Enquirer Digest #0007 Difficult conversations about Race in the workplace
Enquirer Digest #0007 Difficult conversations about Race in the workplace
Hello Enquirers
Enquirer Digest had to have a break as I was on a 2-week retreat. After the 2-week break the piled-up work had to be taken care of. My apologies for taking so long.
For this week's edition I had no intention of writing about diversity and race. It wasn't until I stumbled on the Kwame Christian's Interview on the Coaching for Leaders podcast. I wanted to complete the year with this podcast as it talks about how to have difficult conversations about race. I do believe that many things that were discussed were valuable not only because they relate to race but any difficult conversation.
I also do believe that matters of race and diversity get attention with events but thereafter seem to lose their effect. This can be observed by the tragic loss of George Floyd which happened in May of 2020. The verdict was finalized this July 2022. And although it was debated heavily and talked about it doesn't seem to have influenced the race and diversity issues for the workplace.
In relation to race issues in the workplace Mckinsey has published a survey "Race in the Workplace: The Frontline experience"
(https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/race-in-the-workplace-the-frontline-experience)
It covers frontline employees. The definition provided in the report is as follows:
For this report, we define frontline workers as those who work directly with customers or are directly involved in making or selling a product or providing a service (such as cashiers, salespeople, and housekeeping staff). These positions do not require advanced technical skills or credentials. Although in some circumstances professionals with advanced degrees (such as doctors, nurses, and teachers) are considered frontline workers, we are excluding them from this report because their experiences differ from frontline hourly and salaried workers.
The report states that: Today, approximately 70 percent of the US workforce is concentrated in frontline jobs. However, there is an ambition gap: 70 percent of workers want to advance, but just one in four will.
Some findings of the survey are as follows:
Just 39 percent of hourly respondents believe their employer takes an objective, empirical view of performance and promotion.
Our analysis also revealed a sizable gap between the desire of employees of color to advance and
the availability of opportunities to do so. White frontline employees were most likely to report receiving advancement opportunities despite stating the lowest desire for promotion.
As the Mckinsey survey was in relation to the US I also wanted to see if it was similar elsewhere. I came across another research for the UK. This was performed by Ipsos. Comparable results were seen in their research as well. Please see below the main finding:
41 percent of British workers say the murder of George Floyd two years ago has impacted the way their company handles race-related matter at least a little, increasing to 57 percent of those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
However, although this impact mostly saw companies more willing to take action, only 43 percent of affected workers say this commitment has lasted.
As can be seen there seems to be a lot of work still to be done. I wish 2023 to become a year where racial injustice and diversity will see better days.
In relation to this weekâs subject the podcasts to listen to is:
Episode 594: How to begin difficult conversations about Race, with Kwame Christian by Coaching for Leaders. Here is the link to the episode.
A small introduction to Kwame Christian. According to his bio in American Negotiation Institute website Kwame Christian is a best-selling author, business lawyer and CEO of the American Negotiation Institute (ANI). Following the viral success of his TedxDayton talk
Kwame released his best-seller Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life in 2018. Heâs also a regular Contributor for Forbes and the host of the number one negotiation podcast in the world, Negotiate Anything â which currently has over 5 million downloads worldwide. Under Kwameâs leadership, ANI has coached and trained several Fortune 500 companies on applying the fundamentals of negotiation to corporate success.
Today's Article
In this edition instead of an article I wanted to include two research that I have mentioned above:
Mckinsey Survey
Ipsos Survey
Todayâs Quote
âIn the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.â â Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.