Improving Race Relations In The Workplace

By Thomas Davis


Racial conflicts are highly emotive the world over. The public and private sector has to deal with flare-ups from time to time. This could affect your work relationships and productivity. It is the management of race relations that determines who well different communities coexist. Through proper management, interactions can be productive and the environment more conducive for all races. Here are excellent management tips to consider.

Build consciousness on the issue of race within your organization. The beginning of finding a solution always lies in acknowledging the existence of a problem. Once you fail to acknowledge that a problem exists, you will be sitting on a time bomb. When people in an environment are aware that a problem exists, they will take proactive steps to prevent spillovers that can be dangerous.

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 issues to make them easier to handle. Each work environment is dealing with unique challenges. It could be between workers and the management. You may also be required to handle clients or service providers of a different racial orientation. Learn about the uniqueness of your current situation to enable you determine the extent of the challenge at hand and find a lasting solution.

Be quick and fair when addressing issues that arise in your organization. Speed is important because it prevents small issues from escalating. Some people have higher tolerance levels. You must therefore set standards and address the issues whether a person got offended or not. Fairness also sends a signal that even the small issues are important.

Composition of your organization at all levels must show racial inclusivity and balance. The aim is to make everyone sensitive of the need to treat all races equally. A singular race in management causes people to have biases that are difficult to detect. These hidden biases sometime manifest in scandals that are likely to bring your organization down. Unless all people in the organization are treated equally through balanced recruitment and promotions, racial conflicts will always appear.

Be firm when dealing with racial conflicts. Workers and associates at all levels must be reprimanded for being biased. Firm action includes indiscriminate punishment and setting standards that are communicated to everyone. No one will claim that he or she was not aware of these standards. Firm action should also be taken promptly so that it is not assumed that the issue was ignored.

An organization will manage race issues by being firm, deliberate and prompt. Action taken must be deliberate and affect all cadres of your organization. Create awareness of the need to avoid racial confrontations and put in place other preventive measures to make the work environment conducive for all races.




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