Addressing racism in the workplace: Turn your words into actions
Given our current environment, companies just don't have the option of staying silent on the issue of racism.
In the days and weeks following the death of George Floyd and resulting protests and demonstrations, many companies felt compelled to put out statements disavowing the systemic racial injustice in our country, both publicly and internally.
And then what?
Companies run the full gamut when it comes to addressing racism and diversity in the workplace, from those that have nothing beyond the legal requirements to those who have entire departments devoted to developing initiatives and tracking their impact.
Related: Building diversity and inclusion: A modern guide
Business leaders at the latter end of the spectrum recognized the need to follow up and continue the hard conversations around racism, while those at the former end likely felt uncomfortable or out of place having such a conversation. But given the current environment, inaction is simply not an option.
“The events are just too big to be ignored,” said Jacqui Parchment, CEO of Mercer Canada, speaking in a Mercer webinar on building racial equity in the workplace. “If you don’t communicate, your colleagues are going to draw their own conclusions. It’s not just your black colleagues that will feel your silence.”
But what do you say?
Again, a common reason for employers to stay silent is that they feel that they’re out of their element or their voice isn’t relevant to the conversation. But even those in communities not directly impacted by recent events or the Black Lives Movement, taking a stance against racial injustice is imperative. “It gives a nod to allies and advocates everywhere to continue to fight for these rights,” Amaly Homer, co-chair of Mercer’s Racial and Ethnic Diversity BRG, told attendees. “It really does take an uncommon ally to drive these movements forward. A lot of opportunities that have laid out for me have been possible because I had uncommon allies.”
“We really need to push to have the uncomfortable discussion,” Homer said. She stressed four critical points that employers should address:
- Black lives matter
- Systematic racism exists
- The company’s commitment to taking action
- Laying out a plan to get started
The Black Lives Matter movement is commonly met with the counterpoint of “all lives matter,”–an issue employers need to be prepared to respond to. Laurie Ledford, CHRO of March & McLennan, broke it down well: “It’s because the current inequality and unfair representation that exists in the black community must be addressed. The structural inequalities aren’t just in the U.S. but in the world. It’s an urgent situation that needs advocacy, solidarity and intervention. It doesn’t mean that we don’t support equality across the organization.”
The messaging needs to be clear and unequivocal, webinar panelist and D&I Consulting Leader Angela Berg agreed. “When you do reference ‘Black Lives Matter,’ use the term ‘systemic racism.’ It really establishes not just that you care but you have credibility.”
It’s not just company leaders that need to be prepared to take a stand and address questions and concerns among employees. “So many companies with great intent communicated early and team members weren’t prepared to support that message,” Berg said. ”It’s a big area of opportunity for companies to equip those individuals to be effective allies.”
Another thing to consider is how the conversations and culture of the workplace reflect not only the values of diversity and inclusion, but actually make employees feel that they belong. “Belonging is just making people feel that they’re welcome, that their experiences are valid and accepted,” Parchment said. “Think of everything that happens in the day that makes you feel like you belong or don’t belong.”
More importantly, what do you do?
Laying out a plan is the best way to show employees that the company is doing more than paying lip service. Even for a large, global company like Mercer, where diversity and inclusion efforts are a high priority, leaders recognized that they could do more than they were. “We denounced what’s happened, but then there’s making changes,” Ledford said. “We declared as a company that we would commit to doing more of these listening sessions, establish a racial advisory counsel, invest more in diversity programs and promotions.”
In addition, current unconscious bias training would move from voluntary to mandatory, and the company would create a fund to support more social justice causes. “We didn’t want that to be the biggest thing we did because it’s pretty easy to write a check, but we made some internal changes, as well,” Ledford said. “It’s really important that organizations let their workers know that their own personal commitments to social justice are welcome and supported. A commitment to making the black community safer is nothing but a good thing, and we cannot be afraid to publicly support philanthropy or social justice movements.”
Large companies like Mercer are able to devote staffing to diversity and inclusion efforts. Though smaller companies might not be able to do so, they can certainly borrow some ideas. “We’ve identified areas that were critical in terms of programs that could be focused to drive attention around self-advocacy, mentorship, sponsorship and career development,” Homer said. “We’ve partnered with other organizations that were focused around driving change.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of great effort, but it hasn’t been enough,” she added. “Many organizations are coming to terms with that. This is a point in time that resource groups can take to really capture leadership’s attention to really drive more substantial change.”
Key to the success and impact of all of these efforts is to make them both visible and measurable. ”What is the racial composition of your workforce?” Berg suggested asking. “How many people of color, people in leadership roles? What process does the company have in place to ensure key talent decisions are free from bias?
“A lot of companies don’t feel comfortable doing that because they don’t have a robust plan in place,” she continued. ”It’s okay to say that your organization isn’t where you want to be and you don’t know exactly what steps need to be taken, but that you’re working on figuring out what they are.”
Read more: