Religion Returns to Work

A man of the cloth these days at Tyson Foods Inc. is as likely to be wearing the company’s trademark khakis as a religious collar.

Throughout the country, more and more big businesses are doing away with what was once almost taboo in the workplace and are now welcoming religion into their halls and offices. Even corporate chaplains agree that one of the main factors for the turnaround is the bottom line, one that eventually decides all business fates. Some say having employees who are spiritually connected can make the difference in the bottom line being red or black.

“The bottom line is business, and it takes good people to run a business,” said Pastor H.D. McCarty of University Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

McCarty said there were 700 violent crimes committed against fellow employees and supervisors in the workplace in 2000, resulting in 1,100 deaths. He blames such acts on several factors, including the breakup of the American family and the ongoing racial issues the country faces.

Tyson Foods is one of many companies that has instituted a chaplain program. With more than 68,000 employees in 17 states and Mexico, and many of those jobs being low-wage line production, Tyson Foods Chairman, President and CEO John Tyson saw a need for a calming influence at many of the firm’s locations. The planned merger with IBP Inc. will add about 49,000 more employees to the Tyson Foods family.

“I think many business environments encourage people to check their faiths at the door when they come to work,” John Tyson said. “We don’t do that. We recognize that faith is an important aspect of many people’s lives, and if integrating that faith throughout the day is important to our team members, we want to encourage it.”

Alan Tyson, no relation to John Tyson, is the corporate chaplain at the poultry giant’s Springdale headquarters. He heads up a program that has 25 part-time chaplains at 20 different Tyson Foods sites.

Alan Tyson makes himself visible at the headquarters by walking through the long and numerous divisions within the company every day. Employees can visit him behind closed doors in his office or contact him via e-mail. But there are situations that require different attention.

In the last few months, two Tyson plants have witnessed tragedies. In June, a 29-year-old Jackson, Miss., plant worker shot his 40-year-old supervisor once in the neck and once in the leg after a heated argument. Alan Tyson was vacationing in Alaska at the time, but by the next morning, three of the company’s part-time chaplains were at the plant lending their support. And recently, there was an accidental death at the Green Forest plant.

It Started with Hudson

Alan Tyson said the former Hudson Foods Inc. of Rogers was a pioneer in the use of corporate chaplains. Dean Newberry, then pastor of First Baptist Church of Rogers, asked to travel to some of Hudson’s plants with CEO Red Hudson. There, Alan Tyson said, Newberry “caught a vision of the hourly workers in the workplace and saw that the church was not weighing on these folks.”

Newberry resigned from his church and became Hudson’s corporate chaplain, a position he would hold for 17 years.

“[Newberry] wanted to touch people’s lives that didn’t darken the door of a church,” Alan Tyson said. “The one big advantage you have is that you touch people’s lives every day because of the availability. I spend a part of every day walking through the headquarters. My only purpose for coming around is to let people know I’m here for them. Sometimes you just come around at the right time, and someone needs to see you. One person just this week told me about a crisis in the family. It’s a tremendous service because it really does express passion and care of the employees.”

When Tyson Foods purchased Hudson Foods in 1998, the chaplain program was dropped. But soon after John Tyson became president and CEO last year, the program was reinstated, and he brought Alan Tyson on board.

“I just thought it would be a tremendous opportunity to be a chaplain for 68,000 people,” Alan Tyson said. “And this comes from John Tyson’s own personal interest. He wants this for his team members. It’s been really encouraging to me. It’s been about 10 months now, and it’s been really energizing to me to see how many people have embraced the program.”

Touchy Subject

Just the mention of religion in the workplace makes some company officials cringe. And Tyson Foods is no exception. Some of Tyson’s officials are uncomfortable with some of the new practices within the corporate compound, such as a lunch hour Bible study in the cafeteria.

One local businessman said, “If you go too far, you infringe on people’s rights. You can’t have forced religion. A company like Tyson gets sued for anything.”

McCarty said, that over the years, scare tactics caused fear and ultimately hesitation for businesses to allow religion in the workplace in the United States. He also said there were more laws regarding religion at work than there were concerning employees watching a pornographic movie.

“Times have changed everywhere,” said Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson. “You look all around the world, and it’s a different place in 2001 than it was in 1978. You don’t see too many people going out and having two-martini lunches anymore.”

Alan Tyson, who has an article in the company’s monthly newsletter, said the resistance has been “very minor.” He cites one of the concerns being the cost factor of a part-time chaplain at some of the smaller plants.

“And this has not been the best business environment this industry has been in for some time now,” Alan Tyson said. “Some people that had expressed a hesitancy are now sold on it. Some have not embraced it. I respect that, too. It’s not something we’re going to force on anybody.”

McCarty said about 60 percent of the weekday for most people is spent either getting ready to go to work, at work, coming home from work or doing office work at their home.

“Some people are lonely and hurting at work, and no one cares,” McCarty said. “Most of them don’t have a church or a priest or a rabbi or pastor to talk to. The world is caving in around them. That’s why there’s such a marketplace for chaplains in companies.”

Growing Business

Marketplace Ministries, founded by McCarty’s friend, Gil Stricklin of Dallas, has chaplains in 250 companies across the country representing 237,000 employees. But McCarty said the market is still wide open with 25 million businesses in the United States.

The $4.4 billion acquisition of IBP will make Tyson Foods the world’s largest meat company, controlling 25 percent of the chicken market, 28 percent of the beef market and 18 percent of the pork market. John Tyson said the expected annual revenues of the combined companies will be about $25.7 billion in 2002.

Alan Tyson said the merger has been a subject of many conversations employees have had with him.

“Absolutely. It’s going to affect people’s lives,” Alan Tyson said.

The emotional baggage carried around by some employees hinders work performance. And that’s precisely why CEOs such as John Tyson have implemented a chaplain program.

“There are a lot of CEOs that don’t have the spiritual sense to know what they really need,” McCarty said. “They are anti-Christian biased. Quite frankly, I think they’re crazy. Where do they think an employee’s character comes from?

“What’s driving these chaplain programs is that businesses can’t find enough people that are loyal to them, and they are having trouble reducing turnovers. They can’t get anyone to work today. People are lazy, and they want benefits. So, [the businesses] want to make a better employee out of their people. People rooted in spiritual values are going to make the best employees and employers.”