If you are like most company leaders, you spend much of your time solving problems. Your days can be absorbed in fixing revenue shortfalls, rebalancing company priorities, or dealing with customer or investor issues.

You tinker with everything from employee compensation and benefits to complaints about the 3-month-old sandwiches in the company fridge. Show us a leader, and we’ll show you an expert in fixing broken things. 

But fixing a workplace is much different than fixing a workforce.

Your workers are called “Human Resources” for a reason. They are human. And just because they are faithful and show up day after day, it doesn’t mean they’ve left their worries at home. Sometimes, your workers need “fixing” because their personal lives and issues can create a distraction, crowding out the focus necessary for them to be productive, successful employees.

Add in the impact of a personal crisis or family trauma, health or financial issues, and the burden on employees can be overwhelming. Even if they seem to be coping, the stress gets leveraged against their work capacity. Today, many employees are simply treading water.

Employees aren’t the only ones who suffer during a crisis. Time after time, employers admit they have inadequate workplace support programs to meet their employees’ personal needs. The average worker spends approximately 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime.

For executives, studies show that as many as 30,000 of those hours are spent responding to crises. Corporate chaplains help carry these burdens and lighten the impact by helping company owners and leaders shape a culture of care.

Another indirect cost of lackluster company culture is poor employee retention. According to a recent report from the Work Institute, the replacement cost of an employee earning $45,000 a year is $15,000.  A recent SHRM survey discovered that almost half of HR leaders surveyed said employee retention and turnover is their top challenge.

According to the 2020 State of Talent Optimization from The Predictive Index, 47 percent of high-performing employees indicate they left their company because of inadequate employer engagement. It is no mystery then that businesses lose over $300 billion each year due to the voluntary departure of unhappy employees. Businesses with good company culture consistently retain great employees, have less turnover, and outperform their competitors. The importance of building a solid company culture can’t be overstated.

So how does a corporate chaplain influence the culture of your company?

What is a Corporate Chaplain?

The days of a chaplain as a “white-collared, weird-speaking preacher” are long gone. Today’s chaplains are trained to blend in, reflecting the dress and culture of the staff. Corporate chaplains provide life-changing care and only talk about spirituality when the employee grants permission, and it’s appropriate to do so.

Chaplains are perceived as a peer and a member of your workforce who voluntarily engages members of your workforce to establish close relationships with employees, giving them an ally when they need a confidential partner to walk with them through difficult life situations.

A chaplain is an impartial listener who brings a compassionate heart and a discerning ear. This “ministry of presence” provides workers with a place to turn when life gets hard and situations begin to impact their work.

What does a Corporate Chaplain Do?

A corporate chaplain is responsible for delivering care to employees and their loved ones as an extension of the care of the employer. A corporate chaplain’s goal is to provide “purpose-driven” CEOs and business owners a valuable tool to address employees’ essential emotional and spiritual needs.

Corporate chaplains are community resource networkers and connectors who are a resource for employees struggling with life’s many issues. But just as significant, chaplains positively impact the organization as a whole by fostering employee-centric work environments, which directly affect the organization’s culture and, ultimately, the company’s bottom line. 

Through the process of making weekly on-site visits, being available for extended conversations with employees, and providing 24/7 crisis care, a corporate chaplain is a catalyst for healthy empathy and life-giving compassion in the workplace. Corporate chaplains engage where care is needed most and where it makes a meaningful difference. Employees, in the care of a corporate chaplain, discover a trusted, objective friend and confidant who quickly becomes a reliable resource for them when they can’t bear their burdens alone.

What’s the Payoff of Having a Chaplain in Your Company

• Lower turnover rate
• Increased job satisfaction
• Decrease in tardiness
• Higher employee productivity
• Less money spent on employee training
• Lower absenteeism

Why Corporate Chaplains of America is a Trusted Partner

Corporate Chaplains of America employs primarily full-time, relationship-driven chaplains who combine workplace experience with professional chaplaincy training. Our proven process incorporates quality management principles to provide practical employee support and create capacity for the CEO/business owner. Corporate Chaplains of America offers:

• Seamless integration of chaplaincy into companies large and small, public and private
• Full-time administrative staff dedicated to chaplain recruitment and support
• Branded uniform clothing consistent with a workplace environment
• Continuing education training
• Sound financial management and accountability
• Trusted, proven, confidential support for all employees
• Generalized monthly reporting to the employee for ongoing employee engagement benchmarking

At Corporate Chaplains of America, we support the deepest needs of every human – to live life with greater purpose and be deeply valued. While we specialize in dealing with emotional and spiritual needs, we respect the faith boundaries of every employee and adhere to the standards and expectations for a permission-based, secular workplace ministry.

While our orientation and mission are Christian at their core, our chaplains are trained to seek permission before responding from a biblical worldview. We stand on our reputation and our 25-year track record of integrity in caring well for employees and helping bring life-changing care to company cultures in 44 states.

If you would like to further explore how Corporate Chaplains of America can help you improve your company’s culture, we welcome the conversation!