Introduction
Despite numerous efforts that have been made to deal with racial discrimination, it is still a serious concern in the society (Offermann, Basford, Graebner, DeGraaf & Jaffer, 2013). Any employee who is treated unfairly at the workplace because of his or her race is said to be a victim of racial discrimination. In some cases, employees may be treated unfairly because of how they act or react to situations. Apparently, their characteristics may appear similar to those of a particular ethnic group. Unfortunately, most cases of racial discrimination go unnoticed because of fear among victims. Many are afraid of speaking against the vice for fear of losing their jobs.
Racial discrimination may be executed in a number of ways including the use of belittling statements, using policies that are unfavorable to minority ethnic employees and prejudiced dismissal. Racial discrimination continues for a number of reasons. First, organizations fail to train their employees on diversity matters. As they are not trained, employees are ill equipped to deal with challenges of diversity at the workplace. Although age diversity has its own benefits, it creates an environment that allows racial discrimination to thrive. Some employees may be victims of intimidation by their employers and this may discourage them from speaking against the vice. Because of these and other reasons, racial discrimination at the workplace is not about to stop.
Examples of Racial Discrimination at the Workplace
Recruitment
Racial discrimination at the workplace may come in different ways including discriminating candidates based on race during recruitment. It is critical for employers to ensure that the recruitment process is completely transparent (Regmi, Naidoo & Regmi, 2009).
Promotion
Discrimination may also be seen during promotion. Rather than promoting employees based on merit, the decision to promote employee may be based on other hidden factors including an employee’s racial background. As a result of this form of discrimination, ethnic minority employees get stuck near the bottom or at the middle of the corporate ladder (Khan, Clear, Al-Kaabi & Pezeshki, 2010).
Harassment, Retrenchment, Dismissal and Training
Discrimination may also be as a result of harassment. There may be certain cultures at the workplace that may cause the minority group to feel completely out of place. During times of retrenchment, management in some organizations may exercise discrimination by targeting the minority groups for retrenchment. Employees may also be targeted for unfair dismissal because of their racial background. While bad behavior by ethnic minority workers may lead to automatic dismissal, this may not be the case where a White employee is involved. An employee may also be discriminated upon by denying them an opportunity to receive training while his or her counterparts enjoy such benefits.
Rewards and Compensation
Discrimination may also be seen when compensating or rewarding devoted employees for outstanding performance. While ethnic minority employees may be compensated lower or even be denied an opportunity to receive any from of compensation, their counterparts may be benefiting by getting hefty rewards or compensations.
Negative Aspects of Racial Discrimination at the Workplace
Decreased Level of Productivity
Racial discrimination can have devastating effects on the offender as well as on the victim. Generally, this will lead to low employee morale and lack of trust. In the end, it is the organization that suffers when productivity goes down. The level of productivity is made to decline due to the fact that employees discriminated upon may develop some form of fear that interferes with their effectiveness at work. When ethnic minority employees are discriminated upon, they may become bitter and very uncooperative and this can lead to poor performance in the end. According to Offermann et al. (2013), general performance, level of employee satisfaction, and employee retention suffer tremendously.
Frequent Recruitment
Another challenge that an organization may face is that of frequent recruitment to replace disgruntled employees as they leave the organization. When an employee leaves and there is no one else to replace him or her, a new person must be hired. Usually, hiring a new employee has financial implications and production time is lost in the process.
Go Slow and Uncooperativeness
Racial discrimination at the workplace may also create a negative attitude among employees. They may fake sicknesses just to be away from what may appear to be a hostile work environment, go slow at work or even create excuses for not working alongside colleagues to accomplish goals.
Legal Consequences
In some cases, an organization may get into trouble when an affected employee chooses to go to court to have his or her grievances dealt with. Such legal tussles may have serious financial implications and can be very expensive for the organization to deal with. Negative publicity may create a situation where clients will choose to be extremely careful when carrying out business with the organization. There are also clients with reservations about dealing with organizations that promote discrimination of any form and such clients may simply terminate their dealings with organizations that promote discrimination.
Damaged Image
Usually, there will be a very heavy price to pay when an organization fails to deal with the problem of racism. Once the image of an organization is tainted, its rating may drastically decline and this may have serious financial repercussions. Clients may, for example, cease their interaction with the said organization leading to loss of income. In a worst case scenario, the organization may even be forced to close down.
