I am surprised that the report below is not attracting more attention and I have to say that my caseload as a volunteer advocate,representing those who are bullied/discriminated against PLUS the anecdotal stuff I pick up from training participants suggests the opposite – but of course I can only offer anecdotal evidence.
A new study by the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion suggests that the politically correct climate inside well-intentioned companies may actually be damaging their business.
The research says that unconscious bias and staff / manager relationships showed that managers were often anxious about having conversations with employees that involved talking about their differences. Staff members were also anxious about saying the wrong thing to their colleagues and causing offence. This lack of openness leads to misunderstandings and anxiety which, in turn, is shown to have a damaging effect on working relationships which are so critical to business success.
One of the key findings is that this anxiety, or the concern about causing offence leads to ‘social distancing’ behaviours between managers and staff members. This is seen to have a negative impact on businesses as employees, and the individuals they report to, often fail to capitalise on more informal relationships within the workplace.
The research also shows that managers and staff often have a ‘bias blind spot’ where they assume they are treating everyone the same, but in fact are favouring people who look or sound most like them. It found that managers often develop better informal relationships with staff members that were more similar to them and that those staff members enjoy better ‘sponsorship’ within their companies.
What do you think?
