When I first embarked on a career in human rights, I worried that I wasn't "pure" enough regarding stereotyping people. I knew I had deep-seated prejudices from being exposed to years of stereotyping. Eventually, I got over the notion that only the pure could operate in this arena. None of us is pure. But if we're smart, we learn to challenge ourselves, and to live within the law.

Stereotypes involve focusing on one, usually negative, characteristic of a person, then applying that to all others of a similar group. When women first started driving, it was common to hear the statement that women were bad drivers. Today, I frequently hear it said of Chinese drivers. I once had a Chinese woman tell me that it's not true all Chinese are bad drivers. She insisted only those from Mainland China, not from Hong Kong like herself, are bad drivers. It was a good lesson for me that stereotypes come from everyone and apply to all people.

From a business perspective, stereotypes can have a huge impact. If we turn people down (for employment or promotions) based on negative stereotypes, and help others along due to positive stereotypes, we make it ever more difficult for ourselves to bury pre-conceived notions and allow the best people to shine.

The opposite of being ruled by stereotypes is building an inclusive workplace where people notice, value and learn from differences, but make an effort not to pre-judge. It's not easy.

I find my own stereotypes come out worst when I'm bicycling to work. In a big city, cycling can be hazardous. When a driver cuts me off, I'm amazed at what goes through my head. If it's a woman, I'm thinking - well, you don't want to know. If it's someone visibly different than me, shocking words pop into my head. If it's some white guy, I might think, "jerk!," but most of my negative stereotypes are about people who don't look like me.

Iím sure I'm not alone. So when I hear people saying, "I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body", I let it slide for politenessí sake, but I don't believe it for a moment. Every person on this planet harbours some form of prejudice. We might not like to think we do, but we do.

But how do we rid ourselves of stereotypes in order to create a workplace climate that promotes truly equal opportunities, good employee relations and impressive productivity? I don't think we can.

I think we should accept that we pick up stereotypes and we pre-judge people all the time. But we don't have to act on our stereotypes. If we had the "thought police", I'm sure they'd condemn me to capital punishment for some of my thoughts. But it's not our thoughts that matter as long as our behaviour reflects giving people the best opportunities they have coming to them. That sense of fairness will get you the best employees and will enhance morale.

When we make business and organizational decisions based on stereotypes and prejudices, we miss out on a number of different fronts. For example:

Losing out on good candidates
If you think that certain people will be consistently late, lazy, or unreliable, based on stereotypes, you'll let good people slip through your fingers. My first job in "personnel" with a major retailer had me looking for an employee for a high-end women's fashion department. I found the perfect candidate. She was knowledgeable about the merchandise, friendly, and had good retail experience. Lucky for her, Manitoba had strict rules about application forms, so I didn't know she was only 18 years old until I had given her the job and she had to fill out pertinent information. I said then, and I knew it to be true, - that if I had known her age, I would never have given her the job. I had it in my mind that we needed someone older.

Letting stereotypes determine bad people
Many a political and social commentator has concluded that Aboriginals and Black Canadians are more involved in crime, based on the fact that they're over-represented in Canadian jails. A retail employee who subscribes to this notion will have a hard time not hovering over Aboriginal and Black customers every time they walk through the door. If this same employee is less inclined to watch White customers as closely, who are they going to catch shoplifting more often, and will that not confirm their stereotype? At the same time, who gets to walk out of the store undetected? And so the cycle continues.

Assuming that positive stereotypes are a good thing
Anyone who thinks that negative stereotyping is bad and positive stereotyping is good should ask a Chinese adult who was always lousy at math or a Jewish person with poor business instincts what that was like. So-called "positive" stereotypes set up unrealistic expectations that are difficult to fulfill. Hiring people based on positive stereotypes is no better for your workplace's bottom line than letting negative stereotypes influence decisions. Qualifications and abilities are all you need to search for.

Never mind the laws and policies in our country; the truly most effective way to break down barriers and attract the best and most productive workers is to acknowledge our prejudices, then try to overcome them.

Stephen

You are encouraged to forward or reprint the contents of this copyrighted article with the following notation attached:

Stephen Hammond, B.A, LL.B, CSP, is a speaker, trainer and author working in the field of workplace human rights. Articles, tips and his books Managing Human Rights At Work: 101 Practical Tips to Prevent Human Rights Disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world are available on his website www.stephenhammond.ca. Contact Stephen at 866-685-8338 or stephen@stephenhammond.ca