Revisiting Black Talent Attrition
In 2021 I wrote an article on Black Talent Attrition and this morning I watched a TikTok video (strong language caution) of a beautiful Black woman who on 15th January this year was fired from her job. This is an example of another reason for the high levels of talent attrition, with Black people and people of colour, in companies and organisations within white majority or white dominant nations.
In her video she speaks of how she was given a raise two weeks previously only for someone to be brought into a position over her rather than the promotion given to her. What she was told “it’s not your performance…it’s not that you don’t work hard”, is what many of us have heard all to often during our careers.
Her emotional video expresses the frustration that many Black People and people of colour feel when just trying to hold down our job, when we just want to work, and when we just want to do a good job, yet constantly receive microaggressions (that are not micro to us) and are gaslighted when we try to make a complaint.
Many companies and organisations are ready to take action when reports of systemic sexual harassment come to light, like that reported by the UK Police Force last week. But when it comes to racial harassment (by the way I’ve never seen this term used to describe racial microaggressions, maybe we should start using it) this is largely brushed off or dismissed as an isolated case or a “bad apple”, by the managers and HR teams who are supposedly there for us and are promoting psychological safety.
I need to inform you that racial harassment is systemic, it is institutional, and must be dealt with as such. I’m sorry leaders, as much as you think you are showing that you are supporting us, check your HR records and see that when proportionally compared with white colleagues; Black People leave your company or organisation at a far higher rate, we stay far longer in the same job position before receiving promotions or pay rises, we receive more performance improvement plans and we receive more complaints about our behaviour.
Do you know the headwinds we have had to face to get to where we are in your companies and organisation? Much of what the Black woman described in her video is the lived experience of most Black People. We are generally more qualified, more experienced and more capable than many of those above us in organisational hierarchies, but we are often overlooked, undervalued or operating in an environment so hostile that we have no option but to leave.
Working while Black is a grossly traumatic experience.
So here’s something for you to consider, when a Black person or person of colour complains or raises a case of racial harassment, discrimination, microaggressions and abuse; our complaint is not trivial, it is the final straw, it is a cry for help!
Believe us, because we need you to trust that we are sharing the truth. If you believe us, especially when we provide examples, then it’s not up to us to provide evidence that this is racial harassment, it’s up to the perpetrator to prove that it is not.
If your truly want a psychologically safe working environment for Black People and people of colour, provide a specialised channel for speaking up about every instance of racial harassment no matter how trivial. Make it possible to be anonymous, because if we can trust that there will be no retribution for speaking up, you will be shocked at the frequency and severity of the reported instances.
Black talent attrition is a real issue and must be seriously tackled with urgency.