Advances in transportation, computer technology and a smaller world economy have made cultural and religious diversity the norm in just about every business. As tensions grow in various parts of the world, the tensions in the workplace can grow right along with them.

Dealing with workplace religious diversity can be quite a challenge. Tempers surrounding religious belief tend to be incredibly short and can lead to confrontations that most human resource departments shudder at the very thought of. You can easily avoid these conflicts if you're willing to take the time and energy to put a plan into place.

1. Start a program for your employees that provides facts about religious diversity

2. Put a conflict resolution policy into place

3. Offer a class or knowledge base that provide information about religious diversity

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Adapt to religious differences in business

One of the hardest things to do is make adjustments to standard operating procedure in your country and break from the norm. An example of these changes is the existence of religious holidays and how to approach them when you have multiple people with different days they want to take off for religious purposes.

I recommend: To help you approach your employees about diversity in the work place, there are many options. Simmons Associates specializes in consulting with and developing programs for teaching acceptance in a diverse environment. emTRAiN offers online seminars and courses to help with religious diversity training.

Create a welcoming environment for religious diversity

Opening the door to religion in the workplace isn't an easy task. Many organizations prohibit the display of any kind of religious belief in the workplace in the belief that this will help alleviate possible conflict. Instead of wiping out the diversity, find ways to embrace it and make it fun for all your employees.

I recommend: Impact Training & Development is a great place to get information and arrange seminars on diversity training on-site or off. Innovations offers diversity training and inclusion through courses, seminars and workshops. If you don't see what you want on their site, look into customizing your own program through them.

Learn about the religious diversity of your employees

It's possible that you have people of many different religious beliefs working under your roof. Just within one religion, there are a number of different belief systems. Taking the time to learn about the beliefs of your employees can help ensure that you can better meet their needs.

I recommend: To be a great manager means being able to handle all kinds of religious diversity in the business. With this in mind, it might be a good idea to look into First Impression Management. If what you prefer is putting together something yourself, check out the customizable diversity training software from Velsoft.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Try giving your employees floating religious holidays instead of mandating time off on specific days and forcing employees of other religions to use vacation time to celebrate their religions.