Meena Chander explains that discrimination is the mistreatment of people based on their beliefs and cultural attributes. This includes age, race and disability. It also includes gender, sexuality, religion and nationality.
Discrimination can be a serious issue. It can affect an employee’s self-esteem and mental health, and even their career advancement.
Discrimination at work must be addressed quickly and professionally. In this article, we will examine the different ways that discrimination can happen and how it can be addressed and eliminated.
Discrimination at work: Types and types
Direct discrimination, also known as “direct prejudice”, is the most blatant form of discrimination. It occurs when someone is treated in a less favorable way because of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender. Direct discrimination in the workplace can take many forms. Direct discrimination can occur when a woman is denied a promotion that she deserves and her male counterpart who is less qualified gets the job.
Indirect discrimination is the act or policy that puts certain people at a disadvantage. If, for example, a dress fitting store only hired women because male assistants could make female customers uncomfortable during fittings then this policy is exclusionary and considered indirect discrimination.
These policies, even though they are not intended to be discriminatory, can still exclude.
Harassment is another form of discrimination, and can include:
- Derogatory remarks about a person because of their identifiers
- Create a hostile work environment
- Unwanted sexual advances
There are ways to eliminate workplace discrimination immediately.
Adopt a strict policy against discrimination
The UK has a legal requirement that all companies have an anti-discrimination policy. This should define the types of discrimination and explain the consequences.
The anti-discrimination policy provides a framework for HR professionals to follow in the event of a discriminatory incident. The discriminated party will feel confident that the incident has been handled professionally and promptly.
Preventing recruitment bias
Recruitment bias is when a recruiter has an opinion on a candidate based on their characteristics, such as name, place of birth, or any other factor. Recruitment bias can be seen in situations where recruiters are less likely to hire someone because of their social compatibility. They would not interact with the candidate outside of work. This type of attitude can be detrimental to the recruitment of a diverse workforce.
A diverse HR team will ensure that new hires are seen and heard.
D&I Media is another good tool for recruiting talent from underrepresented communities. It is important to ensure that the talent pool of a company includes people from different backgrounds. This can help reduce discrimination in the workplace.
Review training policies
Training policies are an effective way to impart information and provide employees with the skills they need to work with their co-workers. Diversity training is an important part of every company’s training program, as it helps to eliminate unconscious bias and prejudices that employees may have prior to starting their new job. Diversity training should be a part of any company’s training programme, as it can help to eliminate unconscious bias and prejudice that an employee may have before they start their new job.
Contact your HR department
It is important that each employee has a contact in the HR department to express their concerns or report incidents. HR is a safe place for all employees, and it follows a strict framework to investigate and handle discriminatory incidents quickly.
A strong HR department will also serve as a deterrent to harassment and reduce incidents. To do this, you can hire a diversity and inclusivity advisor to give internal insight to policies and practices.
Attend Events
D&I events are an excellent way to introduce staff to new concepts and to keep them informed about the latest industry news. Events are a great way to network and allow a team to interact with people of all backgrounds and professionals in the industry. This can lead to new ideas, innovative practices and more.
They are simple, but they can have a big impact on workplace discrimination. This framework should not only eliminate discrimination but also ensure that all team members thrive and are happy.
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Meena Chender is the founder of Event Together as well as the This Is Us conference.
