Dr Nick Megoran who is a Christian and lecturer at Newcastle University spent a year interviewing over 50 teachers, church leaders and lecturers to ask about their experience of being treated as "proper human beings in the workplace".
Speaking to Premier, he said: "In the Bible, it says that people are made in God's image, they are beings worthy of inherent respect and dignity. But in modern management science, people are resources.
"We're used to the idea of a human resources department. Resources to be used and deployed for the purposes of the company. And so the work I've been looking at has been exploring if there's a contradiction here.
"What happens when in the workplace we treat beings made in God's image as resources?"
The report titled 'Human resources - recognising the personhood of workers in the charity and public sectors', was supported by the Leech Fellowship Committee and Baptist and Anglican churches.
Dr Megoran said he wasn't surprised to find that people in the workplaces he interviewed were highly motivated.
However, some of the results took him aback.
"What I was, I think, surprised at - the thing that struck me most was that people felt most valued when they were given freedom and when they were trusted," he explained.
"So when managers say, 'we trust you, we believe in you, have space to go and develop the work in the way that you want to do it', people felt that valuing and life affirming.
"But when people were denied that, when they were subject to endless target regimes and performance management, and surveillance of their time and work, they found that demotivating and devaluing."
Dr Megoran said he was praying for the report to have a positive impact on the workforce.
"The first prayer is for our workplaces, that we will respect the humanity and dignity of people who work for us.
"Our colleagues are not just resources to be deployed and used in our own quick career progression or the success of our companies, they are beings made in God's image, and worthy of infinite respect and care."
He also called on individuals to reflect on how we've treated our colleagues and ensure we show them respect as well.
Listen to Premier's Eno Adeogun speaking with Dr Nick Megoran:
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