Fighting institutional racism in the Netherlands

Reaching a diversified workforce

In a study executed in 2018, 78 temp agencies were approached in the Netherlands to respond to the question “I’d rather not have Turks, can you arrange that?”. 47% agreed with the fake client, 14% gave the responsibility to the concerning employer, and 3% wouldn’t respond (“Discrimination by temp agencies,” 2018). Whether it was about cultural differences or critical views on mandatory quotas, even in countries with laws against prejudice, institutional racism still exists (“Employment agencies: no Turks,” 2018). Many would argue a higher level of diversity in the workforce leads to (offensive) discussions, however, cultural differences have shown to enhance organizational outcomes.

Homogeneous vs. heterogeneous workforces

Does 'positive discrimination' exist?

Do heterogeneous workforces strimulate friction?

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Homogeneous vs. heterogeneous workforces

Opponents of a diversified workforce argue that heterogeneous teams only outperform homogeneous teams if there is a manager available who knows how to make use of diversity (NSvP, n.d.).

However, research shows that increasing diversity especially within the field of management results in greater innovation and improved financial performance (Katalakute, 2019). In the business world, even if you have a manager that doesn’t fully understand the benefits of heterogeneous teams, a diverse workforce is still beneficial in a variety of ways (Edgley et al, 2017). Specifically, Edgley et al (2017) found that a diverse workforce encourages diversity of thought, expands business networks, and generates new business opportunities.

It is not only about a manager who knows how to make use of diversity. If you have employees of different backgrounds and experiences, you ultimately have a more diverse team who see the same problem in different ways and find different solutions (Katalakute, 2019). Katalakute (2019) also states that containing different perspectives on (organizational) issues increases the chances of success of one of the various solutions. Clearly, heterogeneous teams are more effective in operationalization.

Does 'positive discrimination' exist?

Opponents also argue that having a quota of diversified people (positive discrimination) stimulates a sense of ‘victimhood’ and in the Netherlands, people should be judged on individual qualities, not on (assumed) group characteristics (Identity politics, n.d.).

However, such an argument completely ignores the fact that legislation regarding diversity, prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on specific characteristics such as age, race, gender, and sexual orientation (Edgley et al, 2017). While many businesses would agree with the statement that we should judge people on individual qualities, rather than on specific demographics, there is still unconscious bias in the system (Willcox, 2018).

Edgley et al (2017) found that if firms don’t ensure that there is a certain level of diversity within interview panels, discriminatory assumptions about interviewee competencies still happen globally. To prevent such conflicts, organizations should implement diversified units that interact with their diversified stakeholders, to reflect their demographic characteristics (Leisink et al, 2021).

Do heterogeneous workforces stimulate friction?

The final argument advanced by opponents of a diversified workforce states that clashing cultures may increase instances of (offensive) discussions, because something may be highly disrespectful to one culture, even though it is just a playful joke in another (Fields, N.d.).

Be that as it may, there are indeed distinct demographic and social-psychological perspectives within a diverse group. On the other hand, people are not limited within their demographics when it comes to belongingness (Leisink et al, 2021). Demographics like age, gender, and race are not determinative when it comes to inclusiveness. Generally, people can also find similarities between various other demographics, identity is very diverse, and people often forget to acknowledge this aspect while discussing a diversified workforce.

For example, a Nigerian woman of 25 years old can easily share an opinion with a Caucasian man of 51 years old, and on the contrary, a Dutchman of 40 years old can have a completely different view than his 41-year-old Dutch male colleague. Even in homogenous workforces, discussions happen so it becomes clear that this opposing argument is not valid.

Conclusions

For these reasons, stimulating a diverse group of people in an office setting leads to richer ideas, improved cooperation, and enhanced empathy between people with different backgrounds.

To fight institutional racism, we should integrate ‘positive discrimination’ within hiring departments to make sure a certain percentage of workforces are diversified. A heterogeneous workforce helps effectively compete on the global market because it mirrors a clearer reflection of various societies and the perspectives they serve.