Race, Culture And Religion In The Workplace

Race refers to a person's physical characteristics, such as bone structure and skin, hair, or eye color. Ethnicity, however, refers to cultural factors, including nationality, regional culture, ancestry, and language.

The term ‘Race’ is not appropriate when applied to national, religious, geographic, linguistic or ethnic groups.

Race

• Physical characteristics that define a person as being a member of a specific group.

• Skin color, hair color and texture, eye color, facial features, physical build.

Ethnicity

• Cultural characteristics that define a person as being a member of a specific group.

• Language, accent, religion, styles of dress, hairstyles, social customs, food and dietary preferences or restrictions.

Nationality

• The legal sense of belonging to a specific political nation state.

• Citizenship (birthright or naturalized).

Race does not relate to mental characteristics such as intelligence, personality or character.

• Race is a term applied to people purely because of the way they look.

• It is considered by many to be predominantly a social construct.

• It is difficult to say a person belongs to a specific race because there are so many variations such as skin color.

• All human groups belong to the same species (Homo-sapiens).

Historically, the term ‘Racism‘ has been used principally in situations where color and physical appearance are considered to be significant markers of difference. However, there has virtually always been a cultural element as well – ‘the other‘ has been recognized not only by their physical appearance but also in relation to their culture, religion and language.

Culture consists of all the different things that identify you and where you come from, these include Race, Ethnicity, Religion, country or city, languages, age and financial status.

Culture means all these things - all the ways people live together and define themselves.

Culture is not about superficial group differences or just a way to label a group of people.

We each participate in family, community, economic, linguistic and religious cultures based on who we are and the people with whom we associate. Culture is learned and transmitted from one generation to another. Children learn their culture from their families and their various communities.

• It is an abstract concept.

• It is diverse, dynamic and ever-changing.

• It is the shared system of learned and shared values, beliefs and rules of conduct that make people behave in a certain way.

• It is the standard for perceiving, believing, evaluating and acting.

• Not everyone knows everything about their own culture.

Can cultural respect make a difference?

Culture influences how we perceive the physical world, we cannot see - or draw - everything. So we notice selectively!

How we think about (and represent) the world in a map reflects one’s cultural, micro-cultural and personal perspective.

We tend to see/draw what is salient to us.

Like most things that make you who you are, the development of your Cultural Identity is an ongoing process.

As we are exposed to different sets of beliefs and values, we may adopt other cultural beliefs that were not part of our original makeup

How does culture shape our emotional reactions?

It is important to understand that ultimate strength in your organization comes from diversity and not from homogeneity. Cultural awareness is the first step to cultural diversity...

A 2008 study by Pew Forum, shows that the majority (56%) of Americans say that Religion is very important in their lives. With a myriad of religions in the world, many requiring their followers to dress in certain ways, eat certain food and observe holy days, businesses are challenged to find ways to provide employees with options to practice their beliefs.

But how far should employers go to accommodate their employees’ religious beliefs and practices?

A reasonable religious accommodation is any adjustment to the work environment that will allow the employee to practice his or her religion. Yet, is making religious workplace accommodation enough?

• Are your teams including religion and spirituality components in your employee training?

• Do your team members feel that they work in an inclusive environment/culture?

• What the organization do to take advantage of this growing diversity?

How religiously diverse is your organization?

Value Differences:

• Religion and spirituality education efforts in the workplace need to shift from minimizing differences to strengthening, respecting and valuing those differences to help drive an organization’s business results.

• Ongoing religious diversity training will help drive employee engagement and create a work environment that visibly values and leverages religious and spirituality diversity.

Training:

• Training managers and supervisors on anti-harassment and discrimination policies should not be limited to race, ethnicity, age and gender, but also include religion. This will help employers create an inclusive culture and a workplace where employees feel respected, valued, comfortable and able to perform at their best.

Business Sustainability:

• Religious and spirituality diversity should not be just about human resource policies and practices.

• An organization’s ability to recognize, embrace and function in a religious and spiritually diverse world is critical to its sustainability strategy.

It is becoming clear that in order to build companies and communities that are successful at improving conditions and resolving problems, we need to understand and appreciate many cultures, establish relationships with people from Races and Religions other than our own, and build strong alliances with different cultural groups.

Racial attitudes tend to stay the same - after the age of 9 - unless a child has a life-changing experience (Aboud, 1988).

Each person may create a different ‘Map of the world’ (or group stereotype).

Recognize that beliefs are a source of controversy and conflict, as well as growth and change.

Until you can answer these questions honestly and acknowledge your own biases and cultural filters, it will be very difficult to manage a diverse team.

• What are my stereotypes and fears of people in other identity groups?

• What are the statements and actions that make me angry or hurt me?

• Do I feel some personal guilt for some issues?

• Are there areas in which I feel my knowledge is weak?

• How do I avoid interjecting my own personal biases and fears into my projects?

When we talk about self- fulfilling prophecy, we are actually talking about behaviors which we unconsciously use to ensure that our false based expectation comes true.

Stereotypes are dangerous, they not only shape our attitude towards a group but they also shape the behavior of that group, be aware of how your behavior and your perceptions are influenced by these stereotypes.

Maybe we all can change the world through a change of our first assumptions...

As Harvard Business Review put it:

"In the context of the workplace, diversity equals representation. Without inclusion, however, the crucial connections that attract diverse talent, encourage (their) participation, foster innovation, and lead to business growth won't happen."

You will be more effective if you build a team around you - to create company change around Racial, Cultural and Religious issues.

People often try to go it alone, but you will lose sight of your goals and then become discouraged when operating solo.

It is important to take the time to develop strong relationships with a core of people, and then work together as a group!

You will be more effective if you build a team around you - to create company change around Racial, Cultural and Religious issues.

People often try to go it alone, but you will lose sight of your goals and then become discouraged when operating solo.

It is important to take the time to develop strong relationships with a core of people, and then work together as a group!

As the focus on diversity and inclusion in the workplace grows, so does the visibility of Race, Culture and Faith in the workplace.

When the  organization’s values align with those of its employees, there is positive impact on employee and customer loyalty, productivity and customer satisfaction.

An organization can benefit by tapping into the diversity of their workforce. By creating diverse teams, employers will be able to make the most of the unique talents, experiences and backgrounds of their workforce to succeed in a very competitive global marketplace.

Does the general ethos of the business reflect and affirm diversity of language, Race, Culture, Religion and appearance?