02
July
By Dhaxle Communication and Outreach In News Comments
Dhaxle Communication and Outreach
In an interview in 1971, the late Muhammad Ali wondered
why everything was white. “Everything good was white, and
the angel food cake was the white cake, and the devil food cake was the
chocolate cake!” he said. He rightfully mentioned that the positive symbols
and figures in all of our lives are white; figures such as Snow White and
Jesus, or the President living in the White House. All the while, the negative
symbols were all black; words such as blackmailing or the ugly duckling (also
black). Living in a world where everything positive is white and everything
opposite of that is black has led to a systematical negative image of
people of color, and a chronic mental stressor
felt by people of color.
Black Lives
Matter
A few weeks ago, it was normal to dismiss these observations and
call them far-fetched. However, due to the recent protests and the awareness
that these protests have created, big corporation and brands are triggered to
approach the dialogue by looking at it from the point of view of a minority. In
statements released by big brands, racism and discrimination are both condemned
and extended with the actions they take towards working against racism. They
encourage clients, business partners, and their employees to strive for
positive behavior towards minorities in the workplace and in general. Other
major brands have donated money
to causes that are fighting racism. The statements and judgments against
discrimination coming from these corporations
are not without effort. For a long time, many companies have had
inclusion and diversity programs. However, with the recent events, it seems
that these programs are not enough. In an article in HBR, the results of inclusion and diversity
programs resulted in minor-to-negative results. Additionally,
the programs are only set to give general advice in how the companies’ feel
towards diversity in their company.
Organizations
Speaking Up
The latest Black Lives Matter protests ask for action-driven
approaches in order to motivate their employee to take part in conducive
behavior towards all minorities. By making these statements, brands and
corporation are publicly confirmed (on social media)
as not being racist and applauded for their efforts for being a part of the
change. The opposite is also happening. Corporations, brands, influencers, and
politicians are being called out for not speaking up against racism. Some
corporations were judged about their
statement when employees were claiming that their workplace
does not align with their
statements against discrimination. Others have been accused
of using the BLM momentum for marketing purposes and have been challenged to
put their money where their mouth is. In other words, they are asking the
question: which actions will they take? One may conclude that speaking up
against racism and showing conducive behavior against fighting racism leads to
positive reputation and vice versa.
For many big corporations and brands, making statements and changing
the workforce in such a small amount of time is achievable because of their
available resources and expertise. However, for many enterprises, it is a
challenge to keep up. In such a small amount of time, it’s challenging to make
a statement and act upon moving towards a workplace with conducive behavior
against minorities. This is unfortunate, because papers have shown the advantages of having a
diverse workplace. For example; workplace diversity leads to
having a healthy environment.
Results
also include high productivity, an increase in motivation, and attracting great
talent to the workforce. This empirically leads to higher business
performance.
Conducive
Behavior in Your Workplace
So, how can corporations transform the behavior in the workplace
into a healthy environment for all ethnicities, sexes, and religions? Dhaxle
has come up with three strategies for how to approach racial discrimination, as
well as how to mitigate and create a healthy environment. These pillars are based on:
·
How to hire people without any racial bias
·
How to create a safe work environment for difficult conversations
·
How to embed your ideals about anti-racism into the values of your
company
How Can You
Hire People Without Any Racial Bias
Dhaxle believes that when making sure your employees know what the
consequences of violating the racial and discriminating rules are, conducive
behavior will follow based on these rules when hiring people. It will help
employees’ unconscious biases, and they will prioritize the creation of a more
diversified and genuine workplace. “Unconscious bias”
comes from things we hear and see, as well as what the default is that is
presented to us. Examples include those explained by Muhammed Ali in his 1971
interview. It is widely accepted that what we see, what we hear, and what we
are taught, influences our thinking without us realizing it. When hiring blind,
all identification details from your candidates’ resumes and
applications are removed, which gives space to judge and hire candidates based
on their skills and experiences. As a result of a paper by McKinsey named “Diversity Matters,” those in the top quartile for ethnic and
racial diversity in management were 35 percent more likely to have financial returns
above their industry medians. Research was conducted that looked at 366 public companies across a range of industries in Canada, Latin
America, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
How to Create
a Safe Work Environment for Difficult Conversations
For employees in the workplace, it
is important to create an inclusive environment, where
people feel safe to bring what they have to offer to the table and share their
concerns irrespective of their cultural diversity. Racial identity development
and the dynamics of intergroup conflict is the main important goal when
conducting racial dialogues.
In order to achieve organizational reform, it is vital to have genuine and open
conversation with your employees about equality on a continuous base. The
feeling of a culture will start to develop when those conversations occur on a
monthly basis. As a result, creating a culture of inclusivity also necessitates
building individual relationships. The conducive behavior will show in
colleagues becoming more open and receptive towards one other, not only during
a conversation about race.
Embedding Your
Ideals About Anti-Racism in the Values of Your Company
Corporations can actively reduce bias through training along with
embedding processes, policies, and expectations that help create a culture
rooted in diversity and inclusion. By creating awareness training, unconscious bias can be exposed. Also, your employees get to recognize
that the bias is there and they find the ability to confront their own bias. Left unchecked, biases can
also shape a company or industry’s culture and norms, says Iris Bohnet, director of the
Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the author of What
Works: Gender Equality by Design.
By following these pillars, a
nonracial bias and healthy environment can be created for all ethnicities,
which will lead to higher productivity. Your corporation will attract great
talent, leading to higher business performances.
Keywords: Workplace, Behavior, healthy environment, conducive behavior, Talent
Management, highly productive, teamwork.
Contact us
Dhaxle Inc.
Communication and Outreach