Religion in Workplace, Essay Example

Examination of Ethical Theories and Perspectives

Religions have evolved throughout that ages so much so that there are now a variety of religions and beliefs to adhere to. While this is great, it has the potential to instigate an unwanted diversity within the work force. What is meant by this is that through the practice of many beliefs and religions, there are hardly a group of individuals working within a company who all practice the same religion. Clearly, this acts as a problem many times because of the manner in which some employees become uncomfortable with the beliefs of other employees. There is no real way to fix this problem, however, all employees should keep both their virtues and beliefs in mind when judging other employees. A good manner to try to fix the controversy of religion in the workplace is by having companies ensure that all actions that are undertake have a utilitarianism, and deontological vibe attached to them. In addition to that, ethical egoism must be looked down upon an relativism and emotivism must be taken into account.

The first of many factors that must be taken into account in the workplace is the employee’s satisfaction. The reason as to why this is vital within a firm is because if the employee’s are unsatisfied, the costumers become cognizant of this almost immediately. As a result, the customers will become unhappy as well because of the bad vibe in the room and business will go down. Ultimately, the unhappiness  of a company’s employees could be the sole reason as to why a company should shut down. This unhappiness may be caused by a variety of factors, of course, (i.e., low wages) but the for purpose of staying on topic, it can be said that the employee’s unhappiness is mainly brought about because of the fact that he or she feels uncomfortable with a co-worker practicing certain beliefs in the middle of the work day.

In order to fix this problem, a company’s owner should opt for a utilitarianistic view on his or her company. By applying utilitarianism to his or her company, the owner would essentially be able to delete all of the reasons at to why the employees would be feeling uncomfortable with one another. Due to the fact that utilitarianism takes its interest in pursuing whatever course of action is best for society as a whole, the owner would be able to tell his or her employees to follow a given set of rules and regulations in order to avoid future misunderstandings. In addition to that, seeing as how utilitarianism seeks to provide for the society and is somewhat seen as a selfless belief, by adopting this kind of ideology, the owner would be benefiting both the customers and the employees. The reason it is vital for a company to have a utilitarianistic view on things is because it chooses certain actions over other kinds of action if the consequences of the latter are too overwhelming. Put in simple terms, utilitarianism would help a company provide for both its employees and customers.

In regards to the complaints that would arise when telling individuals that they must act a certain way in order to benefit everyone as a whole, these individuals would have to compromise. For example, if there was a specific woman who believed in having a picture of her daughter (who passed away a few years back) around her necklace and this picture bothered the majority of the employees, then the woman should be more than willing to compromise and take off her necklace (or at least cover it) in order to benefit the majority of her employees. Through this course of action, the woman would be choosing her employees over herself; this is what utilitarianism is all about. Despite the fact that it would be a challenging idea to have a certain company’s employees always be submissive to the majority’s request, it would certainly be worth it. Another problem that could arise from incorporating utilitarianism into a company is that fact that it would make some individuals believe that they are being discriminated because they cannot wear certain picture or even a certain head dress.

On another note, adopting a deontological outlook on one’s company could also prove to be most effective. Despite the fact that religion in the workplace could serve as a barrier at times, it could also come in handy in some many ways. One of these ways would be due to the fact that customers would be able to notice the fact that a certain company embraces religious diversity. Say, for example, that there was a Roman Catholic employee wearing a cross necklace around his neck and in the counter next to him there was a Buddhist employee getting ready to pray. This would most probably leave an impression on the customer because of the manner in which it would be an indirect statement that the company is completely against religious discrimination. Not only that, but the customer would think that the company encourages it as well. Now, this could either leave the customer astounded in one of two ways: terror or awe. The former would mean that the customer highly disapproves of the fact the employees have the audacity to be in the same room with one another, let alone practice different beliefs. The latter could mean that the customer could be surprised and in awe at the fact that employees would be putting their differences aside for a moment to focus on the task at hand.

