{"id":877,"date":"2025-12-12T15:32:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T15:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/?page_id=877"},"modified":"2025-12-12T15:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T15:37:25","slug":"recognize-microaggressions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/resources\/communication-strategies\/recognize-microaggressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognize Microaggressions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-877\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-877-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div id=\"microaggressions\" class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-877-0\" ><div id=\"pgc-877-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-877-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h1 class=\"widget-title\">Recognize Microaggressions<\/h1>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>Did you know that Canadians lose up to 55 working days per year due to workplace conflict? Anxiety and isolation are 2 factors that impact whether someone shows up for work. Conflict and mental health play a big role in this. Workplaces with poor communication can lead to anxiety and isolation, which can foster workplace conflict. A safe and healthy workplace benefits employers! It can<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>improve retention<\/li>\n<li>increase productivity<\/li>\n<li>reduce legal risks<\/li>\n<li>improve employee morale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Racism, prejudice and microaggressions add to this issue for employees from different cultures and backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>Microaggressions are everyday, subtle comments or behaviours that communicate bias or discrimination toward someone based on their membership in a group that\u2019s discriminated against or subject to stereotypes. Microaggressions can be verbal or nonverbal. They are often unintentional.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of microaggressions include<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>saying someone from another ethnic background looks \u201cexotic\u201d<\/li>\n<li>telling someone they don\u2019t look like they belong to a racial group<\/li>\n<li>calling women \u201cgirls\u201d<\/li>\n<li>assuming that someone is in a male-female relationship<\/li>\n<li>telling someone that they don\u2019t possess a negative stereotype associated with the equity-deserving group they identify with avoiding eye contact with someone who has a visible disability<\/li>\n<li>continuing to mispronounce a person\u2019s name, or call them a different name, instead of learning how to say it correctly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>People who belong to equity-deserving groups are more likely to experience hate speech and microaggressions. This includes people who<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>are from different racial backgrounds<\/li>\n<li>have a disability<\/li>\n<li>have different gender identities or sexual orientations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When situations aren\u2019t dealt with quickly and efficiently it promotes a hostile and unsafe work environment. As an employer, it\u2019s your responsibility to make every effort to have a microaggression-free workplace. To do this you can<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>train employees on microaggressions<\/li>\n<li>what they are<\/li>\n<li>how to recognize them<\/li>\n<li>the harmful consequences of them<\/li>\n<li>how to respond when they experience or see microaggressions in the workplace<\/li>\n<li>create a safe space for employees to approach you with concerns and workplace incidents<\/li>\n<li>review and update policies and procedures to make sure they are free from microaggressions and biases<\/li>\n<li>update your code of conduct to include microaggressions and corrective actions if\/when they happen<\/li>\n<li>have a conversation with employees when you see microaggressions<\/li>\n<li>lead by example \u2013 participate in anti-microaggression initiatives<\/li>\n<li>head an anti-workplace harassment and bullying committee<\/li>\n<li>post information and infographics around the office and worksites<\/li>\n<li>meet with employees and apprentices to discuss workplace conduct and expectations<\/li>\n<li>discuss microaggressions, workplace harassment\/bullying and positive communication at team meetings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The mental health of all employees improves when a workplace is inclusive. This starts with building positive and respectful communication. To do this you can<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>lead an anti-harassment and anti-bullying initiative<\/li>\n<li>ensure your workplace violence and harassment policies and procedures are reviewed regularly<\/li>\n<li>include policy review in the onboarding process<\/li>\n<li>have new employees sign policies to confirm that they understand and agree to comply<\/li>\n<li>give them an opportunity to ask questions and clarify anything they\u2019re unsure about<\/li>\n<li>communicate expectations around respect and code of conduct<\/li>\n<li>provide mandatory training at all levels<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-877-0-0-1\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><div class=\"rcard-row\">\n\t\n<div class=\"rcard\"><a class=\"rcard-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e4N50b76cZc\" target=\"_blank\">\nUnderstanding Microaggressions (Video)\n<\/a><\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"rcard\"><a class=\"rcard-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e7slPzAL2YE\" target=\"_blank\">\nMicroaggressions in the Workplace (Video)\n<\/a><\/div>\n\t\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that Canadians lose up to 55 working days per year due to workplace conflict? Anxiety and isolation are 2 factors that impact whether someone shows up for work. Conflict and mental health play a big role in this. Workplaces with poor communication can lead to anxiety and isolation, which can foster workplace [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":82,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"suas-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-877","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886,"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/877\/revisions\/886"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apprenticeshiphub.ca\/project25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}