Dealing with Racial Discrimination at the Workplace
Dealing with cases of racism is extremely challenging. In some instances, acts of racial discrimination may not be so obvious and the organization may be unwilling to admit that the vice is actually being practiced. Although many prefer to suffer racial discrimination in silence, it is possible for victims to stop discrimination by speaking out against it. Victims can take advantage of the fact that companies will do anything in order to protect their reputation. Considering that a damaged image can be very costly to mend, many companies quickly get defensive when allegations about racial discrimination are made against them. When acts of racism get to the top executives in any organization, they present a serious dilemma. While admitting the problem will lead to legal tussles and negative publicity denial makes things even worse.
Trade Unions
Trade Unions play a big role in dealing with acts of racial discrimination at the workplace. Representatives of Trade Unions should make every effort to educate all their members and ensure that they are familiar with laws that deal with matters of racial discrimination at the workplace. They should also work closely with management to review policies that affect the lives of employees and ensure that organizations promote diversity in different areas of their operation.
Employers
Employers also have a part to play in dealing with challenges of workplace diversity. One strategy being used by most organizations is to come up with policies and practices that attract talented employees and empower them to be their best at what they do (Reeves, McKinney & Azam, 2013). In addition, most employers have taken a keen interest in alleviating any barriers that impede development. Another approach that may be taken by organizations to deal with the problem of racial discrimination is to train employees to behave well when interacting with others. By ensuring that every single employee subscribes to some defined standards of morals, the task of getting everyone to act in a manner that reflects concern for others will be simpler to execute.
In dealing with racial discrimination at the workplace, managers are advised to deliberately choose to be blind to color as they go about their day to day activities (Regmi, Naidoo & Regmi, 2009). Although it is wonderful to be interested in discussing matters of race and culture, managers should be advised to do so outside the workplace so as to avoid frictions. Whether being color blind is a good or bad approach for addressing the problem of racial discrimination at the workplace is a vital question but one that should not be foremost in an employer’s mind.
In spite of the fact that the American culture endeavors to promote diversity, not everyone is fully aware of the positive effects that diversity has to the development of a nation’s economy. It is thus important for employers to dedicate as much time as is necessary to educate employees on the benefits of having a diverse work environment. Considering the possibility of people from different ethnic backgrounds possessing different abilities, employees working alongside others may become better. Eventually, it is the organization that will benefit. When employees with different backgrounds and levels of understanding and skills work together in a team, they are able to bring their different strengths together and by so doing, better results may be realized.
Employees
Employees may also be instrumental when dealing with racial discrimination at the workplace. Among others things, they should seek advice from Trade Union representatives to know how best to deal with issues of discrimination. Trade Unions will in turn offer support to their members by presenting their grievances to relevant authorities. Once employees are aware that their grievances can be heard without biased, they will be more willing to come out and seek protection from offenders.
Conclusion
In light of what has been discussed in this paper, racial discrimination presents a serious challenge to organizations. It is thus imperative to involve all key stakeholders in dealing with the problem of racial discrimination at the workplace. As has been explained in this paper, racial discrimination at the workplace can be very costly for any organization. Disgruntled employees are made to leave, the level of productivity may go down, and the organization may be forced to incur unnecessary expenses to hire new employees to replace those who leave.
In the event that an offended employee takes legal action against the organization, doubts will start to creep in about the organization’s credibility. Besides damaging the organization’s reputation, heavy expenses may also be involved in the process. Considering that so much is at stake, organizations must do everything within their reach to bring an end to discrimination at the workplace and to motivate their employees to work hard.
References
Khan, T. M., Clear, F., Al-Kaabi, A. & Pezeshki, V. (2010). An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Diversity Dimensions and Intervening Variables on Attitudes to Diversity. Team Performance Management, 16(6), 289 – 308. Web.
Offermann, L. R., Basford, T. E., Graebner, R., DeGraaf, S. B. & Jaffer, S. (2013). Slights, Snubs, and Slurs: Leader Equity and Microaggressions. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 32(4), 374 – 393. Web.
Reeves, T. C., McKinney, A. P. & Azam, L. (2013). Muslim Women’s Workplace Experiences: Implications for Strategic Diversity Initiatives. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 32(1), 49 – 67. Web.
Regmi, K., Naidoo, J. & Regmi, S. (2009). Understanding the Effect of Discrimination in the Workplace: A Case Study amongst Nepalese Immigrants in the UK. Equal Opportunities International, 28(5), 398 – 414. Web.