Due to the fact that it is close to impossible to decipher what kind of reaction the customer would have, it is best for the company to adopt the belief of deontology. This would mean that the company workers would not be able to even question if they can practice their beliefs in the company because they would simply be focused on completing the task at hand, or doing their duty. The reason that it would not be a bad idea for a company to embrace this ideology is due to the fact that the company employees would never question their position. What is meant by this is that they would simply clock in, do their work, and clock out. There would be no space in between for the employee’s to want to practice their beliefs. Although this might seem a bit too strict to some, this method would fully ensure that there is no bad reaction from a customer because of the fact that the customer would not even be thinking about religion in the workplace to begin with.

Some employees would go as far as to consider this belief unethical because of the manner in which it would be denying their religious freedom, while others would agree with this method. Ultimately, it would come to the general owner’s decision whether he or she allowed religious freedom in the workplace. Another argument that could be made from the opposing side, however, would be that the allowing of religious freedom is unethical because of the manner in which the customer could be offended by the portrayal of such things.

Although it would certainly not be an easy decision to be made, deontology would prove to be most effective in the workplace because (going back to utilitarianism) it would place the majority at an advantage. This is said given that the majority of individuals would be willing to follow such a belief. However, if the majority of individuals preferred to have religious freedom in the company, then there would be no problem as to why the owner should not allow it. However, even if the majority were to support religious freedom, this course of action should not be taken if it would have the ability to put the company at risk. This is said because even if the employees wanted such practices and beliefs to be allowed, they would no longer be employees if there the company ceased to exist to begin with.

In regards to ethical perspectives involving religion in the workplace, ethical egoism should most certainly be looked down upon. Adopting this kind of ethical perspective would only prove detrimental to a company because of the manner in which ethical egoism seeks to do only what is in one’s self-interest. If a company were to leave it up to the employees whether they can practice religion in the workforce or not, a big majority of them would probably quit immediately after. This would be due to the fact that some individuals would not want religious practices and beliefs involved in the area in which they worked, while others would. This would bring about close to an uproar in the employee. Not only that, but customers would  immediately become cognizant of how unorganized the company really is, ultimately leading to the loss of the valuable customers. Out of all of the ethical perspectives out there, ethical egoism would probably prove to be the worst to undergo because of the manner in which it would be a company’s folly.

Putting ethical egoism aside, relativism would prove most effective in regards to incorporating religion in the workforce. The manner in which this would work is that a owner could begin to explain how the lack of morality could make the company disfunction. What is meant by this is that the owner could say that incorporating different religions in his or her certain company would cause indifference among many employees, especially those support religion in the workforce and those who do not. The owner could go on to state that since he or she does not want problems within his or her own company, then all those who want to practice religion throughout their work day must do so in their own privacy without bothering any of the other employees. By saying this, the owner would not appear that he or she is either for or against religion in the workplace, but simply that he or she wants his or her company to excel in all aspects and to avoid controversy at all costs.

In addition to opting to use a relativism approach towards a company, an owner should also consider using that of emotivism. Emotivism is a unique ethical theory in that it states that both ethical and value judgements are based off of certain feelings and attitudes towards different subjects. An owner would be able to use emotivism as a means to say that he or she either supports or does not support religion in the workplace because he or she feels like it. Despite the fact that this might create certain animosity towards the owner, he or she will be taking a course of action that is necessary. Of course, emotivism should not be used unless all other means of trying to bring one’s company to normal have been exhausted. This is said because taking the course an emotivism perspective could be sometimes said to be completely immoral and unethical. Simply by the fact that an owner would be saying that he or she does or does not allow religion in the workplace because he or she does not like it or feel like it in itself is both conceited and close-minded. It goes without question that the owner would lose some employees due to this executive decision, but it would be a decision that would ultimately save the company from losing a vast amount of employees.

A good manner to try to fix the controversy of religion in the workplace is by having companies ensure that all actions that are undertake have a utilitarianism, and deontological vibe attached to them. In addition to that, ethical egoism must be looked down upon an relativism and emotivism must be taken into account. Despite the fact that religion in the workplace is a very controversial topical, it is a discussion that an owner must have with his or her employees. If the employees are not given certain restrictions as to the kind of things that they can or cannot wear, the problem will arise without a solution. However, if it is drilled into a company’s employees that religion is allowed or is not allowed, there will be no conflict once a certain individual comes in one morning wearing a cross around his or her neck. Ethical issues in this topic are all based on perspective and are all completely subjective. However, it goes without saying that a certain type of ethical behavior should be followed at all times.

References

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