Template for setting up a professional Muslim Network in a workplace. This has been developed through consultation with government, HR specialists and students of Islamic knowledge. The proposal covers high-level aims and objectives and articulates the benefits to the organisation for employees, the brand and customer engagement.

1. Proposal & Objectives
Sept 2016

2. Introduction
This document aims to summarise the aims and objectives of the Muslim
Network. As well as defining the purpose of the network and its key activities,
this proposal will also provide an overview of the perceived organisational benefit
from the perspective of employees, stakeholders and the company.
Aim
To represent Muslims within the organisation, thereby helping promote a greater
understanding between employees and liberating the benefits of diverse
backgrounds.
Objectives
 Help increase all-round employee well-being by strongly supporting our
organisational ethos and diversity strategy, aiding staff recruitment,
retention and diverse working environment.
 Supporting an ethos where all faiths, cultures and nationalities across the
organisation cooperate to support the community.
 Raising awareness of Muslim issues and supporting the professional
development for members through mentoring, shadowing, seminars and
cultural activities.
Recognising diversity
There are many examples of organisations within the corporate world that have
established Muslim networks such as Accenture, BT, EY and HSBC. This has
helped empower their employees and reflect their broad and diverse workforce.

3. Furthermore, this has helped develop harmony and a sense of belonging within
their respective organisations.
The establishment of societies, associations and social networks is a reflection of
organisational diversity as it recognises the interests, needs and aspirations of all
that interact with it, whether as employees, suppliers or customers. This helps to
create an open, honest and unprejudiced workplace that encourages people to
reach their full potential. The PHEMN seeks to facilitate this openness and
awareness about Islam and Muslims within PHE.
BackgroundActivities
We will endeavour to deliver the following professional and social activities for
the benefit of the organisation, its staff and external organisations (e.g. charities):
 Organising seminars – focusing on key issues related to personal and
professional development such as: time management and balancing faith
obligations with work constraints. These seminars will be open to non-
members and persons of other faiths as a means of promoting awareness
about Islam and improve employee well-being in the workplace.
 Networking events – helping members to build up contacts in appropriate
environments which do not conflict with Islamic social principles. Corporate
events usually serve alcohol which may lead to Muslims either being
unable to participate in such useful events or participating very reluctantly.
 Charitable & Social Events – supporting and encouraging charitable works
by organising events and setting up emergency appeals where necessary in
coordination with registered charitable organisations. Any funds raised
shall be for causes across cultures, nationalities and faiths. Muslims
participate in communal activities throughout the year as part of their faith.
These vary in frequency from daily congregational prayers and fasting for a
whole month (Ramadhan) to annual Eid celebrations. Such occasions will
be ideal opportunities for social networking outside of work hours and

4. normally include an element of charitable works.
We would like to work closely with HR to organise events that benefit the
members and others across the organisation thereby encouraging greater cultural
diversity across the company.
Currently we already have the following activities which we would like to develop
further upon being recognised as a network:
 Prayer room – Members really appreciate the fact that there is a multi-faith
prayer room onsite which helps a great deal to schedule prayers during
working hours. Through speaking to members it seems that this prayer
room is frequented at least 50 times a day by Muslims alone. This figure
increases by a factor of at least three over winter when prayer times are
closer together to shorter days.
 Weekly meetings - Every Friday on the way to congregational prayers,
members meet and discuss what they have found interesting and
challenging about work and any areas they require further advice on.
 Quarterly lunches - Members get together periodically to have a social
lunch.
 Communication – There are currently two main forms of communication
between members: The first is through email and the second through
Whatsapp. Email communication is for more formal matters whilst
Whatsapp tends to be less formal and a wider range of topics are
discussed.
Benefits to the organisation
There are a number of benefits to the organisation, not least the access to
different perspectives and insights of our prospective or current service users.
These include:

5. Retention and development of existing members
The organisation will improve the satisfaction of Muslims working across its sites
due to the range of appropriate activities available to them. This will also provide
increased awareness of the Islamic faith amongst work colleagues and will
develop a positive working environment in turn leading to higher employee
retention.
One of the aims of the network is to promote personal and professional growth
of employees. We have a significant number of Muslim employees and through
recognising their diversity preferences we expect to see them become more
efficient and effective in their professional roles. This will in turn improve the
work we provide as a company and relationships with other stakeholders.
Activities offered by the Network are open to members and non-members so this
benefit will be felt across the organisation.
Recognition as a diverse employer
Having an established Muslim network will help to attract Muslim professionals to
the organisation. There is evidence of other professional organisations having
achieved this through a Muslim network with activities such as representation at
University Islamic societies to raise awareness of their respective organisations
amongst Muslim graduates.
The network aims to be a forum for employees and new recruits to share their
experiences and learn about Islam. It also aims to advise other employees about
Islamic practises and values as well as to generate dialogue and gain greater
interaction within the wider community. This will enable employees to gain an
awareness of potential external sponsorship events that attract the community at
large.

6. Promoting awareness and encouraging communication
The network wishes to contribute to diversity training events bringing greater
awareness and sensitivity to the organisation and its employees through
addressing misconceptions about Islam and its values. During a time where there
are many mixed messages in media and conversation, it is paramount to Muslim
employees that they feel their belief and culture is understood correctly.
The network will act as a forum aiming to work together in the best interests of
the organisation feeding back concerns, issues and ideas to HR and respective
business units helping to motivate and empower its diverse workforce.
Benefits to members
Personal and Professional growth through networking opportunities
Supporting individual and collective development through engaging activities
such as workshops or seminars and then feeding back key issues or suggestions
and liaising with HR to address these needs.
The organisation will promote existing initiatives such as charitable work and
employee engagement initiatives to exchange knowledge, skills, information and
experience. This will also improve engagement with company strategy and
encourage participation of Muslims within their corporate cultures. Indeed, most
of our corporate values resonate with core Islamic values such as honesty, trust
and responsibility.
Providing a forum for Muslims within the organisation
The network will be open to any employee regardless of belief or background
and aims to:
 Act as a voice for Muslims and a point of contact for highlighting any
issues related to the Islamic faith for members and non-members alike.
This will be an ideal forum to share experiences, interests and aspirations

7. while representing the interests and concerns of Muslims within the
organisation. The network would work with HR within the policy framework
to support new and existing employees to ensure effective inclusion into
the wider organisation.
 Assist in providing a safe environment so Muslims within the organisation
feel at ease following their religious practises (where appropriate in a
corporate environment), through increased awareness of religious
boundaries and sensitivities. In offices where a specific need is highlighted,
the organisation will help to coordinate a case for these needs to be
catered for. Through regular interaction with HR this forum can be used to
raise awareness of the annual month of fasting (Ramadhan) for the benefit
of line managers and work colleagues dealing with Muslims.
Conclusion
The network is an initiative suggested by existing Muslim employees working in
the organisation who recognise the value the network could bring to the
organisation, the workforce and customer relations. By empowering staff
members to practise their faith, the organisations openness and diversity policies
are manifested.
The network could deliver significant impact across the organisation in a number
of areas including:
- Effectively raising awareness of different interests and diversity
within the workforce helping to shape a mutually compatible work
environment.
- Strongly supporting our diversity strategy including recruitment and
adding value to our brand.

8. - Increased employee satisfaction, motivation and well-being.
- Staff empowerment and increased engagement with the
organisation
- Increased affinity with organisational brand values and helping to
promote them within social circles.
- Developing an ethos where all faiths, cultures and nationalities
within the organisation co-operate to support the wider community.
As a social networking and employee development initiative this could lay the
foundation for other employee communities to express themselves developing
real synergy with the organisation as a great place to work.