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Why Zero
Tolerance Policies Don't Prevent Harassment,
Discrimination
Does your organization have
a “zero tolerance policy” for harassment and
discrimination?
Whenever anyone mentions the words harassment or
discrimination, do you or one of your employees
immediately let people know you have a "zero
tolerance policy” and “won’t stand for that kind of
behavior”? I hear this all the time in organizations
where I consult.
So what’s the problem with
this?
Isn’t it good if companies, universities and
government agencies take a stand? Yes, in concept,
it's a great idea, but in reality, too often
harassment and discrimination still occur in
organizations with zero tolerance policies.
Why?
Because a policy that is a slogan means nothing.
In order to prevent harassment and discrimination in
any organization, everyone from the leadership on
down has to have a common definition of harassment
and discrimination and know what behaviors
constitute those charges. Everyone needs to be
provided with training, and a well defined process
to use when they feel they have been a target, or
witness harassment or discrimination. And it’s not
enough to have people go through some two hour
workshop to know the laws. Don’t wait until a law is
broken and you are faced with an expensive lawsuit
that you have to defend, or morale gets so low and
people have stopped talking to each other.
Missing Links in Zero Tolerance Policies:
Microinequities and Education
As a diversity consultant I have seen that
proclaiming zero tolerance does not deal with the
issue of microinequities. Those are the words and
behaviors that are not so blatant, the ones that are
harder to understand without the willingness to
listen and engage in cross-cultural conversations.
Microinequities are the things that can result in
exclusion, shutting someone down, interfering with
people’s abilities to do their best work and loss of
talent. Microinequities are like those little drops
of water that are small but constant. They start out
as a small leak and unless that leak is fixed, it
accumulates and becomes a flood.
Alvin Pouissant of Harvard University once referred to
the impact of microinequities on another person as
"death by a thousand nicks." They occur in many ways;
when addressing a group only looking at people who are
the same race or gender as you, constantly confusing
people from the same race, only informing people who are
like you about advancement opportunities, making
decisions during informal social activities with “all
the guys” in places where women would not be
comfortable.
Would these actions come under “zero tolerance” policy?
Not likely, but they result in consistent and often
unintentional exclusion of people from groups different
than you.
How would you know if this were occurring in your
organization? Without education and dialogue chances are
you wouldn’t. At some point you might notice that a lot
of people from different groups were leaving, but you
might not know why.
If zero tolerance policies alone don't work, what
does?
The most effective way to prevent harassment and
discrimination is to create opportunities for people
to get to know each other and develop working
relationships together.
When people have meaningful conversations they no
longer look at other people in terms of labels and
stereotypes. When people harass others because of
their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, etc, they are seeing the other person
or group as less human. When people have personal
interactions with other in a facilitated
non-threatening environment, their viewpoints about
people who are different almost always change.
It can be very easy to dehumanize whole groups if
your ideas about them are based on the media,
hearsay or even one negative experience.
Training needs to include communication skills that
allow people to ask and answer questions and give
each other feedback.
If I know you as a person who I
have developed a level of trust with because we have
worked together and been engaged in a dialogue
across differences, I will be more comfortable
telling you if you say something that offends me. If
you know, trust and like me you will listen to my
words, not get defensive, apologize and stop your
behavior, and we can continue our working
relationship. We’ll still be comfortable asking each
other for help and offering help. If we have had no
interaction, and don’t know each other on a human
level, if you say something that offends me I won’t
say anything to you. I may tell a whole lot of
others, who may look at you funny and not want to
work with you. You may not even be aware of what you
said, and may even say it again. This time I would
be so angry, I might tell a more senior manager, who
might confront you. You’ll get defensive, angry at
me, continue the behavior and I might file a lawsuit
or leave. Since the company has a “zero tolerance
policy,” you might eventually lose your job and
never understand what you did.
A recent study with doctors and lawsuits found that
people were much less likely to sue a doctor who
listened to them and engaged in personal interaction
even after they found that the doctor had made a
mistake.
In my work as a diversity strategist I have found
that most people do not wake up in the morning
planning to be a harasser, or discriminate against
someone else.
I have also found that a great many
people are not aware of the impact their behavior
and words have on others but when given the
opportunity and information are willing to learn and
choose to let go of stereotypes and old behavior.
Steps to creating an inclusive work environment
So if you want to go beyond a zero tolerance policy,
prevent harassment and discrimination and create an
inclusive work environment where people can communicate
easily consider these steps:
• In creating a written policy, define what you mean.
• Train and educate the whole organization about
harassment and discrimination issues. Go beyond the
laws, and include information, skills and tools so
everyone understands how prevention benefits the
organization and themselves as individuals.
• Invest the time for employees to engage in diversity
dialogues, cross-cultural conversations and meaningful
conversations with each other in order to prevent
misunderstandings, miscommunication and missed
opportunities to share ideas and resources.
• Become aware of any microinequities in your
organization at all levels and develop a strategy to
eliminate them.
If these steps are included in any diversity/culture
change initiative, there will be no room for those who
are involved in deliberate harassment and
discrimination, and you will use your zero tolerance
policy as it should be intended..
Does
your organization deal effectively with
microinequities? Do you always know when they occur?
Find out how
Simma can help your organization leverage diversity
and create a more inclusive environment so people
can do their best work.
Call
Simma Lieberman Associates 510-527-0700.
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