Managing religious diversity in secular organizations in France
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2017-0142 |
| Published date | 06 August 2018 |
| Date | 06 August 2018 |
| Pages | 746-761 |
| Author | Sophie Hennekam,Jonathan Peterson,Loubna Tahssain-Gay,Jean-Pierre Dumazert |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Managing religious diversity in
secular organizations in France
Sophie Hennekam
Human Resources Management Department, ESC La Rochelle School of Business,
La Rochelle, France and
Institut de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations, Bordeaux, France
Jonathan Peterson
Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CERGAM,
Aix-en-Provence, France
Loubna Tahssain-Gay
Human Resources Management Department,
ESC La Rochelle School of Business, La Rochelle, France and
Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CERGAM,
Aix-en-Provence, France, and
Jean-Pierre Dumazert
Human Resources Management Department,
ESC La Rochelle School of Business, La Rochelle, France and
CORHIS Université Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine how managers deal with religious diversity in secular
organizations in France.
Design/methodology/approach –In total, 28 semi-structured in-depth interviews with managers in
France were conducted, transcribed and analyzed.
Findings –The findings reveal three distinct strategies. First, the authors identified a “flexibility within the
rules”strategy in which managers try to accommodate religious practices by making allowances, create
mutual understanding and trust. Second, a “separation strategy”emerged in which managers keep work and
religion clearly separated. Those managers expressed a strong adherence to rules and perceived the
implementation of allowances difficult not only for their own organization but also in light of third parties
with whom they worked. Third, the findings reveal a “common-ground”strategy in which managers stressed
the communalities between individual workers, downplayed their differences and sought to create a strong
corporate culture to which all employees could relate.
Practical implications –The expression of religious beliefs in the workplace is increasing. However, little
is known about how managers deal with the perceived clash of secularism and the presence of different
religions in the workplace. Implications for managers such as taking into account perceptions of justice,
practical issues as well as the importance of communication and education are discussed.
Originality/value –Religion is a deep-level and understudied aspect of diversity management that deserves
more attention given the increase in religious diversity in the workplace.
Keywords Diversity management, Religious diversity, Secularism, France
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Religion is an important but understudied component of diversity management
(Day, 2005) and researchers have called for more research on this topic (e.g. King et al.,
2009). European countries are increasingly confronted with religiosity in the workplace,
leading to questions and tensions regarding human rights and organizational
arrangements (Bader et al., 2013). Organizations have to deal with the delicate act of
finding the balance between complex and sometimes conflictual issues such as freedom of
Employee Relations
Vol. 40 No. 5, 2018
pp. 746-761
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-06-2017-0142
Received 27 June 2017
Revised 10 November 2017
25 February 2018
Accepted 2 March 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
746
ER
40,5
expression, workplace accommodations and anti-discrimination legislation, while
avoiding feelings of injustice amongst its workers. Indeed, religious expression in
the form of dress, veils or crosses in the workplace is an aspect of diversity that needs to
be managed if one wants to ensure that the aforementioned tensions do not escalate into
conflicts that could lead to negative outcomes for organizations and potential losses in
employee performance and motivation.
The present study looks at the French context. France is a secular country, but has to deal
with the reality that many individuals at work have religious beliefs and ask for workplace
accommodations related to their religion. Little research has been conducted on how managers
deal with this apparent clash between secularism in theory and religious diversity in practice,
althoughithasbeenarguedthatthisrealityasksfornewregulationsandmanagement
practices (Galindo and Surply, 2010). Building on previous studies (Cintas et al., 2013;
Mazumdar and Mazumdar, 2005), we seek more insights into how managers deal with religious
diversity in secular organizations. Drawing on 28 semi-structured in-depth interviews with
managers in France, we identify different strategies used to deal with religious diversity.
Research on diversity management has predominantly focused on demographic
variables such as gender, age and race ( Joshi and Roh, 2009), all of which are considered
surface-level diversity variables. However, deep-level diversity variables have received
much less attention (Harrison and Klein, 2007; Harrison et al., 1998), including religious
diversity (King, 2008). Religion is defined as the belief in and worship of a God or Gods or
any such system of belief and worship (Cambridge Dictionary, 2018). Researchers have
stressed the need for more insights into how to manage this aspect of diversity. We thus
contribute to the existing body of literature by answering Jackson and Joshi’s (2011) call
for more research on religion through specific, deep-level diversity attributes.
Literature review
Diversity management
The notion of diversity is used to refer to how people differ on many visible and invisible
dimensions, such as gender, ethnicity, race, religion, age, marital status, social status,
disability andsexual orientation (Kossek et al., 2005). Increasing diversity in t he workplace is
considered a challenge for many organizations (Cash and Gray, 2000).Diversity management
values and takes advantage of individual differences so that every individual can reach their
full potential. Moreover, it has been argued that by addressing inequalities based on
individualdifferences, it is possible to overcomelabor market segregation (Tatli,2011). Others,
however, have argued that diversity management sustains existing inequalities and that a
profound change in the social system is needed to reach justice (Michaels, 2006).
Religious diversity
While diversity management has received a great deal of attention from researchers,
knowledge on religious diversity is limited (King et al., 2009). Religion is a complex
multidimensional phenomenon and difficult to define. Past attempts have either been
considered too narrow, leading to studies with limited value, or too broad resulting in a loss
of distinctive characteristics (Hill et al., 2000). Religion is different from other aspects of
diversity such as gender and race as religion is reversible (Banon, 2008).
While religious diversity has probably always existed, the expression of one’s religion
(Hicks, 2003; Lips-Wiersma and Mills, 2002), as well as the number of legal cases involving
religious expression at the workplace has increased as a consequence of developments in
legal frameworks available to plaintiffs (Bader et al., 2013). The increase in religious
expression at work has led to difficulties for organizations in managing religion in the
workplace and raises the question of how one should deal with religious beliefs at work.
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Religious
diversity in
secular
organizations
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