Enhancing Race Relations In The Workplace

By Thomas Davis


The problem of racism has refused to die the world over. It still elicits raw emotions in public and private sector to the point of making the work environment unbearable. It is the responsibility of managers and their workforce to find the best approach to managing race relations so that they do not affect productivity. The following expert tips will make it easier to manage racial relationships and interactions in order to keep work environments productive.

Be alive to the fact that racial issues will always arise. This amounts to acknowledging that such challenges exist. You will then find a way addressing them without waiting until something comes up. It makes people conscious without hiding or burying the issues under the carpet. Build awareness that is based on the possible challenges you will encounter depending on your work environment.

Educate your workers on racial conflicts and how they can be handled better. Education should begin with understanding the history of conflicts and why racial relationships are a problem in the world today. Such education should be for awareness purposes and not to condemn one group or the other. You must also provide a balanced view of the conflicts that shape relationships to the present day. Without a balanced view, it will be difficult to find solutions.

Domesticate the issue to make it easier to understand. There are a lot of theories shared on different racial conflict points. Other people share events that happened centuries ago or in other regions. Share what has happened to people in your circles or organization. People can easily identify with such persons and develop the awareness required to generate a solution. You also use the opportunity to be a role model of productive racial relationships.

Issues that arise in the organization should be addressed as fast as possible. Delays cause small issues to be blown out of proportion. There are difficult cases where the level of tolerance for some people is higher. This is not a reason to allow others to bully them. The organization should set standards that must be adhered by everyone in your organization. When the organization has structures that spell fairness, people will gain confidence in its structures.

Enhance diversity in your organization. The organization must be seen to promote diversity through employment and assigning responsibilities to people or all races. An environment where only one race is represented will experience biases that might be too hidden for you to notice. All races must be given equal opportunities and treatment, whether they are workers or clients.

All racial discrimination issues must be dealt with firmly. Workers should be reprimanded for saying mean things about other races. The action taken should be firm and commensurate to the level of damage done. Do not allow conflicts to remain unresolved for too long. Ignoring them will cause small issues to be blown out of proportion.

It is a huge mistake to assume that relationships between races will work automatically. Every organization must make deliberate effort to address issues whenever they arise. The best way to handle such issues is to be deliberate and proactive. It will be easier to prevent conflicts from occurring than to repair damage once the issue has erupted.




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