Heller N, Cavazos DE, Martinson B (2025;), “Assessing differences in workplace relational compassion between religious and non-religious employees”. Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi-org.zeus.tarleton.edu/10.1108/EBHRM-01-2025-0002
Keywords: Relational compassion, religiosity, industry classification
Introduction: Why Compassion at Work Matters More Than Ever
In today’s fast-changing, high-stakes business world, emotional intelligence is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it’s a necessity. And within this realm, compassion has quietly emerged as a powerful driver of employee satisfaction, performance, and even organizational loyalty.
But what if the amount of compassion one perceives at work depends not only on company culture, but also on personal belief systems and industry type?
That’s exactly what a new study by faculty at the Dr. Sam Pack College of Business explores — providing the kind of nuanced insight that’s not just academically relevant, but practically applicable to HR leaders, managers, and policymakers across sectors.
Literature Lens: Compassion Meets Culture and Industry
The concept of relational compassion — how much compassion employees perceive being shown to others in their workplace — is still in its infancy in scholarly research. While previous studies have focused on leadership compassion or organizational culture broadly, this study adds new depth by examining how personal religiosity and industry context influence perceptions of compassion.
This matters because, as supported by existing literature (e.g., Dutton et al., 2014; Lilius et al., 2008), compassion has tangible business value. It reduces turnover, increases employee engagement, and enhances performance — a trifecta of organizational success.
Methodology: Crunching the Compassion Numbers
Using data collected across four major industries — Private Sector, Non-Profit, Government, and Healthcare — the research team applied generalized linear models to assess how religious affiliation interacts with industry context to shape perceptions of compassion at work.
Respondents self-identified as either religiously affiliated or non-affiliated, creating two comparison groups within each industry.
Key Findings: Faith, Work, and Compassion Intersect in Surprising Ways
💡 Private & Non-Profit Sectors Lead the Way
Religiously affiliated employees in the private and non-profit sectors reported significantly higher levels of perceived relational compassion compared to their non-affiliated counterparts. This finding suggests that shared values, perhaps underpinned by personal belief systems, may foster more compassionate workplace norms in these settings.
💡 Government and Healthcare: A More Complex Picture
In contrast, differences in relational compassion between religious and non-religious employees were not statistically significant in government and healthcare industries. This could imply that these sectors — often more bureaucratic or regulated — may have compassion climates shaped more by policy than personal belief.
💡 Implications for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)
Although Texas legislation (e.g., SB 17) has restructured formal DEI initiatives, this research underscores that cultural belonging and compassion remain critical to employee well-being — particularly in diverse and pluralistic workplaces.
Why This Research Matters — For Leaders, Scholars, and the Workplace of the Future
This study is more than an academic exercise — it’s a call to action for business leaders and HR professionals. Understanding how belief systems and industry environments interact to influence workplace empathy can help organizations:
✅ Design more inclusive leadership training programs
✅ Tailor well-being initiatives to their industry culture
✅ Shape HR policies that respect diverse worldviews
✅ Inform hiring, onboarding, and team-building practices
And for researchers? It opens new pathways to explore how non-structural elements like belief and affiliation shape key workplace dynamics.
Alignment with U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
This research aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals:
🎯 Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being): Promotes compassionate workplace cultures tied to employee mental health.
🎯 Goal 5 (Gender Equality): Supports inclusive environments where diverse beliefs are respected.
🎯 Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): Advances workplace strategies that foster engagement and retention through relational compassion.
Classification of Scholarship
This study contributes to the Applied and Integration/Application Scholarship domain by bridging rigorous data analysis with real-world organizational outcomes. It also aligns with DSPCOB’s mission to prepare leaders who “positively impact organizations, foster economic growth, and contribute to their communities”.
By reshaping the understanding of leadership interactions in sales, this study provides organizations with actionable insights to enhance both performance and effective leadership development. Ultimately, the research fosters a deeper appreciation for the complexities of sales leadership and offers a foundation for future studies on leadership dynamics in high-performance environments.pact on brand perception while providing a roadmap for ethical and responsible AI adoption in luxury marketing.
Quality Indicators:
- ABDC Ranking: B
- JCR Impact Factor: 1.8
- Google Scholar h-5 Score: NA
- SciMago h-f Score: NA
- ABS: No
- Acceptance Rate (as reported in Cabell’s): 19%
- Indexed By:
- Cabell’s: Yes
- EBSCO: No
- JIF: No
- SCIMago: No
- ERIC: No
- Westlaw: No
- LexisNexis: No
- Ulrich’s: No