Inclusive Racial Equity Work in the Workplace
For the past few months, we have been seeing many organizations add an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, equity, justice, intersectionality and/or anti-racism to their work. This may include shifting language in organizational values, mission or vision. It could also include additions to internal policies and procedures or the creation of committees, ERGs, affinity groups or other specialized efforts to promote inclusive cultures.
Understandably, a lot has been written on what not to do as an organization. Along with having white-dominated cultures, many organizations in the U.S. have more experience doing things wrong in this space than right. However, without a clear vision of what to do, organizations run the risk of not doing enough, having their efforts stall all together, or inflicting additional trauma or pain on existing experiences of oppression.
Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to engage in a variety of different initiatives around race and equity within my workplaces, across faith communities and in community spaces. Through these experiences, I have observed and reflected on the interactions and dynamics I have encountered. Pulling from these experiences, here are a few things to think about as your organization engages in this space.
Self-Selecting Leads to the Most Productive Efforts
You will always get a better response when you invite as opposed to require. I have experienced spaces where people were required to attend racial equity focused meetings, as well as forced to engage. I have also been in spaces where leadership verbally participated, modeled authentic engagement, welcomed team members to join and encouraged, but didn’t require, them to engage. The latter resulted in a much more engaging conversation, increased awareness, community building and growth.
So, what does self-selecting look like? It starts from the very beginning. Inviting your team to be part of your efforts from inception and making sure they know the door is always open for them to participate will yield more authentic and productive results. Giving your team options is also a great way to create an inclusive space for journeying together. Some people are best able to engage in a large group environment, while others will get the most out of one-on-one interactions. Likewise, some of your team will glean more from a documentary and others will find reading on the topic more stimulating. Giving your team options and allowing them the space to choose, or better yet create their own ways of engaging, is a great way to generate progress towards racial equity. It also opens up opportunities to engage in racial equity in new and innovative ways.
Creating Safe Space for Hard Work
An essential element organizations need to effectively engage in racial equity work is an environment of psychological safety, a space where punishment isn’t the result of mistakes. A workplace culture that gives individuals the space to thoughtfully engage with one another needs to not only be cultivated, but maintained for success in navigating potentially challenging experiences. Knowing that your colleagues will respond to you in an authentic, respectful, and curious way allows for teams to constructively move through difficult interactions, and ultimately serves to strengthen their sense of team unity.
To foster and maintain an environment of psychological safety when it comes to racial equity, collectively create, re-visit and maintain mutually agreed upon ground rules. Additionally, when your team engages in conversations, art projects and other activities around race, be aware of the emotional output of the group. Check to see if there are unrealistic demands being made of those who are part of marginalized groups and also check to ensure the conversation isn’t being dominated by one or only a few voices, namely those who are part of the normative majority. Finally, listening with the intent to understand and sharing with the desire to convey authentic experiences is essential to this journey.
Productively Respond to Microaggressions
Microaggressions suck. While I wish I was writing tips on how to avoid microaggressions, they are far from avoidable and are an on-going (though hopefully less frequent as time goes by) part of the process of working toward racial equity. Grappling with and ultimately accepting the certitude of microaggressions in racial equity work is something everyone on your team, and your organization as a whole must engage in at the beginning of this process.
Given that they are inevitable, here are a few practices you can engage in within your organization to handle microaggressions in productive ways. Microaggressions can be tricky, namely when those who are committing them don’t realize it. So, creating mechanisms and safe spaces to call out microaggressions in an intentional and appropriate way is essential. This may include providing individuals who witness (either victims or bystanders) microaggressions low-stakes opportunities to practice calling out their colleagues. Additionally, encourage those on your team who witness these acts to reach out to team members they feel comfortable with to assist in navigating a response.
Equally as important is ensuring that those committing microaggressions have the skills to productively respond when being called-out. A helpful way to facilitate the development of these skills is to engage in intentional training and collaborative exercises to guide your team through this process. Engaging in these practice sessions will equip those committing microaggressions with a skillful response when they are made aware of the pain they have caused. It will also create a space where your team feels more comfortable naming and confronting microaggressions because they will know what to expect in response.
Most simply put, the best way to engage in racial equity is from a posture of equity and inclusion. While that may seem like it’s common sense, it contradicts a long history in the United States of inequality and exclusion. Engaging in inclusive and equitable practices is not only effective equity work, it also fosters awareness, understanding and a whole new way of working together which will serve your team in many other areas.
