact of allowing employees to demonstrate their religion in the workplace; the authors refer to this as workers bringing their whole selves into the workplace. The research questions were on how and when faith and religion are demonstrated in the workplace, what the positive and negative outcomes are of these demonstrations, and what type of professions or workplace environments are most tolerant to those who have a desire to be all of who they are in the workplace. Over 13,000 people in the U.S. completed the survey over a three-year time period; the survey respondents were from many different religious groups, including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jews, in addition to those who identified themselves as having no faith at all. Overall, the authors were attempting to identify what the potential results are for organizations and the individual employees if the employees are allowed to be fully authentic at the workplace. The references used as a foundation for this study indicate that employees are ‘more committed, motivated and act in ways that support the organization’ (page 10) when they bring all of themselves to the workplace, and the first chapter explains why this research is necessary.

There are ten chapters in the book, eight of which discuss the different results of the research. Each chapter begins with a mini-story from one of the survey participants and then the authors proceed to further explain the point made in the anecdote with the results of the questions that were asked in the multi-question survey. There is at least one table or figure in each chapter demonstrating the results, cross-tabulated with different demographic characteristics; these are very helpful for gaining a better understanding of the differences between the different workplace and personal characteristics. Every chapter ends with a section called The Bottom Line, which provides a quick summary of the main points made in the chapter. Each chapter also has many references to other research that relates to the topic being discussed (the full reference list fills six and half pages) and there are many notes that add to the discussion of the chapter. There are five appendices at the end of the book that explain the research methodology and provide the questionnaire that was used to gather the data.

Chapter 1 introduces how the book is structured and the point of the research. Chapter 2 adds a further foundation to the purpose of the research by identifying the fears that leaders may have when allowing faith practices and religious talk in the workplace. Three different fears are identified. These include the possible marginalization of some of the workers when religious faith is expressed, the conflict that could occur between workers having different faith perspectives, and the potential emotional separation workers may feel when not being allowed to fully be themselves in the workplace.

Chapter 3 identifies all the different ways that faith is expressed at work. This discussion includes the impact that different factors, such as position in the organization, size of the organization, culture of the organization, and individual characteristics have on the ways in which workers express their faith and their confidence in doing so. Chapter 4 addresses an interesting question of workers viewing themselves as having a spiritual calling for the work they are doing. This aspect was studied because other research indicated that ‘having a sense of calling was correlated with better coping with work problems, as well as overall lower stress and depression rates’ (page 43) and so many different aspects of calling are discussed in this chapter. Chapter 5 takes this discussion a step further and identifies how allowing religion in the workplace can bring meaning and purpose to a worker’s job tasks and work environment.

Chapter 6 discusses the relationship between faith and different aspects of ethical behaviour, such as questioning authority, advocating for self and others, and making change within the organization. The authors provide many interesting individual anecdotes and statistics related to ethical behvaviours demonstrated by different professions and types of organizations. Chapters 7 and 8 begin the discussion of religious discrimination and harassment, and the realistic accommodations that need to be present if religious expression is encouraged in the workplace. The authors identify the factors affecting where and when discrimination and harassment are more likely to occur; these include where in the country these workers live and work, whether the religious group is a minority within the workplace, whether there is a particular societal perception of a religious group (the authors speak about the challenge Muslims have within the U.S. since 9/11), and the leader’s perception of and experience with different religions. The authors also challenge their own research results in relation to the question of whether religion is the factor that is causing discrimination and harassment; they wonder if the cause is another demographic factor such as gender or ethnicity. The discussion on accommodation includes the influence of the human rights legislation in the U.S. and how this might impact the actions and reactions in the workplace.

Chapter 9 brings one further point to the discussion on accommodating faith in the work environment. This chapter discusses the addition of family into the equation of whether employees feel comfortable and supported in bringing all of themselves to the workplace. One interesting demographic factor noted was that employees who are more religious are more likely to be married and have children. Due to this factor, this group identified more work-life balance issues. Also, the authors discovered that in those who identified themselves as religious, there was a significant difference between the percentage of men and women in the workplace, with women participating less than men. There was also much more gender traditionalism demonstrated among these workers.

The last chapter provides a good summary of what organizations and leaders should do if they want their workers to bring their whole selves to work. The authors identify, once again, the benefits of workers having the freedom to express their faith in the workplace. They also, though, acknowledge some of the challenges that organizations may experience when allowing faith in the workplace, and provide a brief description of six things an organization can do to reduce the downsides of creating a faith-tolerant workplace.

This would be a very interesting book for someone working in an HR department to read, as they could refer to the research when recommending certain policies and procedures or proposing a shift in the organization’s work culture. This book is also a great reference for any academic studying or teaching in the social sciences or business fields. The empirical research is solid and provides much evidence for recommending freedom of faith within the workplace. The main challenge I see with this book, however, is that all the data was gathered from those working in the U.S. and thus the conclusions and recommendations may only be applicable to organizations in the U.S. The objective of the research study was to understand the benefits of allowing religion to be demonstrated in the workplace, so if this study was replicated in Europe, Asia, or Africa the results could benefit organizations that operate within a global environment.

‘Religion in a Changing Workplace’ by Elaine Howard Ecklund, Denise Daniels, and Christopher P. Scheitle was published in 2024 by Oxford University Press (ISBN: 978-0-19-767501-4). 201pp.

Andrea Soberg is a retired professor of human resource management from Trinity Western University in Canada. She continues to be active within the global academic and business community by researching, writing, and assisting organizations that have a focus on business as mission.