Administrative Assistant's Update

FEBRUARY 2016 2 E D I TO R ' S N OT E George Pearson Equality in the workplace: We all have a role While 2015 was a banner year for marriage equality in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement in the United States, the workplace still poses significant obstacles to inclusion. This was pointed out by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founder of the Center for Talent Innovation, in a posting on a LinkedIn Pulse series in which professionals predict the ideas and trends that will shape 2016. "In 28 of 50 states it is still legal to fire someone based solely on their sexual orientation," said Hewlett, "and in 31 states, including my home state of New York, it is legal to fire a transgender employee." In Canada, thankfully, discrimination based on sexual orientation (gay or lesbian) is prohibited in the human rights acts of all jurisdictions. Similar protections exist for bisexual and transgender individuals in nearly all provinces and territories. However, how individual employers or co-workers actually behave toward LGBT individuals in the workplace will not always reflect nor support the antidiscrimination protections of our laws. Unconscious bias creeps in. The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) held an "unconference" in November focused on the sources of unconscious bias and what we can do about it. Karen Sadler, recapping the gathering for the CCDI website, describes such bias as "a preference or dislike formed toward a person or a group of people without any reasonable justification." Our brains create "mental maps" enabling us to move through our day on "auto pilot" for repetitive tasks such as washing, eating and driving or riding to work. Our unconscious biases help us conserve energy for the big decisions we have to make, Sadler says. "But when we're dealing with people and all their differences and complexities, the variables are always changing, which means we need to overwrite our mental map." That means identifying and manag - ing the sources of our biases. The five most powerful sources, she says, are: Instinct: An ingrained fear to fight or flee from a person who is different from us. Media: How certain individuals or groups are portrayed. Upbringing: The views of people around us as we grew up will often stick with us into adulthood. Culture: People from cultures outside our own may have values and demeanors different from ours, and might be seen as clashing with ours. One's own diversity dimensions: "We tend to like (and therefore hire, mentor and promote) people who are similar to us." Overcoming our unconscious biases Here are some strategies suggested by the CCDI sessions, as reported by Sadler: • Question your own perceptions when dealing with someone differ - ent from you. • Be willing to accept that you have biases and that you are not a bad person, especially when you are willing to learn from examining those biases. • In responding to a current issue, ask the opinion of someone different from you. • Embrace and celebrate diversity in the workplace and how you and the organization can benefit from it. • Don't look at an individual as rep - resentative of, or necessarily typical of, an entire group of people. Get to know people, inside and out- side of work, different from you.Car- rying and feeding biases about LGBTs damages the workplace environment. A poisoned work atmosphere can cause talented potential employees to seek jobs elsewhere. It can also drive away business. If your organization is not already an LGBT role model, its movement in that direction begins with people like you. Administrative Assistant's Update is published once a month by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Director, Carswell Media: Karen Lorimer Publisher: John Hobel Editor: George Pearson george@adminupdate.ca Associate Editor: Jennifer Lewington jennifer@adminupdate.ca EDITORIAL OFFICE (519) 271-6000 Administrative Assistant's Update Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 1 Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE (416) 609-3800 (800) 387-5164 FAX (416) 298-5082 (877) 750-9041 carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Contents copyright. All rights reserved. © 2016 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission. Brief extracts may be made with due acknowledgement. Annual subscription: $189. Publications Mail Registration No. 40065782 GST# 897176350 UPDATE Administrative Assistant's

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