Quaker employment: Phil Chandler on a work in progress

‘The idea was to explore how we would wish to be treated.’

The pandemic had a huge effect on employment patterns and practices – and, indeed, whether people had any employment at all. Many organisations struggled to deal with these upheavals, some trying harder than others to support the welfare of their employees. It was, without doubt, a very difficult time for anyone responsible for employing people, and this didn’t exclude Friends. It was out of this period that a concern arose within Lancashire Central & North Area Meeting (AM) about how, or if, Quaker organisations integrate spiritual insights into our practices as employers. It was felt that merely following the law, or what secular organisations identify as ‘best practice’, didn’t guarantee a result that was in line with our testimonies.

A working group was nominated by the AM. The concern went through various twists and turns and, eventually, arrived at Meeting for Sufferings (MfS). We were asking MfS if it felt it would be useful for the AM to take a lead in exploring what Friends feel would constitute ‘Spirit-led, Ethical Employment Practices’ (sorry, we couldn’t resist the acronym ‘SLEEP’), and to use the responses to produce a resource that could act as a prompt for reflection in developing our own employment practices.

At this stage we’re envisaging something in the style of Advices & queries, each section including examples of what good practice might look like. MfS agreed that this was a useful endeavour. We are now asking if others wish to undertake similar work, or develop their own. To help with this, here’s an activity our working group ran as part of an Area Business Meeting. The idea was to explore how we, as individuals, would wish to be treated in employment.

We explained that we had designed a process to allow Friends to contribute ideas anonymously. This was so that we could draw on our past experiences as employees and employers, but avoid sharing details that might be confidential, or painful, or provoke unhelpful discussion.

In the Meeting room, we provided paper and pens. Friends were invited to imagine that they were starting work with a new employer tomorrow. What attributes were they hoping to find in that workplace? We asked Friends to write one idea on each piece of paper, without sharing personal details or stories, and to express each idea positively (for example, ‘not taking a colleague’s ideas and passing them off as your own’ became ‘acknowledge colleagues’ contributions’). All of the suggestions were captured.

This was a blended Meeting. Online Friends were able to contribute their thoughts through chat messages. Friends who were not present or found writing difficult were invited to contribute their ideas via the Area Meeting newsletter, or by contacting one of the relevant Friends individually.

We would be grateful to anyone who is able to run such an exercise to share their contributions with us, by sending them to kathy@kasulu.org. They will be anonymised. This will become the basis for discussions relating these insights to Quaker testimony and teachings, and ultimately to formulate a practical resource for Friends.

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