Years ago, when I worked as a trainer, part of my duties was to book hotels for human-rights education workshops. time, I developed a list, by order of priority, on the most disability friendly hotels. I did so because two of my colleagues were visually impaired and some of our workshop participants used wheelchairs.
It was amazing how unprepared many hotels were for people with disabilities, despite our telling them in advance. I remember imagining, at one particular hotel, how fast it would take for a wheelchair ramp made in our presence by a frantic, sweating, carpenter using wet, weeping wood, to fall apart as soon it dried.
The hotel manager paced up and down, wringing his hands in tandem with the hammering in of the nails and blaming his subordinates.
The money brought in by housing 50 workshop participants for the three days we were staying at his hotel was not a deal he was prepared to lose.
We stood there, silently unresponsive, watching the slippery wood change shape into a ramp, as the manager, who, clearly did not also trust the work of art unfolding before us, tried to negotiate.
Providing equal opportunity at the workplace is now the correct thing to do. Around the world, people are now consistently challenged to staff their offices with people from diverse backgrounds. FOTOSEARCH
“Could he not just arrange for two of his strong waiters, to carry the person from the wheelchair into the room”? He pleaded. The hotel was clearly not ready to dignify and respect people with disabilities.
We discussed the experience at the workshop and concluded that given the manager’s approach, it was highly unlikely that the hotel would hire anyone with a disability. Thankfully, this has now changed.
Providing equal opportunity is now the correct thing to do. Around the world, people are now consistently challenged to staff their offices with people from diverse backgrounds.
Some organisations now consider skills, knowledge, physical abilities, religion, gender and ethnicity to fulfil the need for a diverse workforce.
Increasingly, research has proven that organisations lacking in diversity often miss many opportunities. Why is this so? Employees with varied backgrounds enable organisations to tap into wide ranging markets.
A company that builds a reputation for pluralistic values of dignifying and respecting difference attracts and keeps more skilled, knowledgeable and talented employees.
There are ways to achieve this. It does not take too much effort to know and understand each other across, say, ethnic groups at the workplace.
We spend more time with our office mates than we do with our families. Our lives are intertwined through payrolls, bosses, lunch breaks, and deadlines.
That we sometimes spend so much time together and still do not know each other enough to respect our differences is an indictment to the deep rootedness of stereotypes, prejudices and fear that shape our interactions.
Across the world people at workplaces express a universal knowledge of stereotypes and generalisations of the “other.” How often do we hear casually expressed views in every day conversations that end with prejudiced sentiments beginning with “women are…..”, “their ethnic community is…..”, “Muslims are ……”, “ Christians are ……” Views such as this, when held in isolation can be inconsequential. But once they are aggregated across large members of an organisation, there can be wide ranging consequences.
Conflicts can arise when people with different beliefs, values and priorities meet at the work- place, shaping actions and provoking prejudices. Change, such as when a new employee joins, is often accompanied by uncertainty.
Everyday interaction in a workplace where there is mutual respect of different backgrounds however allows people to examine their thoughts and feelings towards the “other” and find commonalities.
People develop friendships through which they challenge attitudes do not promote understanding and respect towards, for instance, those with disabilities.
They promote inter-communal activities and learn each other’s cultures by attending each other’s weddings, parties and mourn together at funerals.
