UK Managers: Your People Are Not Okay

As events in the UK have escalated into nation wide race riots, veteran political commentators Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart have referred to them as ‘terrorism’ and ‘pogroms’. The impact is far reaching, not just in terms of the events themselves, but the level of fear across the whole country.

In the past week, responsible employers have been reaching out to staff from Black, Brown, Mixed Heritage and/or Muslim employees, to check in on wellbeing. Responses include experiences far more widespread than the selected riots we have seen in the media:

Women who have been physically struck in the face, in broad daylight, on their way to or from work.

People of all genders who have been verbally abused in supermarkets.

People who are too scared to leave the house and buy groceries.

People who are changing their appearance to look ‘less threatening’, such as removing their hijab and shaving their beard.

Parents of neurodivergent children who have kept their children in all week because they know they won’t be able to control their tics, the volume of their voices or their expression in public.

Five Safeguarding Actions

Nodding and sympathy is not enough when the crisis is this pervasive and widespread. Managers who have spent the past four years investing in anti-racism training are aware that allyship is active. Five key actions include:

1. Wellbeing calls with your colleagues who are directly affected

2. Providing safe transit to and from workplaces, and / or permission to work from home

3. Safeguarding and risk assessment, including support with exit plans

4. Connecting colleagues by holding listening spaces so that we can experience a sense of community camaraderie to counter isolation and despair

5. Inviting colleagues to take time off to support with wider family care and connection

Fiona Barrett, Chief Operating Officer and Safeguarding Lead and Angelica Simpson, Head of HR for a UK company reported: “every single person we reached out to had a story to tell. From actual physical harm, to intense fear and anxiety, not one person brushed off the call. We’ve reassured our teams that mental wellbeing is as important as physical wellbeing, and that we can support both. Many of our teams have a safeguarding plan in place this weekend, which involve buddying systems, check in calls and pre arranged taxi bookings for leaving their homes if needs be.”

What Comes Next

Another point to remember, is that the work of allyship happens in your own groups, more than the way you treat colleagues who are of different heritage, backgrounds, sexuality and genders. If you are a white manager or leader, the actions you take in talking with your white colleagues right now is just as important as any support you are offering those directly affected. You can organise active allyship workshops, where you discuss strategies for calling in friends and family, and strategizing around the risk of being a bystander to racism. This is the work needed to construct a social fabric more resilient to inflamed hatred, othering and discrimination.

Even as the immediate risk might be quelled by the swift action of law enforcement and counter protests, the trauma of these week has a long tail. Though racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia, violence and harm are a constant refrain through our society, the real and present danger this week has been another level. Research is clear that even when no direct injuries are sustained, the imagery of people who share our identity being harmed causes vicarious trauma.

Your people are not okay. Please check in on them.

To read more of Nancy Doyle’s Forbes articles, click here.