When people think of bias, they often think of race, age, religion, or gender. But are you aware of accent discrimination? It’s actually quite common, and can affect people in a number of ways, including socially and professionally. It can also affect their self-esteem and self-confidence.
In addition to accent reduction software, increasingly a solution for offshore call centers, there are strategies to address accent bias in the workplace. Keep reading.
What is Accent Bias?
While you may not have given it much thought, accent bias is a type of language discrimination covered under Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. An accent, which we all have, is basically how one speaks, how they pronounce a language. It can give clues into one’s cultural background, where one lives, and one’s socioeconomic status.
An accent bias is an unjustifiable, unwarranted, and often subconscious prejudice toward those who speak with an accent that’s distinct from the dominant culture. It can manifest in a number of ways. For example, people who find an accent unacceptable often call into question the speaker’s intelligence and competence.
While accent discrimination may not be as well-known or evident, it is pervasive. Those who have positions that require a great deal of verbal communication can find their employment affected.
For instance, call center agents with accents that customers regard as foreign frequently face impatience and abusiveness, their competence called into question.
Strategies to Address Accent Bias
There are ways to become more aware of accent bias in employment, and ultimately root it out.
Increase Awareness
Employers should give the same attention to accent bias as they do other forms of discrimination. You can hold discussions or seminars, for example, about types of discrimination. You can also describe, and caution against, accent discrimination in employee handbooks.
Codify Hiring and Promotion Practices
Be certain that your approach to hiring and promoting employees is consistently fair. Design objective hiring and promoting processes that mitigate ways in which accent bias can creep in. To help you remain objective, consider using standardized performance questionnaires and applicant tracking systems.
Create Inclusive Workplace Practices
Everyone should make a deliberate effort to keep all communication at work as nonjudgmental and inclusive as can be. That can mean simply asking a speaker to talk slower or requesting clarification.
Train Staff
Consider training staffers, particularly those involved with recruitment. This can enable employees to evaluate their own accent biases in a nonjudgmental, interactive way.
Create diverse workplaces and teams. Adding more employees from diverse linguistic backgrounds will ensure that everyone is sensitive, as well as adapted to, varied accents.
Provide Toolkits
Putting together toolkits can support diversity efforts and establish effective communication practices between members with different accents and backgrounds.
They can help employees become more aware of their accent biases as well as help them come up with phrases and words that are more neutral, regionally.
Call it Out
If you or employees or colleagues hear accent bias, say something, their company position notwithstanding. After all, the person targeted may fear speaking up. However, you can address the issue on their behalf.
While accents are an important part of each of our identities, non-native accents commonly result in snap judgments about the speakers’ background and socioeconomic class. That can affect people’s employment, in addition to other areas of everyday life.
But employing the above strategies can result in creation of a more accepting and inclusive workplace.
Article and permission to publish here provided by Raquel Murphy. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on October 28, 2024.
Cover image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.