Why is faith taboo in the workplace?

In March 2018, I conducted a two-day masterclass in Kuala Lumpur with the CEOs and HR directors of eight major state-owned companies on the topic of leveraging faith to boost employee productivity and engagement.

One of the most animated discussions we had was on the role of faith in the workplace. The room was divided, with some arguing that there’s no place for faith in the workplace (beyond accommodating people’s religious beliefs concerning clothing, food and rituals). Others believed that faith should play a more significant and more central role in the workplace, especially regarding values and ethics.

But regardless of which group people were in, they both agreed that the topic of faith and spirituality was taboo in the workplace, and no one really likes to talk about it.

Being the curious instructor that I am, I asked them why. Here are some of the reasons they came up with:

1.People use faith and spirituality as an excuse to waste time or be lazy: One employee would go on long “prayer breaks” and not be back for almost an hour. Another would fail to submit work on time and claim that they had a headache from fasting. The list goes on.