David:

[0:00] Hello, my friends. Today, we have the privilege of talking with Tony Guagliardo, who is the Midwest Executive Director for Marketplace Chaplains, which is a leading workplace chaplaincy provider in North America and has been since 1984. Chaplains intentionally deliver care, support, and encouragement to employees through a personalized and proactive employee care service.

David:

[0:18] Today, we're going to dig into with Tony what Marketplace Chaplaincy is, what they do, and the impact they are having on the marketplace today. So, let's welcome Tony Guagliardo. Glad to have you on board today, Tony.

Tony:

[0:55] Thank you, David. Pleasure to be here with you.

David:

[0:58] Could you just give us a little background what Marketplace Chaplains does for those who in our listening group who don't really know what you guys do?

Tony:

[1:08] Absolutely, yes. Our mission is to share God's love in the workplace through an employee care service through chaplain care teams. So, it's really to focus on employees and to be able to extend care and support to employees and their families on behalf of the company leadership, letting them know just how much the leadership cares about them and their families.

David:

[1:35] So how is that different from, say, hey, you can go to a psychologist or a different field like that. How is that different from a service like that that a business may offer their employees?

Tony:

[1:48] Yeah, that's a great question. I think as I was just meeting with somebody recently, a lot of companies we serve have what's called an EAP, an employee assistance program, which in a lot of cases provides access to a counseling type approach or a psychologist that way.

Tony:

[2:06] So our approach is a little different in that we're engaging with employees directly. It's very relational and we get to know employees. And through developing that relationship with them, they come to trust us, I would say, in most cases. Let's say, somebody from an EAP or outside the company, where we say it's fine to have something like an EAP. And most of the companies we serve have that. But if you look at usage, in a lot of cases, EAPs tap out at about 5% usage. So, you're leaving a lot on the table. And it's really, I think, because of the approach being much more reactive and less personal. Our approach is really a 180 from that where it's highly relational, very personal, and proactive in terms of trying to get to what is the root cause of what's going on in an employee's life. But it's also a situation where we let the employees kind of dictate the pace of that relationship. We're not forcing ourselves on employees. So, as we get to know them, they get to trust us. And then we just find that they're more open to saying, yeah, I'm going through this or that in my life. And I could see that you have been provided as a caring resource by company leadership.

Tony:

[3:30] And we find that that just helps us. And we see typically 40 to 60% usage because of the approach that we utilize.

David:

[3:39] Very good. And that's very impressive, going from 5% to 40 to 60%. That's good. Very good.

Tony:

[3:45] Indeed. And I think it's really about the impact, right? Numbers are great, but if it's leading to a greater impact, that's really what we want and certainly what the company desires. So that's really what we're after.

David:

[3:59] So what does this look like in a company? I mean, obviously, you're not going to come in and talk to the employees all day long. They have work to do and they don't want you interrupting their day all the time. What does that look like? How do you build relationships while letting them work at the same time?

Tony:

[4:16] Yeah, that's a great question as well. So, our premise really is acknowledging that people are at work, to work. So, the last thing we'd want to do would be to interfere with productivity. And I think the fact that we've been positioned in the marketplace for 40 years now and still going and still being desired by company leaders tells me that we're doing things the right way. So, our codes of conduct are such that we coach our chaplains to say, you know, brief engagements with employees, literally two, three, four minutes and get a sense of where that employee is at. If it seems like they're really going through a major struggle or maybe a crisis right there at that moment, then ask them, you know, if this is an emergency, let's deal with it right now. But most things that are brought up are not emergency status. So, they can wait a day or two to have that next conversation.

