{"id":8155,"date":"2023-12-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=8155"},"modified":"2023-12-21T13:45:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T13:45:51","slug":"faithforce-equality-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/in\/news\/stories\/faithforce-equality-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Salesforce Interfaith Leader on Increasing Understanding at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s Note: This article is part of a series that highlights employees leading Salesforce Equality Groups. Be sure to check out additional interviews with the leaders of Vetforce<\/a>, Latinoforce<\/a>, and Abilityforce<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re taking a closer look at Salesforce\u2019s 13 Equality Groups<\/a> \u2014 or employee-led business resource groups \u2014 to better understand how they drive inclusion and belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this interview, we chatted with with Michael Roberts<\/a>, a strategic solutions engineer at Salesforce and Global President of Faithforce, to learn more about how our interfaith business resource group supports, celebrates, and fosters understanding of global beliefs at Salesforce and in our broader ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How would you describe Faithforce?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Faithforce is a Salesforce community where belief is celebrated. We make sure people can bring their full selves to work to share some of the most intimate parts of their lives. We also work to create opportunities for employees to feel seen and heard by their colleagues around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we’re seeing a lot of interest from our employees to belong to a group like this \u2014 last year, Faithforce\u2019s global membership grew 21% to over 5,600 people today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How did you get involved with Equality Groups at Salesforce?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I actually helped start Faithforce in 2017. I was chatting with a colleague of mine who is an out, gay man. He said to me, \u201cIt\u2019s surprising that I can be out and proud as a gay man, but you feel like you need to hide your Christian faith at work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It made me wonder what type of role belief plays in our larger Equality strategy. When I couldn\u2019t find an answer, I started to research what this looked like at other organizations and had many conversations with our Chief Equality Officer and other leaders at Salesforce. It ultimately led us to create a new interbelief model that has now been adopted by many of our peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. The interbelief model is quite unique. Could you tell us more about it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An interbelief model is important because it gives us an environment that encourages leaning in and listening. It comes down to two key values. The first is curiosity, helping us ask questions and gain understanding of different beliefs. The second is trust, so we can increase vulnerability and ultimately create space to disagree respectfully with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We borrowed models of allyship from other Equality Groups at Salesforce. Allyship, in this case, allows people to learn about religious traditions that are not their own and realize that we have more in common than not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An interbelief model is important because it gives us an environment that encourages leaning in and listening.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Q. Why is it important to be able to express belief in the workplace?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For many, belief is a huge part of our identities \u2014 it impacts the decisions we make and how we live our lives. Hiding who you are can take away from your ability to show up as your full self and be successful at work. And ultimately, there are plenty of studies<\/a> that show how a sense of belonging can help teams deliver better results, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone may need to take a certain holiday off or they may be fasting and want to share that with their manager or colleagues. Holding space to have those conversations and not feel shame around them allows us to create a more inclusive workplace where individuals can thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n