Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Resolving Conflicts At Work

By Franklin Skribbit


Racism has no place in society and certainly not in the workplace. When racism does enter the workplace, the affect company can be assured that their entire processes will suffer as well as unintentionally foster an attitude amongst their employees of distrust, tension, and overall negativity.

Such actions as inappropriate touching, even over clothing, is considered sexual assault and can be punishable under the judicial system, but it is likewise important for individuals to remember that anything, such as crude comments or suggestive language, that makes a person feel uncomfortable may be considered sexual harassment in the work place.

When a company ensures that they are doing all they can to prevent racism from entering their place of work, they will be able to protect their employees, keep their employees safe from the humiliating impacts of racism, and provide a positive work environment where businesses and individuals can succeed. But how can a company, whether big or small, ensure that they are doing all they can to prevent racism in the workplace?

Pick Your Battles

Too often, people who are being mildly sexually harassed in the work place, perhaps who are victims of repeated sexual or crude jokes or comments as an example, let the harassment slide thinking that reporting the instance will only bring on additional chiding or other negative repercussions. But the truth is that those who decide to no longer ignore the harassing acts of others will find that they can make the change necessary to finally be comfortable in their work environment.

After composing and distributing the anti-discrimination policy, a company can continue their efforts to prevent racism from entering their workplace by conducting compliance training sessions throughout the year. Every quarter, the company should use compliance training materials to present to their employees the company's policies and regulations concerning discrimination.

Once a specific document outlining the company's stance on racism in the workplace has been drafted and disseminated, and once regular compliance training seminars are enacted company-wide, then the company can take even more steps to ensure that they are preventing racism from entering their workplace. One such area that a company can take more steps in to ensure that they stop racism from entering their company is in the hiring process.

All employees should be aware however that some actions or dialog may not be considered sexual harassment by either the state and federal law or the company. Each employee should be armed with knowledge as to what constitutes sexual harassment in their company and in their state by attending and participating in sexual harassment seminars regularly.

In addition to hiring the right people who are willing to work together no matter what the race or creed of their coworkers, a company can promote a racism free work environment by promoting based on performance alone. These are just a few ways in which companies can take a proactive step in preventing racism from entering their workplace.




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