Religion at work: many employers are weaving religion and spirituality into company cultures. The push may come from bosses or the rank and file--and their motivations vary. Either way, when religion and spirituality cross the threshold, they result in daunting legal and managerial challenges along with perceived benefits.

Bob Pettus spent his entire career with Charlotte, N.C.-based Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated--all with top-level human resource responsibility. Like an Israelite wandering in the Sinai seeking the Promised Land, he engaged in a quest--to find the keys to attracting and retaining high-performing workers and managers. After decades in the wilderness, he was losing heart.

"Our employees' salaries, benefits and perks were always a little bit ahead of others so we could attract the kinds of employees we needed," recalls the HR veteran, who retired in 2005 as vice chairman of the nation's second-largest Coca-Cola bottler with 5,800 employees in 11 Southeastern states. "I would get all excited about giving everyone a 3.5 percent increase, putting in a new insurance policy, adding a new holiday. But when I made the announcements, there was hardly any response except, 'Hey, that's what everyone else is doing. You guys should have been doing this a long time ago.' We spent all those millions, and all we got for it was 'ho-hum.'")

Then Pettus--who now consults for the company--saw the light. He was meeting the physical and emotional needs of workers, but what about the spiritual? Did it make sense to keep religion under wraps and require people to leave their faith at the doorstep? Equally important, if leaders really believed in running the business in concert with God and religious values, shouldn't they say so?

Pettus knew company leaders who answer affirmatively buck convention: Most business leaders axe faith-frosty, convinced that the less religious expression at work, the better. They comply with legal mandates and accommodate individuals who require special arrangements, but go no further.

The U.S. educational system and other teachings "say you should compartmentalize faith," Pettus says. "Folks who are willing to talk about their faith and live it out Monday through Friday often are viewed as fanatical. Someone can go to a football game and scream and holler, throw things in the air and dress like a slob. But at work, if you mention that you should love one another and live right every day--it's like, 'What's wrong with you?'"

Pettus took a stand. Working with the chief executive officer, he drafted a mission and values statement that makes it clear company leaders embrace and honor God. It opens the door to spirituality for all employees and champions stewardship. The statement leads with "Our Values Honor God."

Finally, an initiative that was met with an overwhelming positive reaction. When people learn they can live out their faith, Pettus says, "There's this loyalty, this willingness to go the extra mile."

Faith Focus

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated represents one of many faith-focused U.S. companies. These organizations proactively conduct business in a manner that embraces the faiths of leaders or owners. Their faiths provide underlying values that motivate and guide the organizations. A few, such as Coca-Cola Bottling, are publicly traded. Many more--such as Austaco Ltd., a privately owned Taco Bell franchisee with 1,800 workers in Austin, Texas--number among the nation's small and medium-sized and frequently family-owned businesses.

"We classify ourselves as a Christian company--Christ- or God-centered," says Don Barton, Austaco's HR vice president. "We do things like say grace when we have a meal, something a typical company might not do. The employees know that our CEO, Dirk Dozier, is open about sharing his Christian faith in personal testimony. Our motto is to serve, which includes serving our employees on a spiritual basis."

Faith-Friendly

Also welcoming religion are faith-friendly companies. They value inclusion and promote diversity and religious self-expression. They do not align with one religion, but instead invite workers to bring all manners of religious and spiritual expression to the workplace.

At Ford Motor, for example, workers' religious groups have access to facilities after hours for meetings and communicate through newsletters. "Being able to bring your whole self to work is essential to us," says Allison Trawick, global manager in Ford's Office of Diversity and Inclusion in Dearborn, Mich. "That means everyone." At the centerpiece of Ford's religious diversity: the Ford Interfaith Network (FIN), one of eight recognized and supported affiliate groups. …