Tony:

[5:10] So typically we would say, you know, hey, David, I hear what you're saying. I know you're working. I certainly don't want to take you offline from the work you have to do today. Why don't we do this later unless it's an emergency? Let's plan a time, maybe later tonight maybe tomorrow maybe over the weekend when you have more time and when we can talk about this issue. Especially in light of the fact that we don't want your co-workers kind of hearing what's going on we want you to be discreet about that but we also want to maintain confidentiality with the conversation we're having so we make our chaplains available 24/7 knowing that again we don't want to interfere with work getting done But we still want to let them know that we hear you. We see you. We're present. We're on site. But hey, let's deal with that situation, which could be a half hour, hour conversation about a struggle they're having. Let's do that later again, unless it's a dire emergency.

David:

[6:02] Okay. I think I was talking to another one of your co-workers and they said that people get an app where they can, on their phone, actually schedule a call with you or an appointment with you outside of work.

Tony:

[6:15] Yeah, yeah. From that app, they can email, or text, or call, or even video chat with the chaplains. And once they download the app in the first place, the chaplain care team, and we work in teams of male and female chaplains, which is kind of a distinguishing factor for us in the marketplace. But their team that is dedicated to their company will come up. And as they've been talking to Chaplain Bob or Chaplain Sue, they can ping them right on that app and connect with them that way. And there are additional resources on that app. Different articles, let's say, on anxiety or depression or stress. We even have an online version of Our Daily Bread, which is a devotional by RBC Ministries. That they can avail themselves to as well. So, it's a fairly robust platform in addition to obviously being a communication vehicle. So that's a helpful thing, especially for folks that just don't really want to address things in the workplace. And again, we're fine with that approach.

David:

[7:17] I know the companies are investing a lot of money and time into this. Have companies been able to see a distinct difference in their company before and after you guys come?

Tony:

[7:28] I would say yes to that on several different levels, David. I think there's kind of a quantitative ROI, let's say, approach that companies are looking at. Obviously, they're a business, so we understand that they have to look at things from an ROI perspective. So, we've received a lot of reports from the company leaders that we serve saying that they have seen savings in terms of, let's say, their HR staff being freed up to do other types of things and being able to refer employees to us. Other situations where theft or shrinkage has decreased because of the chaplains being there. But there's always, you know, the qualitative stuff, I would say, you know, where we're seeing success with either preventing a suicide or helping somebody who's going through depression. Or, you know, I think of a chaplain who was helping an employee who had an aging mother who lived about three or four hours from them and said, you know, I just feel like my mom is not eating well. She's not taking care of her health, and I don't get to see her as much. And just said, is there anything you can do? And the chaplain actually researched it and was able to find a Meals on Wheels program near that employee's mother.

Tony:

[8:41] And on a Monday and a Wednesday and a Friday, that mom was getting meals from Meals on Wheels. And it just really blew away the employee that their chaplain was able to help their mom four hours away get some meals and nutrition. So those are the kinds of success stories that we love. And that helps that company really be a sticky company, right, where that employee says, wow, like who does that for their employee where they're taking care of my mother four hours away? way. So, you can be assured that that employee definitely has a lot more loyalty to that company now because of the way we've been able to help them and their family members. So that's really what we're trying to do is, as I tell leaders, you know, take care of the well-being of the employee, but also the well-being of the organization, because we want you to impress upon your people that, hey, we are a caring company, and we really care about you and your family. You're not just a number here. You're a person and we want to handle you as best we can.

David:

[9:40] Yep. No, that's a great example. So, what's the size difference of businesses that you would be able to come into? Do we have to be like 10 or 20 people before you show up?

Tony:

[9:58] Yeah, great question. It's really all across the board, David. We have companies that have 5, 10 employees all the way up to tens of thousands. I think of Cargill that we serve about 35,000 employees and other larger companies that have tens of thousands. And the nice thing is with 2,200 chaplains all across the country, we have ways to extend care to different locations. Cargill has about 25 different locations. So, we're able to have distinct and discrete teams serving their locations in those areas. So, you know, for us, the size, the type of company, even the dynamics of having, you know, let's say employees at a location, but then others that are remote, maybe they're drivers, maybe they're field techs or outside sales, we can handle all those situations. It's really about the leader saying, you know, I really care for my people, and I want to put some type of additional care in place to let them know how much I care for them. We can help them do that in a myriad of ways.

