Workplace racism: A cultural challenge

As recent workplace inquiries into large Australian organisations have revealed instances of workplace racism occurring, one expert claims that it is a cultural challenge for organisations rather than a political or social one.

HR Leader recently spoke to Errol Amerasekera, director of Bluestone Edge, about the existence of workplace racism throughout Australian organisations and how leaders and employers create an environment where it’s believed that behaviour, such as racism, can impact an organisation’s engagement, performance, sense of belonging, and wellbeing.

“It is hard to say whether the situation re: racism, and cultural safety more broadly, is improving. This is because the way we think about racism, and how we define it, is evolving. Traditionally, it has been seen as overt and explicit vilification and bullying.

“More recently, we are starting to see how racism also occurs through inequity, which can be measured by both objective measures (such as longevity, rates of home ownership, rates of incarceration, income/wealth differentials, education levels, representation at senior levels of organisations etc.) as well as subject experiences (such as safety, belonging, inclusion).

“Organisations are simply a reflection of broader society,” said Amerasekera.

Amerasekera explained why Australian organisations are primarily a mirror of broader society, which is why addressing workplace racism requires differing strategies.

“This is because they are made up of people who represent the various beliefs and perspectives of our broader culture. Therefore, racism in organisations is generally no better or no worse, in comparison to society in general.

“The goal isn’t to necessarily ‘eradicate’ racism, but rather to build those cultural capabilities that enable people to have conversations about how dynamics in the workplace, such as racism, have an impact on their engagement, performance, sense of belonging, and wellbeing.

“All of these are essential drivers of organisational performance, so any kind of work in this area needs to be explicitly and clearly supportive of the commercial imperative that every organisation, even not for profits, have,” said Amerasekera.

Leadership is extremely important to setting the standards for these essential drivers of organisational performance. It goes without saying that managers and leaders must stand up to acts of workplace racism, showing zero tolerance.

However, their role is framed in supporting and achieving organisational success; therefore, these strategies that address workplace racism must also align with that overall performance.

“The critical question that organisational leaders need to ponder is: If just one person in your team is experiencing racism, or any other form of discrimination, does this matter to you? Is that one person’s experience significant enough, meaningful enough, for you to take some form of action to address the cultural underpinnings [that] gave rise to their experience?

“How leadership responds to this question will inform how, or even if, they engage with the challenges of creating inclusive and culturally safe organisations. Ultimately, however, organisational leaders need to implement strategies that support the overall performance of the organisation.

“This is why framing workplace racism as a cultural challenge, as opposed to a political or social issue, is so critical. Because the same cultural competencies that enable organisations to address workplace racism are also those which cultivate a high-performance culture,” said Amerasekera.

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.