One of the workshops I attended at the Nov. 9th Diversity@Work conference put on by Skills for Change was by Nadir Shirazi. He spoke about dedicated spaces in offices for quiet time, prayer, meditation etc.

Nadir’s presentation was very interesting; he shared the challenge for companies to name these rooms, and the lack of follow-up to see who is using them and how they are used. He confirmed that most of the requests for such rooms are made my Muslim employees. And he explained that complexities arise when these rooms are used by many people with different beliefs and needs. Providing a room, as the title of his workshop suggested, is just the tip of the religious accommodation iceberg.

What stood out for me most, however, was the inequity Nadir shared of where these rooms often are. In their commitment to diversity and inclusion many companies have such spaces in their corporate offices. This is wonderful for the executives and employees who work there, but doesn’t help the staff in the company’s call centres, or retail stores, or franchise outlets (for example).

It was an interesting manifestation of privilege within the context of attempting to be equitable; of how easily people can be overlooked even when we are trying to be inclusive. I’m willing to bet it’s largely unconscious that the men and women at head office have a meditation or prayer room while the workers “on the front lines” of these companies may not. But if this is the case, what do our accommodation efforts really amount to?

It sure made me wonder when I placed my order for tea at the Toronto Airport last week before boarding my flight, and noticed that not a single person working there was White.

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Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity and inclusion

This week’s article in the Toronto Star about the changes in Canadian workplaces for LGBT employees is encouraging. It is good to hear from large corporations who are making a difference in the daily lives of their LGBT employees. 

In our quest to further inclusion, invisible diversity is often much harder to address because we don’t see it. For lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans-identified employees there is another layer: fear. What will change when people know? Will I be safe? Comments like “that’s so gay” and homophobic jokes (as well as silence about these rather than clear messages of inappropriateness) poison the work environment for LGBT people and send a message that it’s not safe to be out. For workplaces to be safe for LGBT employees there needs to be solid expectations about zero tolerance for homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism in policy and practice, awareness-raising, and support.

The Toronto Star article mentions several examples of  how to move towards more LGBT inclusive workplaces: Employee Resources Groups with executive champions (RBC), forums to discuss what it feels like to be LGB or T in the workplace (IBM), supporting community initiatives (TELUS), and including relevant benefits (TD). Strategies and commitments such as these help increase visibility, and create awareness and opportunities for dialogue that enable us to make the changes necessary for the inclusion of LGBT colleagues in our workplaces.

Leadership, of course, is key; without commitment from leadership, these programs lack the impact necessary to help create lasting change.

Hats off to the companies listed in this article, and their employees who are helping to make LGBT inclusive workplaces a reality across the country!

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Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion

Last week Wednesday I was at the Diversity@Work conference put on by Skills for Change about faith in the workplace. It was a thought-provoking day. The next few posts will share some of the things that stood out for me.

What struck me most about the panel discussion was the theme of getting to know people. I have long believed that political correctness (while perhaps well-intentioned) did us a great disservice because people became afraid to offend and so stopped talking and asking questions. Two particular things stood out:

We were encouraged:

1. To know how to read, listen, and attune to others so we can celebrate diversity

2. Through the spirit of listening and understanding, to develop a childlike curiosity about others, to have an interest to learn and dialogue and get to know people.

This last “call to action” was accompanied by an acknowledgment that we will likely make mistakes along the way, but that this is not the end of the world if we are, in fact, coming from a place of childlike curiosity.

Hooray! Asking questions and speaking with our colleagues (respectfully, obviously) is the only way we will get to know them. Getting to know someone helps to break down barriers as well as challenging our bias and stereotypes so we can actually see them rather than seeing who we think they are.

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copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion.

Tomorrow I’m going to the day-long conference  http://www.diversityatwork.org/ put on by Skills for Change. The topic is faith in the workplace – an issue that is on the radar more often these days in the world of diversity and inclusion.

I’m looking forward to the panel discussion on the difference between faith and culture (because I think we often confuse the two when we don’t have enough information), and to the workshops in the afternoon. I’m hoping to attend Nadir Shirazi’s workshop on balancing assimilation and integration (moving beyond meditation spaces at work) and Immam Michael Abdur Rashid Taylor’s session on accommodation (a common sticking point with HR and other employees).  Of course these are only 2 of the 4 workshops available, so if I can’t get into those, I will have other great choices. 

