In today's episode Guilaine responds to a listener question: Can Black employees ever be authentic in the workplace? She answers the question with some other questions and reflects on the issues surrounding them.
The first is: Is authenticity a desirable aim to achieve for Black people and organisations? She comes to the conclusion that their is a strong case as a general rule for the importance of workplace authenticity in improving culture, morale, well-being, organisational turnover and even leadership.
But it isn't simple as her second question suggests: Is it realistic, both for organisations and for black employees, that a workplace can increase it's level of authenticity? She reflects that some change can be achieved with sustained effort but that a blanket expectation of authenticity doesn't take into account difference in terms of experiences, cultures and beliefs. She considers the barriers such as the British/English cultural aversion to authenticity, and how whilst leaders may be the guardians of organisational culture they are often leading from the "snowy white peak" of white middleclass masculinity which doesn't tend to embrace authenticity.
She concludes with advice for employers on ways they can encourage authenticity and support the people that this (counter) cultural change will potentially challenge and isolate.
Some other Race Reflections AT WORK podcasts that touch on these issues:
Authenticity: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/10665249
The only person of colour in the workplace: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/10172908
Imposter Syndrome: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/11323973
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