A Vendor Pushed Religion at a Work Dinner
Recently, I had a situation with a vendor that pushed religion on me and a colleague at a work dinner. Let’s call him Sam. We were traveling out of state to visit this vendor, and on the first night the vendor’s head of sales, Bill, decided to take us out to dinner.
At the start of the dinner, Bill was quite enthusiastic and talkative. He started by talking about his family and their experience living on the street. This was interesting. But then, he began talking about his religion. Bill started talking about why he believes in a higher power and then proceeded to tell us how we should live our lives. He kept pushing his religion on us, and we were feeling quite uncomfortable.
We tried to be respectful and not offend him, but eventually, we had to inform Bill that we were not interested in his religious views. We informed him that while we respected his views, we did not share them nor did we want to discuss religion while at a work dinner. We asked him to please respect our wishes and change the subject.
Thankfully, the situation did not escalate and Bill obliged our request. However, it was still an awkward and uncomfortable situation for us.
So, what should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation? The best thing you can do is to be respectful and politely let the person know that you are not interested in discussing religion. Inform them that while you respect their views, you are not interested in hearing or discussing them.
If the person does not respect your wishes, then you should politely excuse yourself and leave the situation. If you are with a colleague, you can explain the situation to your colleague and leave together.
This situation can be difficult to navigate, but the most important thing is to remain respectful but also stick to your boundaries.
The workplace should be a professional environment free of religious views, and as a Human Resources executive, I believe it is important to ensure that all of our colleagues are respected and feel safe in their work environment.
When it comes to religion in the workplace, it is important to remember that it can be a sensitive topic and should not be discussed unless all parties are comfortable with it. I hope that this blog post has been helpful in educating HR professionals on how to handle situations when a vendor pushes religion in a work dinner.
