Being able to bring and express one's various identities at work allows us to build relationships with others around us and nurture a sense of belonging within our work group
From the moment we walk in the door for a new job, we all bring our identities with us. Each of us has many facets of our identities: enduring Boston Red Sox fan. Parent. Religious affiliation. And many more. Being able to bring and express one’s various identities at work allows us to build relationships with others around us and nurture a sense of belonging within our work group.
This connection and belonging have positive emotional benefit for individuals. At the same time, feeling that we’ve been rejected because part of our identity is unwelcome at work threatens our connection with others and the organization. Being the only Red Sox fan in an office of Yankees fans is one kind of experience, but it is something that we come to expect at times. Feeling like one is stigmatized for one’s religious identity is a very different kind of experience.
The culture of an organization influences employee retention and access to talent in the market. As a result, it is important that organizations understand how individuals within their ranks respond to religious identity and how to support all employees in these moments. Hernandez, Johnson and Wicks hope their research will “spark new understanding” of how employees experience their religions at work and how organizations can “foster the productive expression of those beliefs.”
Morela Hernandez and Andrew C. Wicks co-authored “Responses to Religious Identity Threat in Thick and Thin Cultures,” a chapter in Business Ethics: Perspectives, Management and Issues, with Hana Johnson of Washington State University.
This article was developed with the support of Darden’s Institute for Business in Society, at which Andrew C. Wicks is an academic director and Megan Juelfs is associate director of research initiatives.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from University Of Virginia's Darden School Of Business. This piece originally appeared on Darden Ideas to Action.]