RACIAL EQUITY IN THE WORK - Laura Cortes

The article discussed: How to Promote Racial Equity in the Workplace/ A five-step plan by Robert Livingston.

Racism can be efficiently managed by company leaders with the right investment, incentives, and information. By adopting and adapting cultural norms and rules, they can turn workplaces into ideal places to work. When we talk about racism, we are talking about a type of discrimination, which occurs when a person or a group of people feel hatred towards others for having different characteristics or qualities, such as skin color, language, or place of birth. 

The first step to address the issue, according to our reference, will be to have a consensus in the organization on whether the problem exists. It may be thought that people of color are the only ones who feel discriminated against, but in reality, it may be that white people or people from different cultures may feel racial discrimination because of their skin color. Studies have found that 66% of working-class whites feel discriminated against and that the problem is as great as that of blacks. Still, it is clear that ethnic minorities are more likely to be ignored and treated harshly when they raise concerns about discrimination.

To raise awareness Robert Livingston recommends a model called PRESS which is a series of effective stages these are: Awareness of the problem, root cause analysis, empathy, strategies to address the situation, and the willingness or sacrifice to invest in solving the problem. It is important to understand that racism can occur without awareness or intention. Therefore, a proper analysis can help establish the severity of the situation in an organization. People who are well-educated, well-intentioned, open-minded, and good-hearted, but who simply underestimate their behaviors and buy into racist currents, are often the perpetrators of discrimination in the workplace.

This article applies to the workplace because we can put into practice the recommendations given by the author. Most of the possible strategies for change can focus on three different, but related categories: "personal attitudes, informal cultural norms, and formal institutional policies". It is recommended to act simultaneously to work on all three fronts to obtain more significant and better results.  The hard part is getting people to adopt anti-discrimination policies. It is important to remember that the best strategies are useless if they are not implemented.

I think a point to be made in Livingston's article is that empathy is a fundamental step toward racial equity. Empathy influences and can cause individuals or organizations to take action. There are at least four ways to respond to racism: increase the harm by adding to the problem, mind your own business and ignore it, feel sympathy and help the victim, or experience empathetic outrage and take action to promote equal justice. The personal values of each employee and the core values of the organization are two factors that affect the actions taken individually and collectively. It is interesting to be able to apply in our work activity a structured plan as recommended by Livingston, seeking to concretize the ideas into actions that reduce racism and racial or any other type of discrimination in the workplace.

A Road Map for Racial Equity

Organizations progress through these stages in a logical order, beginning with a grasp of the underlying issue, then developing really care, and lastly focusing on problem resolution.

Podcast: How to Promote Racial Equity in the Workplace

Image from: Harvard Business School Publishing

Audio from: https://hbr.org/2020/09/how-to-promote-racial-equity-in-the-workplace

Livingston, R. (2020, Sept). How to Promote Racial Equity in the Workplace. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2020/09/how-to-promote-racial-equity-in-the-workplace

Reference: Livingston, R. (2020, Sept). How to Promote Racial Equity in the Workplace. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2020/09/how-to-promote-racial-equity-in-the-workplace