Pizza and samosas
It started in inner city Birmingham a long time ago. Unlike where I grew up Birmingham is and was a very multicultural , multi faith city. However you could live and work in the city and be barely aware of the fact as I was until I took up a management post in an inner city area. Suddenly recruitment ,service delivery and management had a new and unfamiliar dimension.
I wrote a rap advert in an attempt to attract black African Caribbean candidates. Only one person responded however they did so in rap. ( In the days when HR let you write your own ad as long as it was honest and descent ). There was no criticism from black colleagues for trying something different but an earnest white colleague range me to explain why it was inappropriate. I was more successful in setting up services for BME groups.
Giving a speech through an interpreter to a mixed audience. I knew something was wrong because the interpreter was still interpreting long after I had finished talking! Apparently they didn’t just relay my words but provided their own commentary.
I visited an “ Asian” luncheon club and I was surprised to learn both Muslims and Hindus attend because I was awere of the need for food preparation to be completely separate. Apparently this was not the insurmountable problem I had been lead to believe.
I only appreciated the difference between religion and culture when I visited two very different Centres for people with a learning disability in the same area of Birmingham. One was a women only the other mixed. I was told sections of the Muslim community would not allow their daughters to attend a mixed centre but other Muslims would provided there was proper supervision. The difference was cultural not religious. I was told that often the strict parents were originally from rural communities and more conservative in their attitudes.
The Chinese chef we employed who explained he could only cooked on a gas cooker because of the shape of his woks! And luckily for us he had a second hand one for sale.
The partnership with the Chinese community group that worked because we were flexible.The partnership the Muslim community that never got off the ground because they weren’t.
Pizza and samosas at the Hindu temple near HQ. I shouldn’t have been surprised that elderly Hindus liked pizza for lunch . I was surprised to see their office wall covered in Christmas cards.( “ Just because we don’t celebrate Christmas doesn’t mean we don’t acknowledge it. These are from our friends “) At which point, much to my subsequent embarrassment, I ask do Sikhs send Christmas cards ? Only to be told ,”you would have to ask a Sikh.”
Having been fed I expected to be lobbed for a grant but they wanted to show me their large community meeting room which was available to rent and ideal for training sessions with plenty of parking space for a town centre location.
I went to the bar in a crowded Irish pub in Birmingham and asked for the wrong brand of whisky. The bartender said in a loud and unfriendly voice , “We don’t serve that in here”. I suddenly felt very conspicuous and uncomfortable like I didn’t belong.
Lessons learnt
The problem was not ( is not) recruiting black employees it was keeping them. HR consultants say people leave managers not organisations but in my experience exit interviews reveal that black employees often leave because they are frustrated with the gap between the organisations rhetoric and the reality of their experience. Inclusion is a problem.
The backlash is real but not new. Complaints about special treatment and compulsory unconscious bias awareness training , over sensitive colleagues and over reacting HR are now more openly expressed. Managers need to feel confident enough to open up the debate in order to challenge these views and explain the thinking behind EDI polices and strategies.
Partnership working with faith groups and BME groups requires flexibility and the willingness to compromise on both sides. Don’t expect faith or Ethnic groups to speak with one voice just because it would make your life easier if they did.
Getting the balance right between challenging inappropriate and offensive language and self righteous attitudes from those offended on other people’s behalf, requires everyone to use some common sense along side sensitivity.
If you’re part of a minority in the work place even when you feel secure and accepted it only takes one instance of not knowing the right thing to say or do to feel out of place,
If it keeps happening you’re going to feel you don’t belong.
And finally the one piece of advice I was given that applies when dealing with unfamiliar cultures and different faith groups, If you don’t know ask , don’t make assumptions. (But ask an appropriate person don’t do what I did on my visit to the Hindu temple)
Blair McPherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
