While U.S and international workplaces are already hard at it in the 2017 business year, several workplace trend surveys for 2017 emphasize the need for Marketplace Chaplains, America’s largest, original, and leading workplace chaplaincy organization.

Marketplace Chaplains in 2016 had its largest gain of new companies using the innovative employee care service of chaplains providing care for their employees and family members. Published trends point to 2017 as another big year for companies to take care of the top line—their employees—as well as their financial bottom line.

According to 2017 Workplace Trends by Sabrina Son, “82% of respondents in the Deloitte Human Capital Trends believe that culture is a potential competitive advantage. So building a work environment where employees feel empowered and valued for their opinions is another key to solving the retention puzzle.”¹

As employee engagement continues to explode in importance, “employee listening officers”² are becoming a trend in HR . . . a role that Marketplace Chaplains effectively fills by providing a sympathetic, confidential ear for employees to voice their personal concerns through regular chaplain visits to worksites.

Georgia business owner Ray Bachman, CEO of an Atlanta-area benefits company said that having Marketplace Chaplains in his company has helped his employees overcome a number of changes. “Our company, just like our country, has undergone a number of large changes, but one thing which has helped us is having chaplains here in the workplace helping employees with the hurt and heartaches of life,” said Bachman. “I feel it’s one of the best things we’ve done for our employees in these stressful sales and workplace times.”

In “10 Workplace Trends You’ll See In 2017” in Forbes Magazine, Dan Schawbel lists workplace wellness and well-being as a critical employee benefit for attracting top talent. “Companies realize that workplace stress is the biggest health issue that employees face so they invest in creating a more relaxing and healthier environment for them.”³ An effective way to help employees handle stress is by hiring a chaplain care team.

In Forbes “Top 10 Business Trends That Will Drive Success In 2017,” helping subject matter experts (SMEs) engaged in sales to “understand the sales process to better appreciate how customers make decisions and how to ‘sell’ with integrity” is a key component.⁴

Utilizing Marketplace Chaplains was “like holding an ethical mirror to the company and its leaders” according to one Texas company with a history of using Marketplace Chaplains. They saw it as a chance to restate their company values in an ever-changing environment

Marketplace Chaplains CEO and Executive President Doug Fagerstrom states, “Culture and business practices are changing all the time, but the personal inner needs of people have not changed throughout the years or any trends. Our chaplains have a timeless opportunity to listen and care for employees who are hurting, struggling with life, and trying to navigate today’s problems.”

For more information on this unique employee benefit which has been featured in Marketplace Chaplains on CNN, NBC Nightly News, and in the Washington Post, the New York Times and Bloomberg BusinessWeek, visit https://mchapusa.com.

About Marketplace Chaplains:  To arrange an interview with a Marketplace Chaplain, contact Art Stricklin, Vice President Public Relations, at artstricklin@mchapusa.com or call 1-800-775-7657.

¹https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/2017-workplace-trends

²https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/human-capital-trends/2016/human-capital-trends-introduction.html

³http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2016/11/01/workplace-trends-2017/2/#1892513f33bb

⁴http://www.forbes.com/sites/ianaltman/2016/12/06/top-10-business-trends-that-will-drive-success-in-2017/2/#1325e1ff4c03