“Does this mean that in the office we are expected to always be politically correct?” asked a participant at an inclusion workshop.
It reminded me of what the author Neil Gaiman said about political correctness.
“I started imagining a world in which we replaced the phrase ‘politically correct’ wherever we could with ‘treating other people with respect’, and it made me smile.”
As profound as Neil’s statement seems, he is actually paraphrasing the definition of political correctitude as explained in the Oxford dictionary — The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalise or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.
So, let me rephrase the question this article started with — “Does this mean that in the office we are expected to avoid forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalise, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against?”
Now, would you reconsider your answer?
The need for political correctness arises when employees do not recognise the negative impact of their words.
“That’s so gay!”
“Your tech skills are impressive for someone your age!”
“If both of you are working who takes care of the child?”
Although these may seem like questions asked out of curiosity or statements made as a compliment, they constitute forms of ‘microaggression’.
Psychologist Derald Wing Sue defines microaggressions as brief, everyday exchanges that send out denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership. Microaggressive statements affirm stereotypes and demean members of minority groups.
He explains that discrimination and phobia have evolved over time from deliberate and conscious to being outside one’s unconscious behaviour. The hidden and subtle nature of microaggressions cause them to be seen as harmless or insignificant. This increases the challenge of addressing them.
Using Sue’s framework, in our customer engagements we identify examples of microaggression in the Indian workplace and suggest corrective measures. Here are some types of microaggressions that one might face in everyday professional life.
Most of us have heard an off-colour joke about our accent, region, colour, gender or even body weight.
And most often, the statement is followed by a seemingly benign “just joking”. It’s a simple way of denying the underlying prejudice of any sort, but it’s as harmful as it is intended to be. This is an example of Microassault.
Overt forms of discrimination
Microassaults are overt forms of discrimination in which one deliberately behaves in discriminatory ways, but do not intend to offend someone or may not think that his/her actions are harmful.
When someone says “That’s so gay!” even as a joke, he or she is aware of the words they choose. Such language is surely homophobic and can offend their LGBT colleagues.
Nuanced forms of microaggression
Here’s one more. Remember the time when you travelled West and a well-meaning colleague congratulated you that “despite being Asian you speak such good English”.
That’s an example of a nuanced form of microaggression which has significant impact of polarising different groups of employees. It’s a microinsult. Microinsults are statements or behaviours in which individuals unintentionally or unconsciously communicate discriminatory messages to members of target groups.
Watch out for microinvalidations
Microinvalidations are verbal statements that deny, negate or undermine the realities of members of various target groups.
Here’s one for the water cooler conversation tomorrow. Try explaining pay disparity to a group of ten technologists. There will surely be one who will magnanimously mention that you are being way too sensitive. It’s the same when a white person tells a person of colour that racism doesn’t exist. In India, the same happens often with regard to caste and religion.
What can companies do?
While microaggressions may seem inconsequential to one group, they can significantly impact another. Victims are often torn between the need to stand up to an instance of aggression or avoid drawing attention to themselves. This leads to a hostile and exclusive environment in the workplace. Often, victims of microaggressions perceive a disconnect between the organisation’s diversity statement and existing culture.
Addressing microaggressions is not a finite endeavour but requires consistent efforts to build a culture where microaggressions are recognised in the moment and addressed immediately by leadership and colleagues. It balances the onus of building an equitable space to all members of the organisation.
Further, an important aspect is to recognise that the curiosity about minority groups or unwanted compliments stem from a space of ignorance.
Expecting employees to seek out reliable information is practically impossible. Many organisation specialising in inclusion and organisational change have literature kits appropriate for employees to educate themselves in order to be active participants of an inclusive workplace.
An interesting success story is the inclusion strategies companies are putting in place for their LGBTQ employees. Companies are recognising the potential and skill employees of diverse backgrounds bring to the table. Conversations in the workplace are steadily evolving to appropriate languages and terminology. It is slow but it is surely an encouraging start.
(Chryslynn D’Coasta heads the Diversity and Inclusion section at Serein Inc.)
