Racism undermines the health and wellbeing of black and minority ethnic (BME) staff, as well as organisational effectiveness. It has consequences for turnover and recruitment, wasted talent, effective team working, psychological safety, industrial relations and employer reputation. Furthermore, racism disrupts team working, enables bullying and harassment, and impacts whether BME staff raise concerns about any issue (never mind racism). This impacts teamwork, communication, and whether staff report concerns, undermining safety and care quality.
Most importantly, racism is morally wrong and has no place in the workplace. This summer’s riots were a reminder that racism is embedded in British society and workplaces.
Read more: Becoming an actively anti-racist workplace needs more than just allyship
However, research shows that staff are reluctant to raise concerns for two main reasons. They fear a lengthy process with, at best, an inconclusive outcome. Coupled with this, they fear that raising concerns may actually make things worse.
Our research this year in the NHS – the largest UK employer with 26% of staff being of black and minority ethnic heritage – surveyed 1,327 BME NHS staff. We found that just 5% of those who raised concerns said they were taken seriously and were dealt with satisfactorily, while 43% of staff said nothing happened.
We found that often, staff were subjected to ‘poor behaviours’ but employers felt they couldn’t 'name' the race discrimination that lay behind these behaviours, often, it seems, because of the stigma attached. Organisation went to great lengths to downplay the impact of racist behaviours and displayed a lack of empathy. Staff raising racism concerns were often met with defensiveness and denial rather than understanding and compassion.
Read more: How do we normalise standing up against racism and bias at work?
Our analysis of recent employment tribunals also confirmed that in race-related cases many employers set an unnecessarily high bar requiring staff to prove allegations of race discrimination are ‘racially motivated’. Tackling racism is seen as too difficult and thus avoided. This means that staff lack confidence in investigatory processes and employer processes.
So, what should HR teams do better?
Employers and HR teams need to make the effort to better understand racism, and work to get comfortable in talking about race. The inability to discuss these topics seriously obstructs effective intervention. They also need to set standards of behaviour that challenge ‘everyday’ and ingrained racism, and ensure that staff – especially HR staff – adopt genuine anti-racist practice.
In investigations, HR teams should recognise that retaliation is a common reaction to allegations of racism, as well as ensuring that investigators and decision-making panels are conscious of, and act to mitigate, the risks of discrimination.
Read more: We all need to tackle racist bullying at work
HR teams should also be proactive, using data and early warning signs to address or prevent racism at the first opportunity.
Such work will benefit wider workplace culture, staff health and wellbeing, and organisational effectiveness.
By Roger Kline, research fellow at Middlesex university Business School, and Joy Warmington, CEO of equality charity BRAP
