The United States cannot wave a magic wand and change the unfortunate realities about its past. If solving the 400-year catastrophe that is racism were easy, it would undoubtedly have been done by now. Race-related atrocities cannot be erased or ignored. They will continue to haunt our society, so the best we can do is learn from the past to create a better future. The best outcome will only be achieved if we continue to press forward in increasing awareness, embracing diversity and fostering inclusion.
These are particularly volatile times in the United States. Race relations are strained, and tensions are running high. Still, we all get up every day and do life, even if when that is increasingly difficult.
Relations in the workplace are also tense. Leaders and managers must care about and address the issues that matter to employees who are Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) in order to tear down walls between coworkers and prevent new ones from being built.
BIPOC employees are also feeling pressure from many sides. Their friends and family have certain expectations about how they should speak up about and act to counter inequities and injustices. Their employers may have other expectations about appropriate workplace behavior, as well as specific goals that they believe will be difficult to attain if some employees engage in activism.
One solution is for employers to provide all employees certain training and benefits that improve workplace culture. The offerings should aim to make each employee’s experience on the job more comfortable and productive.
Encourage Understanding of and Respect for Differences
No one should feel threatened or degraded while at work. Therefore, all organizations with diverse workforces need to provide diversity and inclusion training so people of different races can better understand each other and see perspectives they may have never considered. Organizations that offer staff training to address diversity and inclusion issues are light years ahead of ones that bury their heads in the sand and hope problems just go away.
Organizations that want healthy, happy and productive workers must also implement mental health care benefits and programs for employees. Even in the best of times, people need some assistance staying mentally healthy. These days, some Black employees are feeling especially stressed out.
But the truth is that all employees—not just those of color—need safe spaces to talk through issues with mental health professionals. Whether an employer provides in-house services or ensures insurance coverage for counseling sessions with a therapist, taking those steps lets employees know that supervisors and executives care about them and their mental and emotional well-being.
Additionally, leaders need to make sure they have effective, nonconfrontational pathways for communicating with employees. Organizations should consider establishing an internal portal such as a Slack channel so employees can trade instant messages and join interest groups. The portal can also be used to talk through problems with colleagues.
A key feature of a platform such as Slack is that messages can be automatically archived. If concerns and issues cannot be resolved via peer-to-peer communication, a supervisor or neutral third party can access a record of the discussion and guide participants toward a solution.
Commit Time, Money and Resources
Organizations that invest in their employees accomplish two great things. First, employees who receive the training they need feel valued. And employees who see that their needs and problems will be addressed also feel they have a voice. These are essential gifts all employers should give their employees. Feeling important and respected makes employees work harder and encourages them to adopt the mission, values and goals of the organization as their own.
Second, and closely tied to the first beneficial outcome, happy and healthy employees miss fewer days from work and stay with their employer longer. Retaining employees is one of the biggest problems organizations face. When employees are dissatisfied, they leave. Providing diversity training and fostering inclusion helps BIPOC employees feel included, safe and less stressed—all of which makes them more likely to stay on the job instead of moving on.
Bringing It All Together
Current social and political realities have many BIPOC people in the United States feeling angry and confused. Providing diversity and inclusion training ensures all employees, regardless of their race or background, have opportunities to learn how to understand one another better and work together productively. Done well and supported with communications and model behaviors by organizational leaders, the training can ease workplace tension and create a welcoming work culture rather than a toxic one.
Creating online and physical spaces in which employees can talk freely about their concerns is another positive step organizations need to take. Whether those places are with professional therapists, only among colleagues or some mix of those, organizations become healthier when employees have opportunities to express themselves openly and explore solutions collaboratively.
In these volatile times, remaining silent and ignoring problems are worse than unhelpful. No one should feel added stress from the culture at their job. Organizations that utilize the ideas above can make their workplace more peaceful and productive.
01 December 2020
Category
HR News Article