Are you proud to be you at work?
Hustle Crew
Since we launched in 2016 we’ve helped ambitious people in tech and beyond take their careers to the next level.
In This Week’s Email
Dear readers,
Today, let’s start with some thought-provoking questions:
How does the workplace allow people of the global majority to authentically take up space? Are leaders doing enough to create workplace cultures where everyone feels proud to be themselves at work?
Let’s take the pronunciation of names for example. For many Black, brown, Asian and indigenous people, their names carry their history. It is an incredibly important part of their identity. Most names carry deep personal, cultural, familial, and historical connections. It gives people a sense of who they are, the communities in which they belong, and their place in the world. However, it appears being in an Anglophone country equals disregard to acknowledging and properly pronouncing ethnic names. There is a growing body of research on the effects of mispronouncing someone's name. A 2012 study titled “Teachers, Please Learn Our Names!: Racial Microaggressions and the K-12 Classrooms” found that when students of colour had their names mispronounced in the classroom, it affected their social emotional well-being and therefore impacted their ability to learn. The study also found that mispronouncing the names of students of colour constituted a racial microaggression because it created shame and disassociation from their culture. We also know through research, having a non-English name can negatively impact chances of getting a job in Westernised countries. Banerjee et al 2017 found, that resumes with white-sounding names were 28% more likely to get a callback for a job interview. In France, resumes with North African-sounding names were less likely to receive interview opportunities. Learning to pronounce an individuals name correctly is not just a common courtesy but it’s an important effort in creating an inclusive workplace, one that emphasises psychological safety and belonging.?
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We can no longer tolerate environments which erase culture and heritage for the sake of comfort. We must make the conscious effort to respect, learn and pronounce names properly. There's no shame in asking someone to pronounce their name so that you can learn how to say it properly. You're less likely to hurt someone's feelings if you ask them how to pronounce their name. You're more likely to hurt someone's feelings if you assume that you can abbreviate it, or opt for an Anglicised pronunciation.
Activity for Your Team A great team building exercise based on name learning is called ‘Story of My Name’. How it works:?
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