How to be an ally in the workplace

Camila Williams-Johnson, an experienced people and culture leader and HR Director, explores what being an ally means and how you can develop the skills and understanding to be an ally in the workplace.

In recent years, societal events such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the differential impact of COVID-19, and the Me Too movement have prompted many companies to adopt a more systematic approach to addressing inequalities and fostering inclusive cultures.

Successful companies are analysing their internal processes, like recruitment and performance management, to eliminate biases and ensure fairness. Diversity and inclusion have become integral to learning and development programmes, and many senior staff are now evaluated on equality metrics alongside traditional targets.

Individuals have also been encouraged to play their part in creating an everyday environment that tackles systemic racism and sexism too and not only leaders and managers. – we all need to be proactive. But what does this mean in practice?

QUICK LINKS

• What is allyship at work?
• Examples of how to be an ally
• Being an ally is about how we use our privilege
• An ally in the workplace can expect hostility
• Allies, ‘it’s not all about you’
• How to be an effective ally in the workplace

What is allyship at work?

Allyship in the workplace involves leveraging personal privilege to support colleagues from marginalised groups. The best organisations make it clear that they and all staff need to play their part, whilst recognising that the more senior people are, the more responsibility they have.

Saying and doing nothing means that we collude. Doing nothing is not a neutral ‘do no harm’ position. White people have a responsibility to be anti-racist otherwise Black and Asian people are left to do that work at the same time as being on the receiving end of discrimination.

Likewise, men have a responsibility to be anti-sexist otherwise women are left to do that work as well as experiencing discrimination. Also, familiarise yourself with LGTBQ+ issues and help to foster a culture of openness and inclusion. You don’t need to have a disability to create an environment that is inclusive of disabled people.

Examples of how to be an ally

These are just some examples of how to be an ally, and the same is true of all aspects of social identity. We are all individuals – it’s what makes us and the world interesting.

But it’s because of our social identity that we each receive more or less praise and encouragement, career development opportunities, or pay than others. We can be privileged because we are non-disabled at the same time as being discriminated against because of our age.

This matters greatly in workplaces. It’s why great inclusive leaders understand that whatever their own social identity, they can be an ally to groups of people – staff or otherwise – who experience prejudice, harassment and discrimination. Whether you’re a leader or otherwise, we detail how you can be an ally in the workplace in this article.

Being an ally is about how we use our privilege

Firstly allyship is not about whether we have privilege or not, it’s about how we use it. If we own our privilege (whether we want it or not) and recognise how we benefit from it (whether we want to or not), then we can set about educating ourselves on the experiences of marginalised individuals – those in the ‘out’ group. Allies are crucial in tackling prejudice, harassment, and discrimination.

We need to educate ourselves

Take responsibility to learn more about those we wish to be an ally to. That might involve reading, or listening to colleagues who experience what you don’t, for example, racism, sexism, and ageism, always ensuring we recognise that it may be difficult or painful for people to tell their stories of discrimination and prejudice – yet again.

Review internal processes & policies

Once you understand more, it’s time to review company strategy, internal diversity policies and processes, to make sure that they are not compounding the ways that advantage and disadvantage can operate in relation to:

• Recruitment and Selection – a forensic analysis of how bias might be operating. We tend to clone ourselves
• Service Design – is it inclusive?
• Diversity Policies – are these all up to date and understood company-wide?
• Budgeting – who gets what resources?
• Meetings – whose voices are heard?
• Performance Management – which groups of staff get higher ratings, and which staff get disciplined?

Challenge stereotypes

Whatever our privileges, allies always robustly challenge any stereotypes and assumptions made about people, the moment they are uttered. If we aren’t experiencing ageism we can, with work, become attuned to the microaggressions that a 57-year-old, for example, can be on the receiving end of and do something about it by pointing out the assumption or saying, ‘That’s not very funny’, when yet another so-called joke is made about older people being slow on the uptake.

If we are men, we can be the person who steps in when a remark is made about how a woman looks. Our advice to men who make comments about the way women look at work is… don’t, (it doesn’t matter whether you think it is complimentary or not).

