Racism contributes to the ‘Great Resignation’

Over the past few years, diversity, equity and inclusion (D,E&I) has rocketed up the agenda. This is largely due overwhelming evidence that diverse and equitable companies, where employees can bring their true selves to work, perform better.

While companies may have D,E&I commitments, the realities for employees of color in the workplace are quite different.

Research by Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the UK found that 41% of black minority ethnic (BME) workers had experienced racism. This increased to 52% of the 25 to 34-year-olds surveyed, and 58% of those aged 18 to 24.

27% of the 1,750 UK workers of color surveyed said they had experienced racist banter or jokes, 21% said racist remarks were made in their presence, and a further one in five said they had been bullied or harassed at work because of their race.

Sometimes the racism these UK workers faced was less overt. 11% of respondents told the TUC they had received unfair performance assessments, 12% had been denied promotions, and 11% had their requests for learning and development turned down because of their race.

Talking about the results of the study, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: “Many told us they experienced racist bullying, harassment – and worse. And alarmingly, the vast majority did not report this to their employer.

“Others said ‘hidden’ institutional racism affected their day-to-day working life, from not getting training and promotion opportunities, to being given less popular shifts and holidays.

“It’s disgraceful that in 2022 racism still determines who gets hired, trained, promoted – and who gets demoted and dismissed.”

The link between racism and attrition

The report found that 8% of the employees of color surveyed left their jobs because of the racism they experienced. The Guardian estimates that when this stat is extrapolated for the entire UK BME working population this means that 120,000 UK workers have quit over racism.

An additional 26% said they wanted to resign, but felt they couldn’t do so because of their financial situation.

These TUC findings are confirmed by other data, including a study from Glassdoor. As reported by Bloomberg, the biggest predictor for employee attrition wasn’t pay but a toxic workplace.

The Glassdoor study found that company culture is 12.4 times more likely to predict whether an employee will leave. Failure to recognize employee performance, and job insecurity were other leading causes of attrition.

HR leaders and senior leadership may be unaware of the racism going on in their workplace, and how a toxic working environment is leading to high attrition rates amid the ‘Great Resignation’.

This is because the TUC report found that just 19% of UK BME employees reported the racism they experienced.

44% said they didn’t report the racist incidents because they didn’t think their experience would be taken seriously, and 25% were worried about how it would impact their working lives.

Given the ‘Great Resignation’ is showing no signs of letting up, despite a looming recession, now is the time for organizations to take a long hard look at their D,E&I strategies.

HR teams need to make sure that D,E&I commitments are genuine, and that employees of color are not experiencing racism or other forms of discrimination in the workplace.

Grady added: “This report must be a wake-up call. Employers must be clear they have a zero-tolerance policy towards racism – and that they will support all staff who raise concerns about racism or who are subjected to racial abuse.”

Of course, stamping out racism and toxicity at work is morally the right thing to do, but it is also the right thing to do for business bottom lines. Individuals who feel psychologically safe are more productive, more engaged and more motivated at work.

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