Nearly 40% of worldwide businesses are women-led, and they consistently grow in employment and revenue. But if you believe that business and kingdom ministry go hand-in-hand, you’re likely looking to grow more than just your company’s success.
Despite the money-centric focus of most businesses, the workplace can be a spiritually enriching environment for its employees. To help you achieve this work culture, let’s explore four ways you can encourage spiritual growth in the workplace.
1. Lead by example
As a leader in the workplace, you have a significant influence on your team. Your first step in encouraging spiritual growth should be to set a precedent for it by demonstrating faith values in your own role. As a result, your team will likely follow suit.
Here are a few strategies you can use to lead by example:
Sharing your personal experiences, including any Christian books, podcasts, worship music, or Bible verses that help you remain vigilant in your spiritual walk.
Leading a prayer over your team each morning and praying specifically for their individual needs or concerns.
Acting as a peacemaker when difficult workplace situations arise, either internally between team members or externally with clients.
Leading by example also encourages employees to feel confident in embracing their faith as they go about their daily work. You’re not just demonstrating how to grow spiritually in the workplace but also celebrating employees who do so.
2. Offer support and encouragement
Employee encouragement is crucial for any team to flourish, but support is especially necessary for employees’ spiritual walks. Taking the time to uplift them amidst work demands shows that you value each employee beyond their contributions to your business’s success.
A few ways to encourage employees include:
Showing appreciation: Demonstrate employee appreciation to help your team feel valued both personally and professionally.
Launching a team Bible study: Research the best Bible studies for women and choose one for your team to work through together. Make sure the study is relevant to their roles or issues they might encounter in the workplace.
Listening to employee feedback: Ask employees for feedback about their work experiences to learn how you can best support them.
Faith is a catalyst for transformation, meaning it’s essential for growth both personally and professionally. Whether employees try a new church or pursue a promotion within your company, they should feel empowered to take that leap of faith.
3. Foster a culture of service
An important aspect of spiritual growth is serving others, and you can support your team by helping them put servitude into action. You can achieve this by launching philanthropic initiatives and inviting employees to participate. Corporate philanthropy describes a business’s efforts to donate to charitable organizations and causes through financial support, in-kind contributions, event sponsorships, and other gifts.
Matching gift programs are a highly popular form of corporate philanthropy, and they’re extremely successful in fostering a sense of service since they require employees and their employers to work together. According to 360MatchPro, you can develop a matching gift program in three steps:
Establish matching gift guidelines. Set rules for how your matching gift program will run, including a matching gift ratio, maximum donation amounts, eligible organizations, and other key considerations.
Invest in corporate giving software. Consider using specialized software, like a CSR (corporate social responsibility) platform, to manage your philanthropic efforts.
Promote your program. Get employees excited about the opportunity by explaining the program to them and how it maximizes the impact their donation could make.
Other philanthropic initiatives, like volunteer grants or payroll deductions, can also help you foster a culture of service. These opportunities for social impact allow your team to use their God-given gifts not only for your company but also to make a difference in the world. By embracing this mindset, they’ll feel a greater sense of fulfillment in their personal and professional lives.
4. Share inspirational resources
In addition to encouraging their spiritual walk in the workplace, recommend resources that your team can explore outside of the office. For example, you may suggest a women’s conference that your team can attend together. According to Esther Press, Christian women’s conferences facilitate meaningful connections between like-minded believers, meaning this would be a powerful resource for strengthening your team.
Also, recommend meaningful devotionals to guide employees’ individual studies. Make sure your suggestions are relevant to each team member. For example, you might recommend a devotional on marriage to a newlywed employee and one on motherhood to a team member who is about to go on maternity leave.
Be open to accepting employees’ recommendations, too! This way, you’ll find resources that most resonate with your team and best facilitate their spiritual growth in and out of the workplace.