Race Denial in European Workspaces

Race is a social construct. It has no foundation in genetics or biology, even though many would still fight to find evidence to support this. It shapes how many people navigate their worlds. From visible categorisation here in the UK, such as population censuses and the IC codes used by police to identify people,  to the less visible ones such as employment biases, unreported hate crimes, the rise of nationalist political parties and racist humour - disguised as “banter”.

In my work on equity in leadership and workplace culture, race and ethnicity are always lurking just below the surface. My client list spans the globe, including mainland Europe. I have often been fascinated by the denial of the impact of racism there. 

Many European headquartered companies with branches in places like the UK and North America have had to face up to tackling some of the racial inequities in their satellite offices. However, within their home offices, with the protection of laws that support ignorance of racial issues, tackling these same inequalities can be problematic. But I have not lost hope. I have identified the big problems and there are things organisations can do to tackle them. It just requires a bit of innovative thinking and integrity on their part.

Racism: the bigger picture
One of the myths I want to address head-on is the reduction of racism to singular acts of violence or hate speech by extreme groups. Racism goes much deeper than that.

Across the world, it shows up in ethnic divisions, casteism, xenophobia, tribalism and many of the ideas of nationalism or patriotism.  It influences people who see their heritage and success as being linked.  This way of thinking translates into stereotypes for how they view others in social settings and the workplace. We can look at hiring patterns, boards or senior leadership of organisations in diverse communities and see how such stereotypes show up, usually justified by pseudoscience around intelligence and work ethic. 

Last year I ran several seminars for clients, called BRAVE CONVERSATIONS: Talking about race. In these sessions, I spoke about systemic racism and how employees can have honest conversations about what many consider the last taboo.

My approach to these conversations was to start with good intention. Have an honest conversation about what people mean when they use terms around racism, listen intently and ask better questions to understand where people are coming from. Then, take the learnings and leverage it into a more inclusive and, subsequently, high performing culture.

Do you think Britain is a racist country? This was a frequent question directed at me in the session Q&As. A question that helps me demonstrate how deep and complex racism is.

Without a doubt, that question is quite loaded and so it was important to think carefully not only about what I would say in answering it but also to explore what people meant when they asked such a question. I stressed that at the heart of racism is a narrative and a set of behaviours and practices that either expressly or implicitly treat people differently because of their race. There is a mountain of evidence to demonstrate how different racial groups access institutions such as housing, the health care system, education, finance,  the criminal justice system and other institutions. There is also the lens of how racial groups are reported on in the media, from the positive reporting of model minorities to the less flattering stereotypes of certain groups. So, my answer was yes, I do think that Britain is racist but, ever the optimist, I feel it is something we can honestly talk about and address as a society.

And for those interested, the reports and data that support my assumptions include the Race Disparity Audit, The Lammy Review, The MacPherson Report, The Windrush Report, The McGregor-Smith Review and The Angiolini Report. They demonstrate how race has played a major role in the way people access the institutions I mentioned above. I wonder how this type of reporting would land in Europe?

Race and Ethnicity in Europe

Since the end of World War 2, and the genocidal behaviour of dictators in Germany, Italy, Spain and the complicity of the French Vichy in the holocaust, there has been a drive to ensure that people would not be singled out based on ethnicity again.

France has introduced several laws over the years to address the roles it played in slavery, colonization and the Holocaust. The Pleven Law (1972) prohibited the press from libellous, slanderous, or defamatory writing against a group of people.  It outlawed racist speech and writing against individuals, and banned provocations of hatred, racial violence, and discrimination. The Gaysott Act (1990) extended reach so that “any discrimination founded on membership or non-membership of an ethnic group, a nation, a race or a religion is prohibited." This was recognised by most as making Holocaust denial a criminal offence.

These laws collectively are known as memory laws and have also been replicated in countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany. The challenge, however, is that while these laws exist,  they do not address the fact that many marginalised groups in Europe still experience terrible racial and ethnic hatred.

