New recruit complaining about lack of employees from ethnic minorities

[Dickieanddolly]

I work for an environment-focussed agency in one of the smaller UK countries. My team covers one of the more rural regions where the population is 99% white. Last year needed to recruit someone with specific qualifications and experience and the best candidate applied from India. She was the only applicant with the qualifications we were were looking for. She'd been to university in London, then returned to India where she'd gained several years of relevant experience. I interviewed her remotely and I and the HR rep talked to her about how our area was very different from her university city experience and may present challenges. She brushed off our concerns: she said she knew the UK and didn't anticipate any issues.

Within a couple of weeks of her starting the job I had feedback from her manager that she had talked several times about her discomfort at finding she was the only minority ethnic person on the team. I had an informal 'how's it going' chat with her when I encountered her in the office at the beginning of June and she said she was struggling, seeing so few people like her around. I asked her about her experience with colleagues and with the stakeholders she encounters in her work: was she encountering racism? She said no, everyone she'd met had been very nice and any minor 'off' comments were made out of ignorance and not intentionally. I asked if there was anything we could do to make the transition easier for her and she shrugged.

Yesterday a member of the team dropped in to update me on a new project. I was pleased to hear that our new recruit is working well and has come up with some ideas that will be trialled. Great. But apparently several of the team are on eggshells around her because of regular comments about how white everyone is. Several members of the team, appreciating the culture shock she must be experiencing, have done what they can to make her feel welcome. Many of us have had work experience abroad, often in developing countries (I spent a year in Malawi, for example), and know how hard it can be. She's been invited into peoples' homes, invited out at the weekend and her colleagues have introduced her to other people of colour elsewhere in the organisation and in town — and then worried that that might be seen as racist.

Any ideas on what more we can do to help her feel more at home? Anything I need to look out for/ be aware of?

Seems like the organisation the OP works for is already doing rather well at making recruitment inclusive and advertising to diverse audiences - otherwise how else would this new recruit have heard of the role in the first place?

You can't implement a diversity target when progressing applicants to interview if almost none of the applicants are diverse. In this case the best applicant got the job. And the fact that she is of Indian heritage is totally irrelevant. She was the best candidate.

If your business is in a region of the country where 99% of the population is white, it stands to reason that 99% of the applicants for any given job are likely to follow a similar pattern. This simple fact appears to have escaped the notice of this new employee.

I doubt the person in question is intelligent, otherwise her white colleagues would not have to tread on eggshells around her, as per the OP.

That alone makes the work environment unhealthy.

Shes playing the victim/race card mentality - to what ends - who the fuck knows.

What is clear though, is that she should be given a stern talking to about her abhorrent, racist demeanour. And if she cannot assimilate, she should find a job in India where she wont feel so out of place.

I agree. This kind of racism against white people is starting to be recognised for what it is. It’s truly toxic.

Has the organisation for an anti racial discrimination policy? That often says there should be zero tolerance of racism and that means everyone is protected and respected.

Honestly - recruitment is not about race or colour - it is about suitability for a job amongst the presenting candidates. Your company has made choices bases on that - most are white British (by the sound of things) - this new staff member is not.

In itself that is unremarkable - you are assembling the right people with the right qualifications and experience.

It really does sound as though the team is being welcoming and helpful and recognizing that she might need time to settle both in a new job and in an ethnic environment that is alien to her.

But she should not be "complaining". That is out of order.

All you can do is to encourage the team to continue to be as welcoming and helpful as they already are.

Yes of course we do. I've asked and she's confirmed that she hasn't experienced discrimination within the organisation. Her discomfort stems from the fact that she is living and working in an area where there are very few immigrants of colour.

She sounds like a pain. Plus rude and annoying.
Clearly very naive if she thinks London is the same as the rest of the UK, it really isn't

Personally I wouldn't be doing anything. She got herself into this situation and wouldn't be told. Apart from l maybe would make sure HR are aware of the way she going on to different people

So she hasnt suffered any discrimination, but is now acting in a way that her colleagues walk on eggshells around her.

As to her discomfort - well she should have thought about that before coming to the UK, which is predominantly a white country.

No one is forcing her to stay. She can be replaced by a non racist employee and a better one at that too.

Would she be as accomodating to a white person in her hometown in India?

Not fucking likely.

Seriously - sack her off. She is racist, disruptive and adds complexity and problems to your team. Better to struggle without her than keep her and all be on tenterhooks as to when she plays her racial "woe be upon me" horseshit.

Thats not really your problem if she’s moved into an area that she’s not happy in, due to lack of diversity. Not quite sure how you’re expected to resolve this either. Maybe pose that question to her and ask how things could be done differently. If she says a more ethic workplace, stress you employ on basis of suitability for the job, not tickboxes.

Surely she can google and find clubs and associations not to far away she can join, and if there’s none nearby, why didn’t she do her research before joining the firm?

Her discomfort is not your problem to fix.

If she is being rude to other employees and making them feel uncomfortable, then you need to tackle that.

Are you worried she’ll leave and you’ll struggle to replace her?

I'd ask her what are the challenges of working in an area with few immigrants of colour? She says she hasn't experienced discrimination - so what is it exactly ? Is it something you can do anything about? I'm struggling to see how you can overcome her issue - you are a rural area with few immigrants of colour.

Good god. Wtaf is wrong with people. This is seriously out of kilter. World gone mad.

@Dickieanddolly But that’s entirely down to her choices and you cannot change it. What you can do is protect your other staff. They should expect respect and tolerance too. She needs a chat doesn’t she!

I actually think she’s angling to say you discriminate in your selection procedures. You have selected her but she thinks there should be more like her and you have discriminated because everyone else is white. She will probably want a different recruitment policy that gets your ratio better! Otherwise I don’t see the point in saying anything because you cannot change anything except positive recruitment on non white people. Or she just might not see she’s annoying people.

Or she is letting you know she's looking for another job.

@Fluffyholeysocks Yes. Probably. Never easy after a short time though. Reasons for leaving? She needs to be in London or ethnically mixed city though.

Or she can happily go back to India if she feels more at home with people matching her skin colour criteria....

She’s being racist. Skin colour shouldn’t matter.

Address the "ethnic balance" in an area that's 99% white? Why?

Personally I find this type of thinking about how white our country is, is in of itself ignorant. We are predominantly white and therefore there should be no surprises, esp. if working rurally. I remember having a discussion about the lack of multiculturalism in specific areas and when I mentioned the obvious fact - we were a predominantly white country, the pin drop was visceral. On one hand she may need some time, on the other, this type of thinking will start to grate, if it hasn’t already. I know of other countries when jobs will offer country/culture specific insight training for newcomers, could this be offered here?

She needs to be spoken to about her racist views. Imagine how these comments would be received if it were a white person saying there weren't enough white employees. Racism doesn't flow one way.

Why would ethnic minorities want to move to an undiverse area if it makes them uncomfortable? We cant force diversity.
Rural NI or Scotland isn't a hotbed of multiculturalism and won't be for a long time.
Rural India (and urban India) is not exactly a rainbow of diversity either.

I think there is a point in terms of would a white person ever say what she has in India? It is rude in any workforce to make others uncomfortable.

You're not white but I'd wager you're not Indian either