I’ll report back on Thursday to tell you all about it!

And for those who think there is no place for religion at work, or that it has no impact - consider why our work week is Monday to Friday…

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Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion
www.beeing.ca

This afternoon on the TTC I happened to be reading the news screen. At one point it featured the profile of a suspect Toronto police are seeking for a shooting. Among his characteristics was his skin colour, which isn’t unusual in and of itself (especially if the suspect isn’t White).

What struck me was the description: he was described as “light-Black”.

Light-Black?!

As opposed to dark black? Or “just” black? Or what?

Who made up this term? And what makes someone light-Black instead of, say, brown?

Take me, for instance. I’m biracial. I have a black parent and a white parent. Am I light-Black, brown, or dark-White?

And what would decide? My features? My nose? My hair? My lips? My accent? My attitude? Where I was born? What I eat? What music I listen to…?

On a lighter note, my partner’s response made me chuckle. “Light-Black!” she said. “Isn’t that grey?”

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 Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker & facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion

On Monday I delivered a Respect in the Workplace training. The objectives were to raise awareness about appropriate and inappropriate behaviour, and what to do if you, or someone else, is being harassed or bullied at work.

What I have noticed in these sessions is that there are glaring examples of inappropriate behaviour that most of us can agree on, but that it is often difficult to understand that something we are doing, that wouldn’t bother us, can be causing someone else to feel uncomfortable.

In the world of acronyms, it is not surprising that there is one for this concept as well. My colleague Rhonda Hight introduced me to IBI – which sums up the reality and challenge of respectful workplaces and the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Intent
Behaviour
Impact

The bottom line is that regardless of our intent, it is the behaviour we choose – and its impact – that is taken into consideration in determining whether what we did is appropriate or inappropriate.

This can be challenging. What I see in workshops, is that while people may “get” that jokes or comments about race, culture, gender, sexual orientation etc are hurtful to those whom they target, it is often much more difficult to “get” that (for example) calling someone “sweetie” (or some other term of endearment), could be uncomfortable.

We may think that this last example is a shame – or too over the top – but that’s likely because we too think “sweetie” is a term of endearment. Perspective is everything. And in an increasingly diverse workforce we need to continuously find ways to learn about and appreciate the different perspectives of those we work with. So that we can all contribute to creating and sustaining respectful and safe workplaces.

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Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion

A little levity on a Friday afternoon….with a message, of course.

I walked into the pet store earlier this week and was confronted with a large cardboard marketing campaign for Family Stickers – the new thing in advertising who we are through our vehicles. You may have seen them – they are stick figure stickers that one is meant to put on the back window of the vehicle to depict ones family – including pets.

I have seen these on people’s cars, so the concept wasn’t new. What was new was the idea of choosing the figure that “fits”. Of course I scrutinized the poster from a diversity lens and noted several concerns – now that I’ve been to the website, some of these are less, but here are a few after a quick perusal.

On the website you can choose your family members  (adult, teen, child, baby and pet) and then you are given a multitude of options to complete the image by choosing a head and a body. You can also create them in colour. Although I’m not sure about the names (white to dark mocha), hooray for options!

I was pleasantly surprised to see a mixture of possible hairstyles and activities the bodies could be doing. As an example, there is a dreadlock option for hairstyles for males and females (yay!). But there is also some stereotypes/cultural misappropriation like the feather head-dress option for boys (ugh).

The bigger issue that stood out for me today (and what I’m going to focus on)was gender: Before you get to these choices of colour or body or head, you have to choose male or female (adult, teen, child or baby). Too bad!

Here’s the issue:
While it seems that the body choices are doing similar activities, not all of the activities are the same: both have “doctor” options, for example, but only females have a “fairy” option and only males have a “business suit” option. What about guys who take themselves, lightly or a woman who is in Corporate Canada? And what if you’re trans-identified?

Ah the world of binary gender and gender role stereotyping.