David:

[11:00] Okay. That's great. So, it's not really limited to size because you can go from very small to very big. Now, my understanding of this chaplaincy is, you might say, a distinctly Christian viewpoint. Do you get pushback from other people saying, hey, they got a Christian chaplain in here. I want a Catholic chaplain or a Muslim or whatever else. Do you get that pushback or how do you deal with that kind of thing?

Tony:

[11:29] Yeah, great question. And obviously very, very topical in our day and age today. So, I think the way we approach it and to address your question is that I think once the employees get to know us, they’re not necessarily concerned about, you know, whether we're Methodist, whether we're, you know, Muslim, whether we're whatever. They get to know us on a human level as a person that they can relate to and connect with. And as we have discussions with leaders that are considering our service, we let them know that our codes of conduct are such that we're not there to preach. We're not there to proselytize. We're not there to judge people. We are a Christian organization, and all of our chaplains are Christian. But as we engage with people, we do it really in a 1 Peter 3.15 approach where Peter says, revere Christ always, know the hope that we have, and always be able to give an answer for that hope for anybody who asks. But he also says, do that with gentleness and respect, right? So that's how we treat every person, with gentleness, with respect, with dignity, knowing that everybody's created in the image of God. So, we want to address them that way. And we're open in terms of the way we engage with them. We're not steering them one way or another. We really leave it up to them what they want to talk about, if they want to talk with us. If they want to talk about God and faith, that's great. If they want to talk about the weather or their vacation for the summer, that's totally up to them too.

Tony:

[12:58] But I will say, I have talked to a lot of chaplains who say, you know, as I'm coming in and just being very joyful, being very upbeat, being very open, a lot of employees will say, you know, Chaplain Bob, why are you like that? You're always happy and smiling. Like, you know, don't you know, it's a crazy world today. And that's an opportunity for Chaplain Bob to say, David, if it's okay with you, let me share with you a little bit about why I'm like that. I believe that God has put love in my heart, and I want to share that love with you and the people here. And that's why I'm here. That's why your leaders have brought me in, because they want to share that love with you as well. So, again, it's an opportunity based on how we comport ourselves for people to think, why are they like that? And as Christians, shouldn't that be how we are, right? People should see the light of Christ in us as we're engaging with them. And that's what we try and do.

David:

[13:52] Yep. No, that's a great answer. So, I know there's going to have to be confidentiality here. The owners or leaders might want to have some kind of report on what activities you have done. What does that reporting structure look like? And how do they know that you guys are even doing anything with the people?

Tony:

[14:14] Yes, they do want to know, and we appreciate that they do want to know, and we're prepared for that. So, we have what we call the employee care service, which typically the first year of service is about three times a year. And then it's about every six months, quarter to six months after that. And it's kind of an analysis and an evaluation of how we have been engaging with their teams, what we have been observing. It's really a quantitative as well as a qualitative analysis where we also share some success stories, like I alluded to earlier. But it's a very nice feedback loop for the leaders to know, hey, what is going on? What are you seeing? And in a confidential way, you mentioned confidentiality, we're able to show them even into the level of what are your people talking to us about. And again, no names mentioned, but you know, are they talking about stress? Are they talking about finances? Are they talking about relationships?

Tony:

[15:11] And over the years we've developed content around a lot of those topics. We call it our work-life growth series. So, if they identify a trend on their reports that, you know, stress, let's say it's spiking. And we had a moving company that we were serving that noticed, you know, come springtime, come fall, when a lot of moving takes place, stress was really spiking. So, we did a work-life growth series on how do you effectively handle stress in your life?

