J King Consulting

Steps To Creating Racial Unity in the Organization

Dr. Jonathan King — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 15:27:00 +0000

As the issue of racial divisiveness takes center stage in our discourse in private and public conversations, the fact that we cannot dodge is that racial and ethnic diversity in this country is growing exponentially, no matter where we live. It is predicted that in the next 25 years that the minority populations that make up about 40% of the overall population will become the majority by 2050. That being said, organizations will need to go beyond acknowledging that they have diversity, and be proactive in ensuring that diverse groups of employees are treated equitably and given the same opportunities to excel as their white counterparts. While this sounds doable, it is very hard to achieve because there is no easy solution or silver bullet to creating racial unity in a vacuum primarily because ethnic divisions have existed in this country for over three centuries. So how do we move forward in building a bridge of unity and trust between racial groups that have harbored a sense of distrust between each other? I believe that in order to take major steps to achieve something, a better approach is to take baby steps toward this ideal of pulling down barriers that exist in our hearts and minds.

What I have come to realize is that in order for us to gain more trust between others of another race, we have to examine carefully our beliefs and find out what are our implicit biases from the small to the large. What is an implicit bias? It is a belief that we learned or was instilled with at a young impressionable age about another racial group that is not based on fact, but we have accepted as fact because of what we believed to be true because it came from our parents, friends, and society. One of the things I highly recommend is for executive leaders to take an Implicit Bias survey – which can be used to evaluate what biases people have against others of another race or ethnicity. After taking this survey, the information can be used to discern what people think of others and then through careful reflection, steps can be taken by the user to strip away harmful beliefs that can be viewed as discriminatory and racially motivated. Normally, when people harbor implicit biases against another ethnic group, verbal statements can take the form or microaggressions, harmful comments that are threatening and traumatizing to the listener. While microaggessions can be viewed as racially disparaging messages coming from white co-workers, implicit bias itself is a universal phenomena that applies to everyone. If companies want to establish racial unity among their employees, a good place to start is using implicit bias surveys to get people thinking about their beliefs towards people who are different from them. One online resource is the Harvard Implicit Bias Association Test. More to follow on this topic.

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Racial Climate Survey – What is it can it be helpful or hurtful?

Dr. Jonathan King — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 15:28:00 +0000

I talked a little about the importance of the executive leaders needing to be on invested in trying to bring about racial justice and racial unity in their organizations so that people of color can feel psychologically safe. Most important, studies have shown that the primary thing that helps employees to excel is a feeling of psychological safety between co-workers and bosses at all levels of an agency. Despite what people in the organization may say about the organization being a “Great place to work”, organizational leaders should take it upon themselves to develop an internal DEI task force consisting of people of a wide array of racial and ethnic backgrounds to serve on a one year basis. Once this Task Force is developed, the members should be allowed to consult regularly on what can be done to ensure that racial unity is promoted in the work place through educational programming, multi-media events, and professional development. These recommendations should be submitted to the Executive Team so that a strategic plan can be developed and approved for future execution.

I think that while employees have a good understanding about what can be done to bring about racial equity in the workplace, no matter how knowledgeable they may be, it is my strong opinion that an outsider’s involvement is essential. Having a principled and experienced DEI leader to come into the mix and do a racial climate survey can often add extreme value to this discussion and future observations. When an DEI outsider comes into the mix, they can interview people and keep things confidential and thereby gain trust faster than an insider can ever do. Once these stories are generated, it is the first step to building a real portrait – good, bad, or ugly – about the status of an organizations’ racial climate so that a plan can be developed to make it more inclusive and welcoming. Is a racial climate survey the be all and end all of trying to bring about racial justice and equity in a company? Absolutely not. It is like taking a car in to get a tune up. Once the car is given a diagnostic test, the DEI leader will be able to see what the problems are and recommend a series of steps and strategies that can take place over the next year and hopefully over a three year period. What organizational leaders need to understand is striving for racial unity and justice in our workplaces and communities is not a sprint, it is a marathon. If given the chance, organizations can decide who to recruit as DEI professional to assist in carrying out the journey of becoming antiracist institutions. The choice is ours to make. In my humble opinion, leaving this choice to chance is not an option. The time to act is now!

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Down The Path To Becoming More Inclusive

Dr. Jonathan King — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 15:30:00 +0000

Since the death of George Floyd, more than ever, corporations and organizations all across the United States have taken active steps to gear up and jump on the proverbial band wagon to promote the advancement of equity and inclusion in their work settings. Just like a knee jerk reaction, HR departments have responded swiftly to implement policies and programs to assure employees and potential applicants that their companies are places where inclusion and diversity is honored and openly cherished. However, what many leaders of these organizations sometimes don’t understand is that until an impartial outsider can come in and objectively uncover how inclusion or the lack of it is practiced, no one in the company will clearly understand how to take positive steps to ensure that people of color are psychologically safe at all levels the company.

I have worked at many companies in my career as an educator, and for the most part, I have experienced situations where I was not treated equitably because of my color, despite the fact that I out performed my peer administrators. Unfortunately, when I filed complaints about inequitable treatment, I – for the most part – was ignored and treated like I was imagining these microaggressions. The responses I received even from my best intentioned colleagues was that there must be a reason that I was treated this way, by my boss or co-workers. In many cases, I strongly believe that my grievances were not taken seriously because I was the only black person/ person of color in the entire organization. Nonetheless, what I have come to realize is that until the leaders at the top of the food chain decide to genuinely promote diversity and inclusion, positive changes across a wide spectrum of people in the organization will not change. One example I can clearly recall is when I worked at a big college in Southern California where allegations of racial abuse had happened against black employees and students. Over 20 lawsuits had been filed against the college in a short period of time and the there was ongoing racial strife at all levels of the college from the Board of Trustees down to the janitorial staff. Unfortunately, these lawsuits were not resolved until a DEI consultant came in and interviewed hundreds of employees across 4 racial constituency groups (white, LatinX, Asian, and Black) who represented faculty, staff, and management. Once all of the discussions were cross examined, synthesized, and analyzed, it was found that the college was fraught with a climate of severe anti-black racism, that could in no way be denied once all of the stories were confirmed to be true. It was from this report, that the college did an about face and the Board of Trustees and leaders re-developed their mission and focused on restoring a sense of racial justice and inclusion for all people of color. What I came to realize is that in order for organizations to become more inclusive, they must seek to understand what is the status of their racial organizational climate, and that can only happen when an external DEI champion is given a chance to understand the racial narrative of the people that comprise the institution. That is the first step in unraveling how to get the organization on track to becoming a place that accepts the contributions and protects the rights and privileges of all of its employees – regardless of race, ethnicity, or color.

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