Religion-Based Employee Groups Enhance Inclusion

By Louise Fenner

Religion-Based Employee Groups Enhance Culture of Inclusion

Employees at Texas Instruments in Dallas are proud of their company's culture of inclusion, which is marked by the presence of employee networking groups for Christians and Muslims that encourage mutual respect and understanding.

"Understanding and tolerance are the keys for success" in a multicultural workplace like Texas Instruments, according to Zafar Imam, chair of the Muslim Employees Initiative (MEI), one of the two religion-based employee groups at the company. "We think ignorance plays a big role in conflicts, in hostility, not only in the workplace but outside as well."

Kent Johnson, founder and head of the Christian Values Initiative (CVI), the other religion-based employee group at the company, believes the culture of Texas Instruments is "truly extraordinary" in its approach to religious diversity. He praises the "mutual trust, appreciation and affection that bridges spiritual divides here."

The two, along with another MEI member, Osama Elsafadi, spoke with USINFO recently about their experiences at Texas Instruments. They said MEI and CVI have held several events together, including visits to a mosque, a Baptist church and a Latter Day Saints (LDS) church; interfaith roundtables; and a fundraiser -- along with other company employee groups -- for Hurricane Katrina victims.

The visit to the LDS, or Mormon, church "was definitely an eye-opener for me," said Imam. "There was a lot I learned."

"We think education is very important," he said. Each year MEI holds six to eight roundtable discussions at lunchtime for non-Muslim employees. "The idea is to introduce what we think is the right definition about Islam" and to counter inaccuracies in the media, he explained.

About 15 to 25 people usually attend. "We'll open the floor to questions, and nothing is off the table. We get very good questions, tough questions. It's a very open, frank discussion," Imam said.

Many Muslim employees "would like their managers to know about Islam and what issues of concern we have at the workplace," said Imam. He added that MEI appreciates the "serenity rooms" at Texas Instruments where Muslims and others can take prayer breaks or mediate.

Johnson, senior counsel at Texas Instruments, praised the company's leaders for their "groundbreaking" decision to sanction religion-based employee groups. Many U.S. companies permit employees to form groups based on common concerns -- blacks, Hispanics, people with disabilities, and gay and lesbian employees, for example. But faith-based groups are less prevalent. There are none at General Motors, for example, and Ford Motor Company has only one officially recognized group, the Ford Interfaith Network.

"There was some natural apprehensiveness," he acknowledged. Some people feared "that Christians would get together and start condemning everyone who didn't believe the way we do. We, as a group from the very beginning, have wanted to dispel that notion."

Although CVI members may not agree with some other groups' beliefs or lifestyles, Johnson said, "Our feeling is that if you just put it under the table and pretend the differences aren't there, that's a mistake, because it prevents people from really relating to one another."

Having an inclusive workplace culture is "absolutely good business," he said. At Texas Instruments, which produces semiconductors and other high-tech products, "anything we do in such a complex production process requires collaboration and trust."

Elsafadi, a program manager for the company's automotive group, said he appreciated the positive atmosphere at Texas Instruments after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. "One of my co-workers came to me and offered her home for my family to come and stay," he said.

That particular co-worker is Jewish, said Elsafadi, who is Palestinian. "We did spend part of the night at her house, but then I decided to brave it and go home. And we were OK."

"Both Jews and Muslims, here in the U.S., care for each other in the most wonderful ways. I found this especially true at [Texas Instruments]," Elsafadi said.

Imam, a product engineering section manager at the company, had a similar experience. He is Pakistani. "My manager, on the day after [September 11], asked me about myself and my family, and if my wife was having any difficulty, his wife was willing to go out with her for groceries and such -- which I thought was very nice and touching."

For eight years Texas Instruments has been on Fortune magazine's list of100 Best Companies To Work For. In 2006, one of the reasons cited was the company's support for diversity through its employee-networking groups, including the Christian Values Initiative and Muslim Employees Initiative.

ENDS

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