How to implement anti-racism training safely in your workplace
Anti-racism training is deeply needed in today’s diverse and interconnected world, especially as we embark on our journey to combat racism. Creating an inclusive and safe workplace should be at the top of your list in our fast-paced and sometimes hostile world.
But let's face it, tackling racism and building a workplace that champions justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion can feel like a huge mountain to climb, and the bigger question is how do you implement it in a way that is safe for your employees. It's not just about ticking boxes; it's about making meaningful change.
That's where anti-racism training comes in. It's a vital part of the puzzle, giving everyone in your workplace the same language, baseline knowledge, and helping to shape a new, shared culture.
As experts in this space, Hue has found that the workplace will inadvertently reflect the racism of wider society. It’s not about whether your organisation is racist, it’s about understanding how racism may manifest within it and determining actionable steps to address these issues.
Read on to learn why this training is so important and how to implement it safely and effectively in your workplace.
Initial Assessment
Effective training begins with a deep understanding of your organisation’s work culture, values, and employees’ experiences. Evaluating your workplace will help you identify areas of tension and systems that need improvement. Ask yourself questions such as:
How large is your organisation and who are your people?
If your workplace is large you may have different departments that have different workplace cultures or teams based in different states or countries.
What are the demographics and how are they distributed across the organisation?
What is the work style/culture of your organisation? Do you follow a 24/7 news cycle?
How does the organisation's theory of change/strategic plan/company values impact how employees relate to one another and carry out their work?
What is employee engagement and satisfaction like?
Reviewing your exit interviews, grievance reports and staff surveys can be a good way to determine trends or areas of tension.
Seek Expertise and External Support
Seeking out external support from experienced consultants and trainers will ensure training and assessment of the organisation is done in a safe and informed manner. In addition, an external individual can help create a neutral space to have productive conversations about your workplace to help counter any internal conflicts that may arise. Consider seeking out a consultancy with lived experience of racism such as Hue: Colour the Conversation.
Tailor Training to Your Organisation
Every workplace has unique needs when it comes to training and anti-racism work in general. Consider the size, the demographics, job roles, and in particular, levels of understanding regarding anti-racism when planning for training.
For example, larger organisations will benefit from the easy rollout of an eLearning course on a platform such as HueLearning. Whereas smaller workplaces will be able to meaningfully engage with live workshops such as 101: Understanding Race & Racism as well as Hue’s Board & Senior Leadership Anti-racism Series. Focusing on upskilling management and leadership can be much more effective than inconsistent training. It helps those in leadership positions understand their specific role in creating an anti-racism culture in the organisation.
This comprehensive course is designed to help individuals begin their anti racism journey towards safer and more inclusive practices.
Support for Employees and Transparency
When doing anti-racism work it's important to consider what support your workers may need before, during and after workshops. It’s important to recognise that learning about racism may create some anxiety or stress for workers and having a plan to combat this is essential to creating safety.
Prior to workshops: Discuss the importance of anti-racism work with your employees, let them know who the provider of the training is and what their story is. This can help build transparency and trust especially for people in your organisation that have experienced racism in the workplace. If your workplace has any affinity groups related to diversity and inclusion or racial diversity allow them to review and vote for a particular provider.
Consider optional attendance: Anti Racism training is important for everyone but consider flexibility in attendance for people of colour and First Nations people who have experienced racism in the workplace. Discuss with them what their needs might be and work with them to ensure safety for their participation.
Pick a provider who has considered safety: Safety in anti-racism workshops is paramount. People of colour and First Nations people should not feel like they have to bear the burden of sharing their racial trauma with colleagues. A good provider of anti-racism training will have considered this, for example at Hue we offer pre-workshop guides for attendees to read before workshops so they know what to expect and they can consider their needs while engaging in this training.
Offer culturally appropriate support: Ensuring your workplace has support opportunities for your employees, particularly First Nations and people of colour employees, is crucial in fostering a new and safer workplace culture. This could be supported through offering culturally safe counselling services, group debrief spaces in the workplace, and offering staff individual alone time after workshops to decompress or seek support from a friend or family member.
The Future
Becoming an anti-racist organisation is not a goal but instead an ongoing journey. Training is an effective first step to creating a culturally safe workplace and effective assessments, follow-ups, and future planning is a crucial part of your ongoing anti-racism journey. Fostering an environment of open communication and follow-up helps you to understand where further improvements are needed and what worked best in the training. Adding anti-racism training such as the eLearning platform HueLearning to your onboarding process is a way to encourage an inclusive work culture.
Anti-racism training and workshops are a crucial part of your journey towards justice, diversity, and equity within your organisation. Creating a culture of openness, inclusivity, and understanding will improve the overall experience of your employees. Through intentional planning, seeking out informed support, and ongoing anti-racism work, your organisation will be set up to continuous improvement and a safer anti-racism journey. With this commitment to your employees, we can all work towards a safer workplace and an anti-racist society.
To find out more about our anti-racism and social justice workshops, consulting, and HueLearning send us an email via our contact us form.
