It is appropriate to discuss race and respect in today’s day and age, especially when hiring, conducting HR compliance, and creating a racially diverse workplace.
Many American neighborhoods, public schools and churches are still overwhelmingly segregated. The workplace remains one of the few places where diverse backgrounds routinely interact. Because Americans from different ethnic groups still have a lot to learn about one another, the workplace is often the site of racially offensive behavior.
Sometimes colleagues unintentionally make racial blunders, and other times prejudice is to blame for their bad behavior at work. Nevertheless, it’s in every employee’s interest to avoid culturally inappropriate behaviors in the workplace.
Creating a Racially Diverse Workplace Rule 1: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
It seems evident that racial slurs should be a no-no at work. Still, an employee of African-American descent was stunned recently when a white coworker referred to an Arab-American coworker as a “towelhead.” The woman figured that the African-American wouldn’t be offended that she used the term because she isn’t from the Middle East.
That turned out not to be true, a mistake that could have cost the woman her job.
Creating a Racially Diverse Workplace Rule 2: Don’t use race to describe people.
If you can’t recall a coworker’s name, it’s not appropriate to refer to her as “that Asian lady in sales” or “that black chick in operations.” If your workplace is predominantly white, think about what you would do to describe a white colleague whose name you don’t know. For example, you might describe what he’s wearing or his height and build.
Try using these same strategies to describe your colleagues of color. Then, “that Asian lady in sales” becomes “the tall woman in the red blazer.” By taking a few seconds longer to describe someone, you can avoid giving colleagues the impression that their race is first on your mind.
Creating a Racially Diverse Workplace Rule 3: Make assignments based on skill sets, not race.
You’re a company manager whose new set of clients is Mexican American. So naturally, you assign the Latino man in your department to the case. Anytime you deal with Mexican-American clients, you make sure to involve your lone Latino employee. It’s an intelligent way to do business, right? Not necessarily.
If there’s a language barrier—the clients speak Spanish, and the Latino employee is the only one in the office who can communicate with them—this move makes sense. But to pair up employees with clients based on their cultural backgrounds doesn’t always pay off. Instead, employees should be paired with clients who need services with a robust skillset and range of experiences.
If clients feel uncomfortable working with those from different ethnic backgrounds, they likely would have sought out a Latino-owned company with which to do business. Additionally, if you keep directing all of your Latino clientele to your Latino employee, he may begin to think that you only trust him to do business with his own “kind.”
There is a myriad of scenarios where racial bias could creep up. As a manager, work diligently to treat everyone fairly and make race a non-issue in your workplace, especially when hiring employees and during job interviews.
In the words of Dr. King, “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
Check out this article for more non-discriminatory hiring tips.
Ninja Gig makes hiring and job posting on Indeed and other major job boards a breeze. Whether you need to customize your job applications online to comply with Affirmative Action requirements or make sure that your job posting reaches all the major job boards to ensure that you reach a more diverse pool of applicants, Ninja Gig is up for the job. Our automatic job posting software will post to major job boards with the click of a button, saving your team both time and money. Additionally, you can track applicants in our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and store job applications online to comply with resume retention requirements. Interested in learning more about how our flat-rate $49/mo. software can benefit your online recruitment team? Sign up today for our FREE 14-day trial!