Business & Professional
Faith At Ford
The company encourages employees to bring
their religion to the workplace.
Staff photos by Angie Baan
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
E
mployees of Ford Motor
Company are trying their best to
keep the faith — in more ways
than one.
Beset by plunging sales and profits,
workforce reductions and financial
problems in general, the struggling
automaker is trying to restore the legend-
ary luster of the company that "put the
nation on wheels" a century ago. Ford's
300,000 employees are putting their faith
in an extensive restructuring plan, called
the Way Forward, which hopefully will
return it to stability and profitability by
2009. Leading the effort is Mark Fields,
Ford's president of the Americas and the
highest-ranking Jewish executive in the
worldwide automotive industry.
Recognizing that the faith of employ-
ees can be a powerful force in this regard,
and in their personal lives, Ford is focus-
ing more on a little-known internal
group called the Ford Interfaith Network,
formed in 2000 to promote tolerance,
mutual respect and understanding
among all faiths. The startup of FIN
formalized small diversity groups, such
as the Hispanic Network and the African
Ancestry Network, which had been meet-
ing casually at Ford since the 1980s.
"Many companies discourage any
acknowledgement of religion in the
workplace, but Ford takes a differ-
ent approach:' said Karen Jirik of West
Bloomfield, a 28-year Ford employee who
is one of about 65 Jewish people among
the 5,000 FIN members.
Emphasizing what FIN calls "the Ford
difference:' she pointed out "the company
recognizes that people's faiths can be a
powerful force in their lives, so employ-
ees are invited to bring their whole selves
— all their passion, all their inspira-
tion, all their integrity and commitment
— into the office."
Primary religions represented in FIN
membership are Buddhism, Catholicism,
Ford Employees for Christ (Evangelical
Christians), Hinduism, Islam, Judaism,
Orthodox Christianity and the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These
are represented by FIN's eight board
members. Other religions are Asatru,
30
January 4 0 2007
Daniel Dunnigan of Canton and Karen Jirik of West Bloomfield
Bahai, Humanism, Jainism, Paganism,
Seventh-day Adventists, Sikh, Spiritism,
Unitarian Universalist Association and
Zoroastrianism. The latter was founded
by the prophet Zoroaster and is practiced
mainly in India.
During work hours, usually at lunch
sessions in groups of about 20, the mem-
bers discuss worldwide issues, plan joint
programs and hold prayer services and
scripture study.
There are lectures, seminars, monthly
e-mails, a FIN Web site providing
employees with information about
upcoming events and a calendar of holy
days.
"Separate discussion groups offer an
opportunity to discover common ground
among the different faiths:' said Jirik.
"We cover family values, abortion, gay
rights, the Middle East situation and
specific holidays like Chanukah, Passover,
Ramadan and Kwanzaa. Among other
things, we convince company manage-
ment not to schedule major meetings on
these holidays."
"Ford recognizes that faith affiliation
doesn't stop when we arrive at work
each day;' explained FIN Chairman Dan
Dunnigan, a 22-year company employee
and now a sales and marketing executive
in the Ford Controller's Office. "Providing
an umbrella organization for the expres-
sion of faith is a significant way for Ford
to reinforce its message that it values
and respects all aspects of the employees'
lives."
Respecting Others
Kamal Shenaq, who came to America in
1983 as a student, and has been with Ford
for 11 years, pointed out, "It's a pleasant
feeling to get together and show respect
for each other's faiths because you hear so
much about people attacking faiths?'
A structural engineer in the company's
product development area, Shenaq, born
in Jordan, is one of FIN's 300 Muslim
members. He's married, with six adult
children.
"People often ask how we can all work
together in such a large company, and
you're always wary of possible conflicts:'
Shenaq said. "But we just focus on val-
ues, and try to learn as much about each
other as possible. There's really no ani-
mosity. The more you understand about
the various faiths, the less biases there
are.
He and Jirik agreed: "It's very impor-
tant to keep up a running dialogue
between Jews and Muslims."
Jirik grew up in Oak Park, attended
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah schools and
Ferndale High School, then got a degree
in labor and industrial relations from
Michigan State University. She's now
manager of personnel relations in Ford's
Personnel and Human Resources area.
Married with three children, Jirik belongs
to Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills.
"Our FIN activities never interfere
with our regular work at Ford:' explained
Dunnigan.
"That why we do a lot of it at lunch-
time or even after hours. And the recent
cutbacks and employee reductions expe-
rienced by the company haven't changed
anything either. We still have a job to do
and we want to maintain our faith."