Fortunately, our world is slowly but surely moving toward the ultimate tolerance and inclusivity; however, there might still be occasions of blind sexism, nationalism, ageism, classism, and even lookism among us. Under no circumstances are their appearances acceptable, but in the workplace – first and foremost. According to a well-known fact that a person spends one-third of their life at work, besides any work-related issues themselves that might get us stressed, workplace microaggression cases can cause even more severe or even irreversible implications for many employees. This is why we’re going to enter into a detailed description of what workplace microaggressions and their types are; we’ll also distinguish the pronounced signs of microaggressions and define approaches to set personal boundaries in hostile work environments in order to address microaggressions wisely and avoid mental and physical health breakdowns.
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Insignificant at-first-sight comments or so-called innocent jokes regarding peoples’ gender, sexual preferences, age, race, nationality, or disability are defined as microaggressions. People who are prone to demonstrating microaggressive behaviors time and again represent their mockery and ridicule as something harmless; however, they are only jokes on a superficial level. Seemingly subtle age remarks on a regular basis, racial-minority or LGBTQ people being literally excluded from the group during coffee or lunch breaks, or many women still being underrepresented as senior leaders are far from being just empty rhetoric, even in the 21st century.
Besides being extraordinarily miserable and indecent, microaggressions eventually lead to other negative consequences, such as hostile work environments, moral decay, and high turnover. Therefore, such harmful behaviors are not only damaging for the individuals experiencing microaggressions from their co-workers but also for the reputation of the company in general.
Let’s take a closer look at the notion of “a hostile work environment.” We can trace such negative aspects as frustration, sadness, cognitive overload, overcompensating behaviors – self-esteem issues and the urge to constantly prove your worth, emotional exhaustion, and attempts to confront the aggressor. Such components don’t contribute to a company’s prosperity, do they?
Having identified what microaggressions in the workplace are and their implications for both the employees and the company, let’s dig a bit deeper and look at the most frequent manifestations of microaggressions. Those include behaviors of either conscious or unconscious bias regarding people’s racial or ethnic background, gender identification, and sexual preferences.
The world community, divided into developed and developing countries, has come up with unjustified bias regarding those who come from the latter. The likely explanation for that is usually historical grounds, however, there might also be another reason. The level of education in third-world countries often leaves room for improvement and some representatives may need to live up to the generally accepted image of an educated individual. At the same time, it doesn’t guarantee that all the representatives of a developed nation are bound to demonstrate highly intellectual or sensible behaviors. Moreover, nowadays, everybody has access to high-quality education in any university around the globe. Therefore, it’s high time to bust the myth that racial or ethnic background can serve as a reasonable excuse for any type of discrimination in a workplace.
Even though many people are still prone to turning a blind eye to the fact that gender influences people’s advancement opportunities and career achievements, it doesn’t stop being the reality women face time and again. There is also another ubiquitous opinion that it’s really easier to build your career when you’re a woman due to some vague reasons like your charm or beauty. Unfortunately, these opinions have been artificially invented and imposed to distract the general public’s attention from the natural state of matters. Women have been and are still struggling with myriad obstacles while pursuing their career goals compared to their male colleagues. Let’s take the worn-out opinion that women cannot take severe or leadership positions due to their excessive emotionality and disability to make rational decisions in stressful or critical situations. Does anybody still believe that emotionality and decision-making skills correlate only with gender?
Besides gender and racial microaggressions, sexual orientation discrimination is in the top 3 microaggression examples. Gay people frequently tend to be so-called black sheep in society. Fortunately, some countries acknowledge and embrace different sexual orientations, thus creating a safe space for all the community members on the juridical level, at least. However, some people within such progressive countries and companies may still stick to prejudiced behavior toward people with an orientation different from the so-called “traditional.” That is weird as the orientation doesn’t influence the performance review at the very least, which would presumably be the distinguishing factor for evaluating a person as a worker.
Since microaggression toward a particular marginalized group is manifested through subtle behaviors and doesn’t look intentional or overt discrimination at first sight (sometimes it can even be unintentional), one should be aware of the surefire signs that point out to microaggressions in the workplace that are to be noticed immediately. If you’re a boss, that will give you a chance to turn your company into a better place; if you’re a potential employee, you’ll know if this company is worth your time and well-being. Luckily, there are numerous inclusive workplaces where psychological safety is on the same level as physical one.
The first thing to check about the company is if they respect and stick to the principles of inclusive work environments on the legal level. This means that any violation or discrimination of people’s rights or dignity who belong to a marginalized group can bring about a lawsuit. If the HR is sitting and staring at you with their eyes wide open during the interview after his question – something is off there.
For many people, work is not the key happiness factor in their life; however, your work should not make you miserable and depressed. When having an interview, just take a look around at the people who work in that company. Are they smiling, at least? Are they greeting each other? Are they giving any signs of job satisfaction and engagement? If what you see goes the other way around, it’s unlikely to be a good idea to work there.
Start accessing the company at the very beginning – how their receptionist welcomes you. It comprises not only their words but also non-verbal peculiarities. Did their conversation feel sincerely friendly, or did they seem to force their smile? Did they treat you like a dear visitor or look over your shoulder? The better a receptionist treats you, the higher standards of communication and treatment to their employees the organization is likely to have.
If you’re a caring manager and have recently noticed any allusions to microaggressive behavior in your workplace, your natural desire would be to address this problem as soon as possible. However, firstly, you should clarify whether it’s been just unconscious bias or a clear discriminating position. In both ways, you must take some action to tackle microaggressions and eliminate the slightest chance of them occurring within your team or company. Let’s have a look at what can be done about it.
If there is still none, we recommend initiating a clear anti-discrimination policy and ensuring every working community member has been informed of it. Moreover, every team member must also acknowledge the policy because you need to be on the same page with all your coworkers on this issue to create a healthy work environment.
Having agreed with the anti-discrimination policy, not everybody might fully realize what it implies. Therefore, diversity and inclusion training will dot the “i” and provide a deep understanding of what is acceptable and unacceptable in the workplace. And yes, it’s your responsibility as a boss or a leader to educate your team on such issues.
Finally, help your staff understand that having an open dialog with a person prone to microaggressions manifest is the best way to solve the issue in the fastest possible manner. Others should not be afraid to speak up if they have witnessed a situation that could be identified as a microaggression. In the open dialog, it may appear that the person had no intent to hurt somebody or vice versa, you’ll get a chance to detect the snapper and get rid of them for the sake of the bright future for your team and business.
Of course, the surefire way is to bring the matter to the public domain and try tackling it. If it’s for some reason impossible to do, just concentrate on your self-care and comfort; first and foremost, aggressive people are the ones who have real issues inside themselves and need help. Try to find forgiveness and let all the anger or offense go. Ask your boss to reduce the contact with that person or persons, take the remote more often, or switch to it completely. Suppose there is any physical violence or harassment. In that case, there is no way except to file a lawsuit and get help on the legal level. And, of course, quit without a second thought.
To conclude, microaggressions in the workplace are mainly represented as racism, ageism, sexism, gender orientation discrimination, and nationalism. They are not always obvious and may be subtle, overt, and even unintentional; however, the outcome is always harmful and destructive. Usually, it’s manifested through mental health issues that employees acquire with time due to exciting and interacting in highly toxic and hostile environments. The second implication refers to the workplace itself, its reputation, and perspectives in the market. Therefore, management and employees must be aware of clear signs that microaggressions demonstrate and start tackling them on time. The best and most feasible approach would be increasing people’s awareness by providing training that busts identity stereotypes and let people form a free, safe, and inclusive environment in the workplace.
