Responses to racism can have big impact on employee retention, survey says

New Edelman research codifies how employee concerns around systemic racism and racial injustice rise with each tragedy — and how the response their employers take affects their decision to stay at the company.

As racially motivated acts of violence continue to foster an elevated state of anxiety, a special report addendum to Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer, “Racial Justice and Business in America,” codifies how employee concerns around systemic racism and racial injustice rise with each tragedy — and how the response their employers take affects their decision to stay at the company.

Sixty-seven percent of American employees surveyed said that they were concerned about systemic racism and racial injustice following the racially motivated mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York and the shooting at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, California in May — a percentage only topped when employees were asked the same question after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin in Aug. 2020 (69%) and the weeks after the murder of George Floyd (79%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Image via)

It’s worth noting that 73% of those surveyed said they believe systemic racism and racial injustice exist in this country, a 5-point rise from 2021.

With this awareness, employees are also less trustful that their employers will say the right thing when responding to systemic racism in this country. While 59% of Black employees surveyed trust their employers to say what is right, the number has plummeted 9 points since 2021. Similarly, the 65% of Asian employees surveyed who said they trust their employers to say the right thing is also down 9 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Image via)

Those declining percentages can also impact your business and talent retention, as 60% of employees said they would not work for an organization that failed to address racism or have left a job due to a failure to speak out over the past year — a 2-point increase over 2021.

The study also breaks down how those failings can manifest internally, finding that under a quarter of employees surveyed reported their workplace was free of microaggressions or racist traditions. Another 24% admitted to not working at a racially representative organization, while just 16% felt their company had executive leadership that was racially representative and only 14% had a racially representative board of directors.

With these failings come new opportunities for inclusion, however, as 58% of employees surveyed said they consider an inclusive work culture with a strong and well-supported diversity program critically important to attracting and retaining them as an employee. That’s a notable 4-point increase over 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Image via)

These numbers demonstrate why organizations hoping to attract and retain top talent must generate responses that resonate with their diverse workforce. Moreover, before a response can resonate authentically with employees in the first place, businesses must adopt an inclusive work culture from the inside out — ensuring that the values they espouse reflect the inclusion they are working toward with the workforce.

COMMENT

Ragan.com Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive the latest articles from Ragan.com directly in your inbox.