I, for one have a hairstyle that more closely matches a choice in the “adult male” category. While I suppose I could just go into the adult male category for my stick figure representation and call it a day (it’s just a stick figure for crying out loud), it bugs me. There is a bigger message; an undercurrent that can add to the perpetuation of lack of choices, expectations, sexism and homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

What is so gendered about a stick figure that I should have to choose? Seems like a safe place to start challenging some of our ideas and expectations of gender and gender roles and opening these up.

 Wouldn’t it be great if all of the options were available for each family member category so that everyone had the same choices of how to represent themselves? In fact, wouldn’t it be great if there were no categories at all, just a bunchof choices for colour, heads and body?

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Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker & facilitator on issues of diversityand inclusion

Seems like the Tim Hortons in Blenheim, Ontario will get more attention than they bargained for this coming Thursday…but not the right kind.

Last week a lesbian couple were asked to leave the premises because their public display of affection was upsetting the customers. The first thing that came to mind: They need some positive-space training.  I have a call to make.

Of course there is a he-said they-said going on about what they were doing, but that’s not what I want to write about today. What’s on my mind is the way we treat situations differently, depending on who is involved.

Does the young heterosexual couple sitting outside Tim Horton’s get a second glance from inside when they hold hands, have their arms around each other, or kiss? Maybe. Are they asked to leave, upon threat of calling the police? Er…hmmm. Seems excessive, doesn’t it? And yet, switch the couple and it’s what happened last week.

Things happen around us all the time. Some things stand out, others we don’t even notice. Was it the PDA or who was doing it that got the customer upset at Tim Horton’s? Was it the PDA, who was doing it, or who complained that caused the ill-advised reaction (“leave within 5 minutes or we’ll call the police”)? Or was it the person handling the complaint that went too far?

Sometimes when you are different, anything you do is seen differently. Cultivating awareness about the lens we are using to see (and judge) things and people is how we stop this, and create more equitable and inclusive spaces.

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copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker & facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion

Invariably when I do workshops on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), one of the themes that comes up is holidays. With the cold weather and Halloween approaching, it makes me think of the many weeks of Christmas carols we will experience when shopping.

I love Christmas, and I love to sing – but the carols that start in November wear me down. What about those who don’t celebrate Christmas?  How does the constant barrage of Christian (and secular) holiday tunes for weeks up to the event feel for them?

Ah privilege…those of us whose holidays fall on the days work and industries shut down have it good – without realizing it!

Last week I heard that a Toronto high school scheduled its Parent-Teacher night this school year on Rosh Hashanah! Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year, and it started at sundown on Sept. 28th of this year’s Gregorian calendar (and ended Sept. 30th). Imagine the public outcry if Parent-Teacher night was scheduled on January 1st! There would be a few choice words…but wait, it wouldn’t even happen.

Why do things like this still occur?

I think they happen because we all have bias and don’t practice awareness of what those biases are and what blinders result. It’s hard to broaden your perspective if you don’t know its parameters. If we did understand that we all have bias and if we did practice awareness, we might (in this case) have a multifaith calendar in our office for reference, we might ask around, or we may simply do a google search to know when the big religious holidays are for the people we work with, teach, serve, or know. Because our reality isn’t everyone’s, and we don’t know everything.

Bias awareness is the foundation of the work I do as a speaker and facilitator. Without it, D&I work - to me - is just window dressing.

What important holidays are you missing? What important holidays are you celebrating in the quiet of your home or community, oblivious to your colleagues at work? 

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copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity & inclusion

Yesterday I came across a poster entitled How to Build Community (created by the Syracuse Cultural Workers 1999). The last 2 lines made me stop and pause, so I’d like to share one of them today.

“No one is silent, but many are not heard – work to change this.”

Powerful, isn’t it?

Think about it: we all have something to say; we have experiences and perspectives to share that could be valuable, help us to connect, inspire someone, or lead to change or innovation (for example). But not everyone is heard.

In fact, we often hear from the same people over and over again. Sometimes these are the people who are simply the loudest. Sometimes in organizations it’s about position and responsibility.  Sometimes it is because of who we are, and the privilege and power our identities carry.

Here is the challenge for all of us: let’s take a look around today and notice who is taking up space – in our meetings, in the copy room, in the subway, in the coffee shop, at our dinner table – and then let’s take a look at those who are not being heard, ask ourselves what we might be missing, and make some space to listen.

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Copyright 2011 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity and inclusion