Christian Business Reimagined

The term Christian Business is odd. Can businesses actually be "Christian?" Obviously not. However businesses can be run using many biblical practices and with the objective of caring for every employee as you, the owner, or manager would like to be treated. It's in this spirit I've dreamt of a company bold enough to consider this idea: A Life Resources Department.

Human resource (HR) management has taken a giant leap in the last few decades from being a department which simply hired, fired, and managed benefits to helping senior management motivate their workforce into meaningful teams of men and women working in community and harmony. And the Covid pandemic forced employees to be even more creative. While much remains to be done, the workplace today is considerably more humane and worker sensitive than ever.

However, even as things have improved in the workplace, the private lives of employees and their families are deteriorating. We need only look around us to see that family life is disintegrating, people are working longer hours, at home and isolated more, two working parents is the norm, the family meal is a thing of the past and the list goes on! This pace of life is wearing people out emotionally, physically, and spiritually, resulting in increased divorce, alienation of parents and children, substance abuse, and financial pressure.

It would probably stagger every employer to realize the cost to them of their employee's addictions to Tiktok, Instagram, FaceBook, etc, on the job. Then consider the lost work hours of employees growing through divorce, substance abuse, sexual obsessions, unfaithfulness, depression, financial stress, loneliness, or many other hurtful distractions. Do you think they leave those problems at home and give employers eight straight hours of productive work?

And it’s not just employees going through those stress related events, but their spouses and children and much of that happening during work hours. Historically, the human resource function has limited itself to employees, their working conditions, benefits, safety training, etc. However, we know the more healthy and balanced an employee's personal life is, the more productive their work will be.

I believe the following idea of a "Life Resources Department” should be the next wave, or frontier for visionary companies. While the Human Resource director and department is vested with the responsibility for the quality of life "on the job", the Life Resource Director and Department should be responsible for improving the quality of life for the employee and their family, off the job. This idea isn't without it pitfalls. It will get your company more deeply into the private world of employees and therefore must be done with a sensitivity and caution. However, if you really are serious about family values, this field cannot and should not, be ignored. Among the ideas you might investigate are;

Create a new position of Life Resources Director and Department, reporting directly to the President, but working in cooperation with the Human Resources Department. It's critical that employees and their families see their welfare as a top priority of management.

Ideally this person has a pastoral heart. This entails that they have practical experience as counselor, mentor, social worker or other related skills which equips them to care deeply about people. This person could actually be a pastor for smaller corporations.

Establish a budget that includes not only this person's salary and fringe benefits but a budget for services that might need to be provided to employees or their families such as; counseling they cannot afford, or isn't covered by insurance, rehab expenses, some programs and speakers your company may want to sponsor, or subside the cost for attending, etc.

It's critically important that like the pastor/doctor/attorney relationships that all employees know that whatever needs they make known, or services that are requested, discussed, or provided will never be disclosed to Human Resources, or any other employee. The Life Resources person will be engaged with the very private aspects of an employee, or family members lives which require discretion and confidentiality or future employees will never access these services. Therefore ideally the offices for this position should be located "off campus" of the corporate offices.

The following are examples of the kind of services you might consider offering your employees of each family member living with the employee.

1. Emotional, relational, and spiritual triage. Employees and family members will undoubtedly come to the Life Resources (LR) person with painful, shameful needs. The first responsibility of the LR person is to provide comfort and hope. They should also direct employees, or their families to other counselors or providers who are better trained to provide these services. The LR person should not be the primary counselor, only the referring counselor.

2. Establish an online directory for employees and their families of local services, counselors, or ministries, which are available to meet a variety of emotional or spiritual needs.

3. Consider paying for, or subsidizing the expenses to attend nationally recognized seminars for employees and their families

- Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey)

- Love and Respect Marriage Programs

- Crown Financial Ministries

- Marriage Retreat Seminars

4. Provide a library of selected books free to employees & families

5. Provide a directory of local AA, Celebrate Recovery and other self-help programs

6. Consider subsidizing health club/gym dues to everyone to encourage health and fitness

7. Provide assistance for personal credit counseling or other types of counseling not covered under current benefits

8. Design programs to meet the needs of singles in the organization, including programs for single fathers with children.

9. Develop educational programs to help children of employees understand the valuable part their parents play in the success of their corporation

10. Provide financial assistance for children of employees with learning disabilities or establish a volunteer reading or mentoring program enabling other employees to help these children

11. Provide guidance for families with LGBTQ+ children, or employees themselves.

I'm excited about the future of this field for visionary Christian employers. I believe that the truly successful companies, in human terms, the next twenty years, will give high priority to the quality of life of the whole person, the whole family. It's not just good business - it's good Christianity.

“Do not merely look out for your own interests, but to the interests of other.” Philippians 2:4