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Interrupting the “isms”

July 24, 2020

Maybe you put a black square on your company’s website or added “#BLM” to communications. Perhaps you have replaced a piece of lobby artwork with a rainbow flag of support. You may have stumbled with unfamiliar words as you made a land acknowledgment in a recent seminar or invited a sign language interpreter to join you on stage. Possibly you had a job candidate ask you about your approach to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Hopefully you have recently reviewed your anti-discrimination or workplace respect policies and ensured adequacy, sign-off and training.

All of that matters.

A real or virtual sobering stroll through the Canadian Human Rights museum also matters. Exhibits and stories capture years of preferential treatment, uneven playing fields and cruelty based on demographic factors. Sobering on a different level is the white text in a black box that currently greets visitors to the Museum’s website: “Addressing systemic racism and discrimination in our workplace.” Even an institution dedicated to recognizing past injustice and encouraging diversity and inclusion is currently battling to create a workplace that is free from racism, homophobia, harassment and oppression.

So what now? What are you doing to acknowledge and address biases and harness the power of diversity?  You start by looking within. With real world experience designing and overseeing human resources governance Inhaus can help you look at yourself in the mirror, assess limitations and formulate an action plan.  Leaders must ask some tough questions and face some uncomfortable answers to actively address diversity and inclusion, but increasingly we all understand that interrupting the “-ism’s” is more than just good strategy.

That matters too.

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