Racism and the Workplace

Recent tragic events have once again highlighted the deep-rooted problem of race discrimination within our societies. This is a global issue that lives within both our homes and our organisations. While each of us as individuals need to take a long hard look at our behaviours, employers too, need to commit to making real and substantial change now. 

Watching the reaction to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign unfold across the globe, this was in itself another flag as to the lack of understanding, not only regarding the gravity of the situation facing many black and ethnic minority groups, but also highlighting some of the deep-rooted racist views still held across many communities around the UK, Europe, and America.

When trying to get a picture of the inequality and social injustice faced by black and minority ethnic groups in the UK specifically, a good place to start is the government’s own figures.

As you review the figures, it becomes blatantly evident that major ethnic and racial inequalities are present across employment, housing, and justice systems. According to a recent article published by TheConversation.com authors Anthony Heath and Lindsay Richards from the University of Oxford, Black and Muslim minorities have twice the unemployment rate of their white British peers. They are also twice as likely to live in overcrowded housing and are much more likely to be stopped and searched by the police. In addition to the recent global pandemic, it has become equally apparent of the alarming ethnic differences in deaths from COVID-19.

Race discrimination is illegal in the UK and has been illegal since 1976, and was the driving force behind the Equality Act 2010. However, racism has not been eradicated, despite the enormous strides taken over the past 50 years, it appears we still have a long way to go.

According to Professor Binna Kandola, author of ‘Racism at Work: The Danger of Indifference’, it has mutated into new and subtler forms, and has found new ways to survive. Binna points out that nowadays racism in organisations is not one of hostile abuse and threatening behaviour. It is not overt, nor is it obvious. Today racism is subtle and nuanced, detected mostly by the people on the receiving end, and worse - ignored and possibly not even recognised by perpetrators and bystanders.

In a survey also conducted by Anthony Heath and Lindsay Richards from the University of Oxford, when asked the question whether interviewees agreed that “some races or ethnic groups are born less intelligent than others”, they found that 18% of the British public agreed with the statement. Furthermore, when they asked whether “some races or ethnic groups are born harder working than others”, a substantially larger percentage of 44% said yes.

When they repeated these questions on biological racism in a more recent (2019) nationally representative online survey, the findings were still very similar – 19% agreed that some groups were born less intelligent and 38% agreed that some groups were born less hard working. They also found that people who subscribed to these racist beliefs were more likely to be opposed to immigration and to express other ‘nativist’ views, such as that ‘one needs to have English ancestry to be truly English’.

As a Board Director, responsible for a wide range of functions across our middle office, including People & Culture, I understand and appreciate the huge value a diverse workforce can bring to our organisation, and the great importance Diversity and Inclusion plays in our growth strategy. I am also acutely aware, being a white female, of the privileges afforded to me when compared to others. While I grew up in a far from affluent household, raised by a single mother who sacrificed her own dinner in order to feed her kids, I did benefit from other people’s kindness and generosity. Then as I entered the workplace at the age of 18, I was lucky enough to find people who were prepared to take a chance on me when I maybe didn’t have all of the required experience but the right attitude, thus allowing me the opportunity to prove myself, which I now recognise is an opportunity not always granted to others.

As an employer and an organisation which provides total workforce management solutions to large corporate organisations and a staffing firm in the SME space, we recognise the need for action to address the race inequality across UK organisations, including our own.

Research continues to show that “people from ethnic minority groups are often at a disadvantage in the labour market and are more likely to be unemployed and over-represented in poorly paid and unstable jobs”. In 2017, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith led an independent review on race in the workplace, citing government figures that show the significant economic contribution that could come from taking action: “The potential benefit to the UK economy from full representation of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals across the labour market through improved participation and progression is estimated to be ￡24 billion per annum, which represents 1.3% of GDP in the year to June 2016.”

There is also a significant under-representation of ethnic diversity at the top of UK boards, as shown by the Government’s recent Parker review. 

As responsible employers, we must review our policies, look at our values and our culture, and if allegations of racial discrimination do occur, individuals are well within their right to raise a grievance should they experience race-related discrimination and expect those allegations to be fully investigated.

So as a business, where do you start?

Responding to recent events, Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD says:  

“Racism has no place in our society. Businesses must be part of the change we all need, to step up and stamp out prejudice, and to build diverse and supportive cultures of respect and fairness for all. It is important now that leaders across all organisations make time to address current events with their people. There are four key principles they can adopt: 

• Clarify the organisation’s stance and values
• Communicate your messages consistently and ensure that communication is two way
• Connect your people by talking openly, creating an environment of respect and safety, and to share experiences and learn from each other
• Commit to sustained action, visible leadership and a willingness to change”

According to CiPD, this starts with developing an anti-racist strategy. Systemic change is needed to tackle the fundamental ways an organisation operates, including its policies and processes. It’s key to providing the foundation for change, setting out clear expectations for the organisation and its people, as well as setting out clear objectives to work towards.

Taking action is not just ‘the right thing to do’. Without action to develop inclusive workplace culture where people with a diverse range of identities and backgrounds feel able to perform at their best and progress in their organisation, we face an under-utilisation of talent through a failure to enable everyone to achieve their potential and contribute fully.

At Advantage Group UK, we take Diversity and Inclusion incredibly seriously. It forms part of our code of conduct, as well as our values and behaviours. It’s embedded in our corporate induction, but we can and need to do more. We have recently relaunched our Diversity and Inclusion guiding principles to ensure that it is considered as part of ongoing business strategies and activities.

Our Diversity & Inclusion strategy is essential to key activities such as:

·      Recruitment 

·      Employee Engagement

·      Collaboration

·      Key Business Decisions 

·      Career Development

·      Succession Planning 

Measuring the benefits of Diversity & Inclusion activity is equally important to us. Through ongoing measurement, we aim to understand a view of the benefits and development areas that affect our culture, client and candidate experience, and our service offerings. 

Measurement activities include:

• Regular auditing, reviewing and evaluation of progress, using quantitative and qualitative data on both Diversity and Inclusion to highlight where barriers exist (for example, via recruitment data) and show the impact of initiatives, making appropriate changes to activities where required

Using employee engagement surveys to:

• Understand the feedback from our people on the perception of D&I in the organisation
• Ask for recommendations for improvements
• Evaluate the outcomes of initiatives
• Creating insights to allow us to adjust and improve activities
• Benchmarking progress against other organisations and exploring what others are doing to adopt and adapting ideas where appropriate
• Networking with others from inside and outside the organisation to keep up-to-date and to share learning

Then finally, it is essential for our leaders to drive the message of Diversity and Inclusion in their everyday messaging and actions, we refer to it as our ‘Tone at the Top’.

The CiPD has some great resources and online tools which can assist organisations and HR Professionals to review and improve their Diversity & Inclusion strategies.

However, it’s vital to recognise that in order to see real change within our communities, it must start with us as individuals taking that first step and where employers are concerned – leaders of organisations setting the right Tone at the Top.

To find out more, please check these CiPD articles:

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/diversity/anti-racism-strategy

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/diversity/inclusion-health-checker-tool

https://www.cipd.co.uk/news-views/tackling-racism-workplace/webinars