Corporations may be downsizing in other departments, but some are beefing up in one unexpected area: spiritual counseling.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Marisol Corrales, an operations manager for a Dallas housecleaning service, doesn’t attend church regularly or see herself as a religious person, she says. But she calls regularly on a workplace chaplain provided by her employer whenever she is worried about her family or stressed over problems on the job.

Praying and talking with the Rev. John Salas gives her hope and peace of mind, she says; “I’m starting to be a bigger believer” because of him.

A growing number of companies are offering the services of chaplains in the workplace. Managers say many employees who wouldn’t think of calling a therapist or an employee-assistance program will willingly turn to a chaplain. Executives at Tyson Foods Inc., which employs 120 chaplains serving a work force of 117,000, say they believe the service reduces turnover. Other companies contract with chaplain-placement services to handle workplace disruptions that managers can’t.

Following the military-chaplain model, these roving spiritual advisers typically visit offices or factories weekly, greeting employees, hanging out in the break room, handing out business cards and meeting one-on-one with workers. But they’re also on-call 24/7, so chaplains rush to hospitals, restaurants or homes on request, providing comfort and support free of charge to employees.

They perform weddings or funerals for people who have no one else to do so. And they pray with employees over problems from medical or marital crises to job loss, addiction and financial woes, holding the information in confidence. The Rev. Warren Wetherbee, a corporate chaplain in LaCrosse, Wis., says he sometimes helps employees make a budget if asked, or sits with them while they decide to cut up their credit cards.

The chaplain services reflect a growing openness about spirituality in the workplace and an increasing desire among workers to express their faith at work.

Check out more at the link.