Many migrant groups, including those from across Africa and the Middle East, suffer terrible discrimination across Europe. Then there is the anti-Roma activity and increasing antisemitism from both far-right nationalist groups and religious extremists.

So what has this got to do with talking about race at work?

Firstly, such discrimination doesn’t exist in a vacuum. What happens in wider society spills into the workplace. And not just in terms of hate crimes but environmental racism, educational disadvantage and employment opportunities too.

Environmental racism

Environmental racism is defined as any environmental injustice that takes place within a racialised context, both in practice and policy. This includes access to food and water, housing conditions and zoning; providing housing near industrial complexes where air quality is poor, for example. The Romani communities across Europe suffer this disproportionately as an ethnic group.

Education

Educationally there are very few racial and ethnic minorities who will attend the top universities. However, it's hard to challenge or improve as many European countries don’t record data based on ethnicity or race. Finland, Ireland and the UK being the only exceptions. The Netherlands does keep data but only to record acts of discrimination. This lack of data means tracking any inequality in the education system is very difficult and almost impossible to measure.

Employment

In mainland Europe, employees do not record any ethnic data. Suggesting developing a programme for underrepresented talent, as I have to some firms, receives a no. It is considered illegal. And yet, many of these same firms will be very proud of their diversity policies and organisational values that encourage inclusion. But scratch beneath the surface, you see that diversity means more women, or should I say more white women. Something is quite wrong here. Diversity is bigger than that.

Beyond Denial to Dialogue

I have been fortunate to work with global clients in France, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy. As a global speaker, I am fortunate enough to go into a country, speak and coach on inclusive leadership and communication. But I always desire to do more.

I also have to remain respectful of the laws, practices and norms of countries whose histories still remain quite painful around the treatment of minority groups and how laws have been enshrined to ensure explicit discrimination cannot happen in that way again.

That said, here are some of the approaches I would love to explore with organisations.

Employee Resource Groups
Companies like Levi Strauss have demonstrated how working together with special interest groups can allow companies to leverage and understand some of the concerns of specific communities within their workforce. The  Unlabeled / Europe LGBTQ+ set up a mission to create allies and ultimately position Levis as an LGBTQ+ friendly place to work.

That model of allyship and being a place that attracts diverse ethnic talent is easy to replicate. If people are too afraid to work with labels such as race and ethnicity, it still works for, say, attracting regional talent.

Educational Outreach

Organisations can engage with schools and colleges in areas that they usually wouldn’t. This could be part of a wider educational programme as opposed to labelling it helping a specific minority, but imagine the learnings from being able to work with young talent from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as the usual groups. 

Innovation Programmes

I have seen global companies, headquartered in the UK and US, who have rolled out innovation programmes to wider communities. Be it creativity workshops or solving business challenges, working in partnership with said communities is priceless.

This will require some heavy lifting. Communities vary and so too must the makeup of its innovation programme. Don't be put off by the hard work, as it would be a missed opportunity for finding talent.

Secondments
For global companies in particular, it would be good to have secondment or exchange programmes where staff can come and experience different offices and experiences. Give them a platform to be able to share their journey so far and explore the differences around culture and leadership from their office to the one they are placed in.

Speaker Series

Invite global speakers to speak about cultural leadership across different territories. To explore and share experiences of how working with different ethnic groups in various territories has worked and how companies can learn lessons from that without being afraid of offending people or having tough conversations.

There are more but this is a gentle way of easing people into a conversation that we too often deny on a global stage. I am proud to work alongside organisations that are already starting to explore this. 

Societe Generale, for example, has begun work tackling their race and ethnicity issues here in the UK. Seeing how they can truly make their brand one of the companies to work for and not being shy to have honest conversations about race and ethnicity. Not with the intention of making people feel guilty or bad, but rather how such stories and experiences can be leveraged to add more value to their company.

Can companies in mainland Europe embrace this?
If not, what resistance do you foresee? 

I welcome feedback and challenges on this.