What America’s CEOs Are Saying about Corporate Chaplaincy. Corporate chaplaincy is not just a great idea; it’s also a human capital strategy that works in companies of every size and in every industry—from small businesses to the Fortune 500.
“I have no doubt based on story after story as to the chaplain program’s human and bottom-line value.”30
John Tyson
Chairman and CEO
Tyson Foods
“People spend the majority of their working lives here, and I believe that if we recognize their needs and try to create a climate that makes them better people, the byproduct will be better, happier, and more productive associates.”31
Patrick Flood
Former CEO
HomeBanc, Mortgage Corporation
“Starting our chaplaincy program was the best thing I have ever done in business.” 32
Tim Embry
CEO
American Lubefast
“We recognized that we needed to try to deal with our employees as whole employees–bodies, mind, and soul. It’s been enthusiastically embraced by our employees, primarily because it’s completely nonintrusive.” 33
Lauren Steele
Vice President of Corporate Affairs
Coca-Cola
More from Coca-Cola Bottling…
Robert Pettus, vice chairman of Coca-Cola, has studied the costs and benefits of workplace chaplaincy programs and concluded that they more than pay for themselves in terms of lower turnover, higher morale, and healthier staff. By way of example, Pettus shared that some union employees—who happened to be a group of single mothers—approached him and said that if tough economic conditions meant the workplace chaplaincy program might have to get cut, they were willing to give up other benefits instead so as to keep that one. In 30 years of work in human relations, he had never heard such an offer. 34
