Floyd Verdict One Year Later: Human Resources isn't putting action behind words

 "We're going to issue a BLM statement." These words spoken by a company leader to a Human Resources professional sound good, right? Apparently it made people feel good and they felt they did their part in an angry world. Issue a statement on race, pacify a woke workforce and move on in business as usual mode.

As a Human Resources professional, I can honestly say that I have been appalled and disappointed in the actions (or lack of) executed by my colleagues in the wake of the George Floyd verdict. Despite ethics and employment law training, I have watched so called leaders stay quiet and tap dance around critical workplace issues concerning discrimination. It's enough to make me seriously ponder a career change.

I have sat on countless calls and zoom meetings where I can count the number of employees and students who look like me. I have participated in a "diversity" training where the video shown had NO ONE that looked like me. I have participated in interviews of qualified and competent people of color who were rejected for reasons such as "they talked too much" or "their college has a poor ranking".  I had to listen to a room full of managers mock (and subsequently deny) a student who said his biggest accomplishment was being the first in his family to graduate. I have watched ONLY people of color be furloughed.

I remember the reason I got into Human Resources. I must have been naive because I truly wanted to help people. Telling someone they are hired is one of the most rewarding feelings ever! And watching their career flourish is even more rewarding. I wanted to be the "good" HR person-the one who demonstrated HUMAN. I didn't sign up to be the company assassin-sneaking up on people with no well documented performance issues to terminate them out the blue simply because someone had a friend they wanted to hire!

I know that there are many HR professionals who are protected by the coat of privilege. They don't ponder tough decisions or can sleep peacefully at night if they weren't directly impacted or involved in a discriminatory action. I don't own that jacket! Every time I witnessed workplace discrimination, it literally made me sick to my stomach. I had to look in the mirror and question my own worth. I had to smile at the coffee machine with people who made it clear that they felt myself and people who looked like me were "less than."

Human Resources professionals can not continue to operate in passive mode when matters of discrimination are escalated to their attention. It is their obligation to not only speak up but to educate leadership on these matters. Be brave enough to say "we got this wrong!" It is modern day slavery to expect Black employees to press on in business as usual mode after reporting these matters. Ethics and laws are in place for a reason.

Smart leaders will take these claims and allegations seriously and work to not only mitigate risks but to ensure that their workplace is truly a place where opportunities aren't given by who you know and what you look like. That Black Lives Matter statement your CEO issued read nicely but when the time comes, how will those words be demonstrated through action?