Stereotypes can impact on which people get ‘tapped on the shoulder’ when a promotion comes up, and assumptions can mean that just because someone hasn’t got a degree they aren’t considered for the management training programme.

An ally in the workplace can expect hostility

A great ally in the workplace will inevitably get flak when they challenge the status quo, but far less than those being discriminated against. If none comes your way, you may want to ensure you are doing enough challenging!

Allies in the workplace actively change the ways things are done, so that it is not only the people who look like the people who are in senior positions that do well. If I am in a group that has benefited from this unfair advantage, I may well fight back. Allies spot this and are ready to challenge the fight back.

Commonly, this will be a variation of people asking “What about me?”. As an example, this might take the form of some men saying “What about the men?” when introducing a positive action programme designed to address the chronic underrepresentation of women. In this instance, an ally would explain that the programme is not anti-men but will help to ensure women get a fair chance of progression.

Throughout the Black Lives Matter protests, we have heard “all lives matter” – or even “white lives matter” – as if drawing attention to racism and the discriminatory treatment of Black communities and the disproportionate number of Black people who die in police custody somehow takes something away from white people.

Conversations will be uncomfortable

Simply put, it’s up to allies in the workplace to challenge and unpick these specious, knee-jerk arguments, alongside the work done by companies to address systemic racism and sexism. Such conversations will be uncomfortable, but they mean that the people on the receiving end of racism, homophobia, or any other kind of discrimination do not also have to deal with their colleagues failing to take responsibility for creating an inclusive culture. As one Black client told us recently, ‘the silence of white colleagues was deafening when comments were made about how “all lives mattered”.

Allies, ‘it’s not all about you’

Being an ally in the workplace does not mean putting yourself at the centre of the story. People experiencing discrimination don’t need ‘rescuing’. Great allies don’t position themselves as ‘knights in shining armour’ as that places the ally in a position of power over the ‘recipient’, ironically. Women don’t need men to rescue them but do want them to take responsibility for saying and doing things to tackle sexism by, for example, being the one to say ‘That’s not funny’ when someone makes a derogatory remark about women.

Instead, allies listen, read, reflect, and think about what in the system needs fixing, or which conversations need to be had. It is often quiet work that does not come with a medal, but the most important thing is that it will be noticed by those on the receiving end of discrimination, and contribute to a more inclusive workplace culture.

How to be an effective ally in the workplace

If you want to be a great workplace ally, you need to have a plan regarding what you are going to do in the next year and stick to it. An ally plan might look like this:

1. Talk to individuals with influence who are using out-of-date language, explain why it’s out of date, and think about how to ensure all staff know what the current standards are.
2. Tackle someone whose ‘jokes’ are creating a hostile environment for people in the out-group. These so-called microaggressions don’t seem small to those people receiving them.
3. Chair meetings in ways that ensure minoritised voices are heard and listened to with respect.
4. Speak out about the need for diverse interview panels.
5. Require recruitment agencies to come up with diverse shortlists – it’s amazing what can be done when a contract states specific action.
6. Speak out about discrimination. If you are not on the receiving end of it, you are much more likely to be heard and be taken notice of.
7. Hand the mic to minoritised staff whenever you can.
8. Use your institutional power to change procedures and processes to address inequalities – a zero-tolerance policy in relation to bullying and harassment for instance.
9. Understand that allies will get it wrong sometimes. When you do, own your mistake, apologise, learn, reflect, read, and then get back to your allyship.
10. Say and do things to address inequalities, day in and day out, as that is how all types of discrimination are experienced. Being an ally in the workplace and encouraging others to be one are positive and powerful actions.

Tackle systemic disadvantage

Allyship is central to creating diverse, inclusive cultures where differences of all kinds are recognised and celebrated, and patterns of systemic disadvantage are identified and tackled. And failing to be an ally is not a passive, harmless position. If we don’t do things that allies do, then we collude.

Learn more about EW Group’s Inclusive Leadership training, Racism and Allyship training, and diversity audit and analysis offerings, or get in touch to discuss how we can help.