Battling bigotry the right thing to do, and not just to improve bottom line

The benefits of a broader and more tolerant society are still denied to millions of people. Change needs to start at the workplace.

The value of an individual – in its most potent sense – is not defined by gender, sexuality, physical ability, class or ethnicity any more than it is defined by eye colour, left-handedness or an awkward birthmark, all of which have attracted discrimination in the past. 

Yet a significant part of society continues to have to put up with routine casual insults, or hide their true self, or see their career opportunities sacrificed to an arbitrary hierarchy.

There are powerful arguments for businesses and societies to promote inclusion. Why would any company hire talent and then treat it like a bonsai project rather than allowing it to grow to its full potential? 

Case study after case study has shown that a broader range of inputs to a debate leads to more stable and successful solutions, and as a business model, meritocracy works a lot better than arbitrary discrimination.

But these arguments, although useful, miss a key point. Their fatal weakness is that they imply that if prevailing business conditions change, such that discrimination once again becomes profitable, it would be acceptable to return to bigotry.

The real argument for inclusion is moral. Work is a huge part of all our lives. We all spend 40, 50, 60, 70 or more hours a week in close proximity, and the true cost is counted in the impact of working in an environment made toxic by prejudice. 

This is about treating the people we sit next to day after day with dignity and respect. It’s about celebrating the overwhelming number of things we have in common rather than using our differences to construct a system of pseudo-moral apartheid. 

This is about what is right. It is mere coincidence that it is also frequently profitable.

Bigotry is both a source and a manifestation of weakness. All my experience of running teams tells me that the broader and more open the group, the happier the workplace and the greater the personal and professional satisfaction of the people working there. 

Intolerance is the defensive expression of beleaguered ideologies that are increasingly out of step with the modern world. For some people, the uncertain benefits of greater inclusion are outweighed by the safety of an imaginary status quo. 

Yet the fear of “the other” is restrictive rather than empowering, and when people are bold enough to step out of their safety zones they find new solutions to long-standing problems and forge new friendships based on the overwhelming number of things they share rather than focusing on enmities sparked by narrow differences. 

Our right to live as we wish comes with an obligation to allow others the same freedom. We do not presume to impose our moral vision on anyone, but we all have a duty to protect everyone’s rights to be free of discrimination and to be afforded the same opportunities as everyone else. 

We are moving towards a more inclusive society, but we need to remember that even if prejudice is in retreat, it has not disappeared and still has the ability to poison the workplace, shatter families and inflict misery on those we should be supporting the most.

The long-term strength of companies like HSBC is indistinguishable from the long-term strength of the communities we serve. We have a duty to take the lead in ensuring that our employees and our clients are given a full opportunity to realise their potential regardless of who they are.

 

Noel Quinn is head of commercial banking at HSBC Asia-Pacific.