As a diversity consultant, I’ve witnessed how
proclaiming a “zero tolerance” policy for harassment
and discrimination does not deal effectively with the issue of
micro-inequities. These are the words and behaviors that are not
so blatant, are often “below board,” and are much harder
to understand without the willingness to listen and engage in cross-cultural
conversations.
Micro-inequities are the things that can result in excluding and “shutting
someone down.” They interfere with a person’s abilities to do their
best work and often bring a loss of talent to an organization. Micro-inequities
are like those little drops of water that are small but constant. They start
out as a small leak that, if not fixed, accumulates and becomes a flood.
Alvin Pouissant of Harvard University once referred to micro-inequities
as "death
by a thousand nicks." They occur in many ways: when addressing a group only
looking at people who are the same race or gender as you; constantly confusing
people from the same race; only informing people who are “like you” about
advancement opportunities; making decisions during informal social activities
with “all the guys” in places where women would not be comfortable.
Would these actions come under “zero tolerance” policy?
Not likely, but they do result in consistent and often unintentional
exclusion of people from groups different than you.
How would you know if this were occurring in your organization?
Without education and dialogue chances are you wouldn’t.
At some point you might notice that a lot of people from different
groups were leaving, but you might not know why.
The most effective way to prevent harassment
and discrimination is to create opportunities for people to develop
working relationships
together. When people have meaningful conversations they no longer
look at each other in terms of labels and stereotypes. It can be
very easy to dehumanize whole groups if your ideas about them are
based on the media, hearsay or even one negative experience. Yet,
given the chance to have personal interactions with others in a
non-threatening environment, people’s viewpoints about those
who are different from them almost always change.
Consider the pitfalls illustrated in this scenario:
If I know
you as a person whom I have developed a level of trust with, then
naturally
I will
be
more comfortable telling you if you say something that offends
me. Likewise, if you trust and like me, then you will most likely
listen to my words, stop your behavior, and we can continue our
working relationship. We’ll still be comfortable asking each
other for help and offering help.
But if we have had no interaction and don’t know each other
on a trust level, if you say something that offends me, chances
are I won’t say anything to you in response. I may tell a
whole lot of other people, who may look at you funny and not want
to work with you. You might not even be aware of what you said,
and could even say it again. This time I would be so angry, I’d
tell a senior manager, who would confront you. You’ll likely
get defensive and angry at me, and still continue the behavior
until I might file a lawsuit or leave. Since the company has a
zero tolerance policy, you might eventually lose your job and never
understand what you did.
In my work as a diversity strategist I have
found that most people do not wake up in the morning planning
to be a harasser, or discriminate
against someone else. I have also found that a great many people
are not aware of the impact their behavior and words have on others
but when given the opportunity and information are willing to learn
and change their stereotypes and old behavior.
If you want to go beyond a zero tolerance policy, prevent harassment
and discrimination and create an inclusive work environment where
people can communicate easily, consider these steps:
• In creating a written policy, define what you mean.
• Train and educate your entire organization about harassment
and discrimination issues. Go beyond the laws and include information,
skills and tools so everyone understands how prevention benefits
the organization and themselves as individuals.
• Invest the time for employees to engage in diversity dialogues,
cross-cultural conversations and meaningful interactions with each
other to prevent misunderstandings, miscommunication and also to
create opportunities to share ideas and resources.
•
Become aware of any micro-inequities existing in your organization
and develop a strategy to eliminate them.
If these steps are included in any diversity/culture change initiative,
there will be no room for those who are involved in deliberate
harassment and discrimination, and then you can use your zero tolerance
policy as it should be intended.
Simma Lieberman works with
people and organizations to create environments where people
can do their best work. She specializes in diversity, gender
communications, life-work balance and stress, and acquiring and
retaining new customers.
Call Simma at 510.527.0700 or Email simma@simmalieberman.com
Visit her website at www.simmalieberman.com
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