Over recent decades, the workplace has emerged as a driving force of morality in Western society, particularly in the Anglophone world. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is highly influential in the business world, despite questions being raised over some of its methods. The subject of how companies can prevent discrimination is widely debated on the news and social media. And in the field of business branding, developing a clear set of values and a positive vision of the future is paramount.

Gender, racism and the environment are hot topics. Companies big and small compete to show their virtue by supporting yearly awareness events, while simultaneously encouraging customers to purchase products. During October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, brands from ASDA to Elemis release special pink products. Black History Month also receives a huge amount of support from companies including Waterstones.

Sometimes this morality is highly political. Ben and Jerry’s, the ice-cream brand, took British Home Secretary Priti Patel to task over immigration in a Twitter thread. One wonders the reaction if a more conservative company were to challenge a left-leaning politician in the same way.

It is all rather strange, particularly when considering unfair practices in business. A 2020 report by the High Pay Centre reveals that in the retail sector, so vocal in its support for good causes, chief executives earn on average 140 times more than the typical employee in their company. This is nearly double the (still rather high) 73:1 ratio at FTSE 100 companies.

Workplaces are also competitive places, a situation that does not always bring out the best in people. Jokes about office politics are common for a reason. Why then has morality become such a focus in many workplaces today?

One answer lies in the decline of religion. Christianity used to be the central space of moral development in Western society. A significant proportion of people were members of a church, where they received moral lessons on a Sunday when most businesses were closed. However, though religion is still a driving force in minority communities, Christianity, along with church attendance, has been in steady decline, particularly in recent decades.

According to the recently released Church Statistics report, UK church membership is expected to fall to 8.4% of the population by 2025, down from 33% in 1900.  YouGov research, meanwhile, revealed that 55% of Britons say they are not religious. And according to the Pew Research Center, Christianity is declining in the US, with around 26% identifying as atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular’, up from 17% in 2009.

Interestingly, as Christianity has declined, self-help has become a huge force. It is expected to be worth $13.2 billion in the US by 2022, and has been growing in the UK for some time. Many workplaces have embraced this movement, encouraging employees to ‘think positive’. Life coaches are also guiding people in their careers. Yet, though there are positive aspects to this movement, the quality can be variable and, as the name ‘self-help’ suggests, the individual is paramount, rather than the wider community as is in traditional religion.

Another factor is an increasing emphasis on the law. The law has traditionally served moral purposes including setting boundaries, ensuring a common good and protecting people from harm. Expectations, however, have increased. When something goes wrong in society, debate focuses on what the law can do. Politicians introduce new laws in order to be seen to be doing something. It is no coincidence that the UK tax code now runs to over 10 million words, compared to Hong Kong’s slim 350 pages.

Politicians pay close attention to fairness in business, leading to employment law expanding greatly since the 1980s and a larger role for human resources departments (HR). Workplaces are seen as central to righting the wrong of inequality in society. The success of particular minority groups is measured by career achievement rather than, say, how well a community cares for its elderly.

HR has also taken on an increasingly moral dimension, with fashionable academic ideas such as Ibram Kendi’s concept of anti-racism, along with EDI, strongly influencing staff training in many workplaces. Unconscious bias training, where the morality of employees is examined through the revelation of inner prejudice, is becoming common and even mandatory. Encouraging this sort of self-examination used to be the remit of the church.

The increasing moralisation of workplaces in the West seems, at least in part, to be a response to changes in society, particularly the decline of religious influence. No ‘secular church’ organisation has emerged to take the place of religion, and there are fewer spaces for people to explore their values and receive teaching on how to improve their behaviour. Businesses are even taking on some roles formerly taken by religion.

But is this a good thing? Are workplaces really the best places to improve people’s behaviour and change society as a whole? This is something I will examine further in my next column. 

Vicki Robinson is a columnist for The Equiano Project.

Follow Vicki on Twitter: @storiesopinions