Empower The Powerless
We, as human beings, often feel powerless. We feel powerless to our emotions, to circumstance. That awful feeling of hopelessness creeps into our lives and taunts us. It tells us nothing will ever change, and we should just quit. It is a truly horrible feeling, but yet we have all experienced it. While these are small examples of what it feels like to be powerless, understanding how it feels is important because people everywhere endure that same feeling every day. When you throw a lack of wealth and access to opportunity into the mix, this sense of powerlessness gets worse. To combat it, we must understand it fully.
There are large groups of people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds or low-income areas in our cities, towns, and villages who feel powerless daily due to lack of opportunity, access to wealth, and further education. Most people in these circumstances have only a small chance to climb the social ladder and have always had to fight harder to get themselves into positions of power and influence. Addressing racial equality and the lack of access to opportunity is a societal and moral issue. Everyone should have equal access to work and opportunity to reach their potential, regardless of identity, background or circumstance. For too long the need for change has been recognised but not acted on, and although we have seen improvement, we haven’t seen it in practice to the extent or at the pace required. There’s been notable progress on gender, albeit only over the last decade, and we need to build on the successes of campaigns that have increased female representation at the top of organisations to now make significant strides with ethnic diversity.
As well as there being an undeniable moral case for change, the diversity of ideas, perspective and ways of working afforded by people of different backgrounds and identities will benefit individuals, organisations, society and the economy. In addition, we’re already seeing changing population demographics in terms of ethnicity, age and other personal characteristics, which means the employers already taking action will be on the front foot in being able to attract talent from a wider talent pool. The unequal distribution of wealth has the biggest effect on diverse groups. Statistics show that wealth in Great Britain is even more unequally divided than income. Distribution of wealth could positively impact people of all colours that struggle financially but recognising that the struggle exists and acting on it is equally as important.
So what can people in positions of power do to empower the powerless?
Here are some recommendations made in a report by CIPD (The professional body for HR and people development) on addressing the barriers to BAME employee career progression to the top.
1. Understand what is happening in your organisation
Identifying the structural and cultural barriers which are maintaining workplace inequalities is the first step. The issues and appropriate solutions will differ between organisations, so having a deep understanding of your own business and its context is crucial. And it’s important to note that when examining how people’s experiences at work differ, we need to be cautious about making generalisations, as our research illustrates that the term BAME encompasses people from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and traditions who are facing different barriers to career progression. An evidence-based approach is what will help you get to the real grassroots issues in your particular context. However, many employers still don’t collect even basic workforce data about who they employ, or do collect it but don’t know how to access it or how to use it. HR has a central role to play in evidencing the need for change and where attention needs to be focused. Working across the business, HR can use their people insight to drive change at a much quicker pace than we see at the moment. Could you analyse your employee survey findings by ethnicity (while still preserving employee anonymity)?
Do you look at how different groups are progressing, or where there may be glass ceilings? And to what extent do you share your insight across the business?
2. Be aware of intersectionality and examine progression barriers through multiple lenses
Intersectionality refers to the fact we have multiple identities, and they overlap – for example, being a gay black man, or an older white woman with a disability. When we’re examining the work experience of people with a particular characteristic or identity, it’s important to be aware of the potential interplay of overlapping identities. For example, does being a woman from an ethnic minority background mean you have more equal opportunities through progress on gender but are still at a disadvantage at work because of being from a minority ethnic group?
We need to take into account the complex and interconnected nature of issues that are affecting the career progression of BAME employees in UK organisations, and we need to consider intersectionality in our people management responses. In short, we can’t approach diversity and inclusion with entirely separate lenses. However, we still don’t understand enough about intersectionality, and this is clearly an area where more research is needed to inform practice.
3. Critically appraise your organisation culture
Would you want to work for an organisation where you didn’t feel you belonged or had the same opportunities as others, based on an aspect of your identity or circumstance? How much time and energy is spent censoring yourself when you don’t feel you can be who you really are? This is time and energy that distracts from the job you want to be doing. Around two-thirds of employees, regardless of ethnicity, feel able to be themselves at work, signalling there is marked room for improvement to make workplace cultures genuinely inclusive. We need inclusive cultures where a diverse range of people feel able to be themselves and give their ideas. That’s when they’ll perform at their best at work. If we don’t focus on both diversity and inclusion, the underutilisation of talent will continue. Everyone stands to benefit from the diversity of thoughts, ideas and ways of working of people from different backgrounds, experiences and identities, but an inclusive culture is essential for this to happen.
HR policies and processes that promote diversity and inclusion can set expectations, but they need to be regularly reviewed with a critical lensand underpinned by principles that actively celebrate and encourage differences. However, policies alone won’t bring about change. They need to be brought alive by the behaviour of everyone in the business. Raising awareness of different cultures, background, and circumstance can help people understand and appreciate difference. And having role models from a range of different backgrounds, and at different levels in the organisation, signals that diversity is valued and progression is possible and encouraged. Our survey found that Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladeshi employees are significantly more likely than white British to say a lack of ‘people like me’ as role models in the organisation has contributed to their career progression failing to meet their expectations. In addition, BAME employees (regardless of ethnicity) were significantly more likely than white British employees to say that seeing other people like them have progressed in their organisation would help boost their careers.
4. Actively encourage employee voice to inform change
Do you have mechanisms in place through which employees can highlight issues about inequality and have a view on matters affecting them at work? Do all employees know about these mechanisms, how to access them and feel comfortable doing so? It’s essential that disadvantaged and disconnected groups have access to mechanisms through which they can express their voice.
Employee resource groups (ERGs) can be a useful mechanism for employee voice. They are groups of employees with shared characteristics or who have a shared goal. For the employees, these provide a sense of belonging and community and an opportunity to work with the organisation to bring about change. For an organisation, these can be a valuable resource to advise on the work experience of people with that particular characteristic, identity or background, and act as a sounding board for ideas, including your products and services. To what extent do you encourage the formation of employee resource groups in your organisation? Are they seen as an asset to your business or just a meeting point for people?
5. Address unconscious bias
It goes without saying that we need to continue to tackle overt discrimination head-on. It’s shocking that significantly more people from a BAME background (in particular black employees) than white British say that experiencing discrimination is a factor contributing to them failing to achieve their career expectations. However, we also all carry biases that we may not be aware of but that are affecting our behaviour and decision-making. Acas explains that ‘Unconscious bias occurs when people favour others who look like them and/or share their values.’ It can influence decisions in recruitment, promotion, staff development and recognition and can lead to a less diverse workforce. Employers can overlook talented workers and instead favour those who share their own characteristics or views. They also point out that when an unconscious bias relates to a protected characteristic, it could be discriminatory.
However it is viewed, unconscious bias is one of the main barriers to equality of opportunity for both access to and progression in work and needs to be addressed. A report written for the CIPD by the Behavioural Insights Team, A Head for Hiring: The behavioural science of recruitment and selection, provides practical guidance and tips on avoiding bias in recruitment.
What can we as individuals do to help empower the powerless?
It’s time to become an ally to all people and fight for justice within the system. We must fight for equality. In order to live in a balanced and diverse society, we must choose to love and empower everyone regardless of race, sex, background, religion, or ideology. Lift up your friends, family, and neighbours, and let them feel a sense of unity. Ensuring that all people have equal opportunity is the basis of making change happen. We have already made great strides, but now is the time to support local leaders that fight for justice from within. Support causes that work to provide equal access to wealth, education and opportunity for all by lending your voice through social media or showing support through donations. Please show your support by telling the system what it needs to become. Speak up for unity through diversity for we are all unique and worthy.