Tony:

[15:37] We could do another one on how do you put a personal budget together? So, there's ways that we can take what we're seeing and help the company add value to their team and share that information. The chaplains deliver that content. And again, it's another way for that company to be a sticky company where employees say, well, they're helping us in this area of stress or finances or relationships. So even to the topic of job-related issues, so we can show leaders, what are they talking about in terms of the job itself? And there may be an employee blowing off steam, maybe about hours for the month, but maybe a dozen employees are saying the same thing about the same topic, maybe about a supervisor, maybe about something else. So, we're going to document that. We're not going to mention any names, but we're going to share that with the leadership and we're not going to wait until, you know, month three when we have the report. We're going to go to them and say, hey, you know, heads up. We've been hearing quite a bit of momentum about this one issue. You may already know about it, but you may not. So, we just want to let you know that this is what we're hearing. Quite a few people have been sharing this.

Tony:

[16:45] So, you know, do with it what you want, but we just want to make you aware of it. So, again, all toward the well-being of not just the employees, but the company as well.

David:

[16:55] Yeah, no, that's really good because if you're building a good relationship with them, they're opening up. You're going to get better feedback than, say, I've seen some companies where, oh, here is our yearly survey. What do you think of me? What do you think of the company? What do you think of our vision? All this stuff. And the answers aren't very helpful. Because I want to say something different than what's here.

Tony:

[17:23] Yes. Yes. And even the timeline that right, because as we're connecting, you know, week in and week out with their teams, you know, we're not waiting for the like you said, the once-a-year feedback from the employees. This is very timely and that can help them make some decisions going forward in a very timely way that can help avert something that might be happening or be proactive about something else. So, yeah, it's a very helpful tool for leaders. And especially as you mentioned, confidentiality, the way we work with that is that the conversations between employees and chaplains are confidential, except if a chaplain deems that somebody would be harmful to him or herself and others or the property, or if a law is being broken or a crime being committed, we have mandatory reporting responsibilities. And we let them know upfront that that's the case.

Tony:

[18:13] So that's how we handle that. And everybody's good with that. And we also, you know, check in with HR too. So, when we come on site, we'll check in with HR and see, you know, anything happening, anything we should know about. And they may say, you know, I just, I know somebody who's a little wigging out in accounting. So, we'll just kind of mill around and maybe spend a little bit more time in accounting. We're not going to say, you know, hey, HR said this or that, we're not going to do that. Yeah. But we'll just got to be discerning and spend a little bit more time there. And a lot of times somebody will just kind of not look like they usually do in a chapel and say, hey, David, just don't look like yourself today. Anything I can do for you and just kind of see where that goes. So, it really is a partnership. We view it with the company and us.

David:

[18:57] Well, this seems like a very awesome opportunity that any business can get into. And it sounds really great. Everything I've heard today. And I'm sure my listeners are excited as well. How can we find out more about you or if we want to take the next steps? What does that look like? Do you have a website, a phone number or anything?

Tony:

[19:16] Yeah, absolutely. Certainly, can check out things on our website. It's just www.mchapusa.com. M-C-H-A-P-U-S-A dot com. I can be reached at Tony G, the letter G, Tony G at mchapusa.com and by phone at 224-321-0841. So happy to connect with anybody who's interested in exploring what this would be like for their company and serving their employees. So, yes.

David:

[19:49] Okay, very good. And we'll put all of the links in the show notes. And so, you guys have them.

Tony:

[19:55] Excellent.

David:

[19:55] Thank you Tony, very much for coming with us today. I really appreciate your input and with the Marketplace Chaplains. God bless you and have a great day.

Tony:

[20:06] Thank you, David. A pleasure. God bless you as well.

David:

[20:09] Well, there you have it. Our conversation with Tony Guagliardo from Marketplace Chaplains. One of the things I've taken away is the impact caring and investing in your employees has on your business. Not only do you get lower turnover, but you have an increase in morale and productivity as well. Well, it reminds me of what Jesus said, give and it will be given unto you. As owners are giving to their employees, the employees in turn are giving back to their owners without even trying. I trust you have found this as interesting and inspiring as I have. And remember, time has limits. Only one thing is needful. Do that one thing.