21st Century business chaplaincy
Jim Grimmer, CEO of P3 Business Care
By Jim Grimmer | 4 mins read
In this blog, Jim Grimmer explains how he has developed a new approach to chaplaincy in the world of business.
In forty years of working life, twenty as a Police Officer and twenty in the oil and gas industry in my home city of Aberdeen, I have seen many people in difficult situations that developed into a crisis before their employers reacted.
One day, a man in his early 30’s, married with three children, working for one of the oil majors left his desk at lunchtime and committed suicide. I thought - what if he had had someone to talk to? Would that have been enough to stop him taking his own life?
I knew we had to change to a more personal and proactive way of supporting employees - working in partnership with the employer, hence I set up P3 Business Care CIC.
The name P3 is inspired by Proverbs Chapter 3 that says, ‘wisdom bestows wellbeing’ (NIV).” P3 Business Care CIC was established as a social enterprise and Community Interest Company created to bring:
1. Personal support to employees - we need to get back to face-to-face communication creating a safe environment for employees to have confidential conversations. The traditional ‘employee assistance programme’ in large companies with the impersonal 0800 number has less than a 10% take up.
2. Proactive support - we need to move from trying to manage issues from a reactionary perspective to being proactive. P3 Business Partners visit our client companies twice per week developing trust and relationship with employees so they can proactively identify and address issues BEFORE they become a crisis, absence, or staff turnover.
3. Partnership - many times we hear from employers that 'our staff are our most important asset'! Working in partnership with P3 Business Care allows the company to tangibly demonstrate that they genuinely care for their people. This support is for everyone from the CEO to the receptionist and is also extended to situations impacting the immediate family (partner/parent/child).
Many years ago I recall having a conversation with the then CEO of Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland. I didn’t want to be replicating something that was already happening, however our conversation confirmed they were very much operating a traditional chaplaincy model. Largely ordained ministers, supported by unpaid volunteers and primarily focussed on the retail sector and emergency services. There was nothing happening to support people in the private sector corporate business world.
I also knew that to sit in front of a CEO and secure their support for what is in effect ‘business chaplaincy’, I would need to bring value and prove engagement. The personal approach of twice weekly visits to the workplace added value to both people and the business. A digital platform for recording some 30 topics of confidential discussions was also created and the data used to create a management report proving engagement (ensuring confidentiality too). Covid-19 saw the creation of the ‘MY P3’ mobile app to allow employees to maintain face to face contact with their personal Business Partners even when offices were closed.
The traditional chaplaincy model is free, but this can pose a problem. I recall a conversation with a secular CEO - “What is the cost of P3 support?” he asked. To offer free support whilst at the same time declaring a Christian faith, immediately aroused suspicion of some ulterior proselytising motive. Companies expect to pay for any service, particularly one that provides face to face engagement and brings a variety of benefits. I discovered that when I offered a paid-for employee support service on terms that businesses understood (I provide a service which they pay for) they were much more likely to work with us – and our business has now successfully worked with SMEs across the UK, from Poole to Sheffield to Aberdeen.
People tend to place value on what they pay for, and it’s no different in business. I love the social enterprise model of earning an income through trading, which in turn can provide a modest income for our individual Business Partners. And it does not compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the service we offer.
We are explicit about how our Christian faith motivates our work, and open to conversations about faith too, but we work alongside people of all faiths and none in these workplaces, in order to provide personal support and care. It’s a 21st century way of doing chaplaincy in a business environment.
Jim Grimmer is Founder and CEO of P3 Business Care CIC. Supporting companies across the UK, you can read more on their website. In 2014 Jim was a co-founder of The Business Connection charity that ran the successful Thrive Scotland online conference in 2020. Jim is a graduate of Robert Gordon University (MCIPD) and Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney (Cert IV Ministry). He is a former Street Pastor and an active member of Kings Church Aberdeen, a Director of King's Community Foundation, and gained ministerial accreditation with Assemblies of God in 2020.