Err… Address the Elephant in the Room. Really?
Sep 05, 2022
What do you think is the biggest problem that prevents ethnic minorities from feeling like a full member of the team?
Before you attempt to answer, bear this in mind.
- The answer I am about to reveal has, improved recruitment processes, led to more ethnic minority employment and enabled ethnic minority staff to access support in the face of discrimination
- Over the last 20 years, I have trained thousands of people in managing difficult conversations about race and culture in the workplace
What I usually find is that often, White members of staff (we talk skin colour here), fear of broaching the subject of racism as they are terrified of being labelled ‘racist’ or getting ‘things wrong.’ Consequently, these often lead to resistance to engage.
“I reflected on some of my behaviours where I have come from a place of defensiveness.”
“Thank you for handling a difficult conversation for me, with care.”
“My initial response was to defend and deny. I realise that’s something I need to work on.”
Usually, I find when organisations approach us, they know something is up but there is a tendency to minimise the issues somewhat.
“We don’t have unconscious bias.” (this is very common)
“Sure, we might have a few bad apples but on the whole, we all treat everyone fairly.”
“Only a few ethnic minorities have said they’ve experienced problems.”
But is this a true reflection of the reality for most ethnic minorities in the work place?
Let me tell you this:
- Over 70% of U.K. based racially marginalised workers say they’ve experienced racial harassment at work. (TUC, 2019)
- Part time or non-permanent staff are more likely to report racial harassment. (TUC 2019)
- When delivering training, I almost always have an ethnic minority staff member take me to the side to explain how they face racism regularly and how they are suffering as a result.
Therefore, what I see is:
- Not talking about race only exacerbates the problem, not eliminate it.
- By not addressing the needs of ethnic minority people, organisations are often leaving ethnic minorities to face mistreatment (whether intentional or not).
So how do you get from a point where very few people want to engage, to making lasting positive change for racially minoritised employees?
At Strawberry Words, we have developed the A.C.T.I.V.E Approach to manage the process of learning about and discussing issues concerning race and racism. It is a six-step approach based on Transformative Learning theory. Here’s how it works:
Action-orientated
It is not enough to merely watch a video or read text. One must engage with the topic to fully grasp the concepts and to remain present. This is the reason interactive exercises, discussions and assessments (online) are so important. Equally, the content promotes new ways to behave around racially minoritised people, therefore encouraging new ways to act.
Challenging
There is no change without challenge. Though kind in its intention, the work is designed to prompt people to act differently. To do that, one must feel compelled through personal challenge. The content encourages learners to rethink attitudes, behaviours and policies that although have become the norm, discriminate.
Thought-provoking
Sessions are filled with prompting questions, designed to push participants past what they already know and to consider different points of views and concepts perhaps they hadn’t previously. This can lead to understanding where change needs to take place and being motivated to do so.
Introspective
Cultures and organisations are made of individuals. Our approach starts with educating the individual first to influence culture. Through kind critical dialogue, learners are prompted to question and re-evaluate personal thoughts and attitudes.
Validating
Often ethnic minorities simply want their experiences heard and acknowledged, often they are denied their reality as people avoid conversations about race. Through teaching about structural racism, this promotes validation and opens the doors to honest discourse and consequently appropriate action.
Empathetic and Safe
To enter such dialogue requires participants to become vulnerable. This can only happen if the environment is deemed safe. Creating such spaces is a priority in our work. This is achieved in part by creating judgement-free zones.
Carefully managed, this process is accessible to any organisation to broach the topic of discrimination to break down barriers and enable the ‘other’ to feel a sense of belonging.
Listen, everyone wants to feel safe and able to show up authentically in the workplace. We help organisations do that for ethnic minority people. So, if your organisation is ready to take the leap to becoming genuinely diverse and inclusive, then email us today to discuss our antiracism training and/or having a Diversity Audit (where we help your company discover missed opportunities to attract and retain diverse talent).
Wishing you bags of success in this area regardless.
Rebbecca (Hemmings) you ‘cultural harmony’ guide.
p.s. I’m keen to discover what other taboo areas staff members are afraid of broaching. Tell me in the comments or send direct message.
Talking about racism can seem difficult and uncomfortable. This CPD accredited course provides a foundational education on racism to help to increase racial literacy which includes building confidence to speak about and deal with issues concerning race. It provides a language through which meaningful conversation can take place (particularly in the workplace).
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