C ON V E R SAT IONS W E N E E D TO TA LK A B O U T R ACE …
--------Words_Jermaine Haughton
In October, CMI’s Race network published ‘Moving the dial on race: A practical guide on workplace inclusion’, featuring a host of tips on building a fairer workplace culture. Here, six of Britain’s top leaders share their own insights on what needs to be done to tackle racism in the workplace
Before we can begin eliminating racism in the workplace, we have to be honest about our prejudices, says Delroy Beverley CMgr CCMI, managing director of York Teaching Hospital Facilities Management. Sharing his own shocking experiences of racism throughout his career, he explains: “We need to create communities inside and outside the workplace where it’s OK to speak honestly and openly about how you feel. It needs to be OK to say, ‘When I see a Black person walking towards me, I cross the road because I’m afraid.’ “We can create a million psychological safe spaces for People of Colour, but the real challenge is creating a safe place for these important conversations, somewhere people can share their childhood or adult experiences – whether it was being tackled on the rugby field or feeling that the Black guys were always better at the 100m sprint and not feeling comfortable about it. “You don’t just wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a go at the Black guy
today’ – there’s usually some insecurity that triggers that inner feeling. Once we address that together, we can start to fix the root of the problem.” Beverley, who helps organisations recruit a more diverse range of candidates, argues that businesses must diversify the gatekeepers on their recruitment boards to have a better chance of addressing the chronic underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in senior business positions. “Discarding a potentially good candidate from a BAME background should create discussions as to why that has happened, and through diplomacy we should encourage businesses to look at that decision from a completely different perspective,” he says. “Ultimately, it’s about making sure you’re around the table with the decision-makers and gatekeepers, because they’re the ones who determine who gets through.” “ You don’t just wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to have a go at the Black guy today’ – there’s usually some insecurity that triggers that inner feeling” ------M AN AGER S .ORG.UK — 9
