Fostering a sense of belonging

By Tamara Pararajasingham

Challenge: As the Manager of an aged care home, how do you tackle racism that’s impacting the wellbeing of your staff?

Solution: You need someone who goes beyond the morning teas and badges, and  actively makes culturally and racially marginalised team members feel safe, valued and supported. And someone who also believes in the dignity and willingness of their residents and families to understand, appreciate and celebrate those staff and their cultural differences.

You need an inclusive leader.

At Uniting – diversity, equity, and inclusion – are not just buzzwords. They are part of our DNA; it guides what we do and how we do it.  But it’s not always easy.

At one of our residential aged care homes on the NSW South Coast, our Service Manager Liam Fawell faced this challenge. Multicultural staff members were reporting feeling discriminated against and excluded by some residents and their families. Sadly, it’s not an unusual issue in our sector, but it is one that we can address together.

As an inclusive leader, Liam could see the opportunity this challenge presented. While his duty of care was to the residents of the home, he also had a duty of care to staff to ensure they felt safe and valued. To feel welcome, Liam believes that we all need to be celebrated for our culture, not scrutinised for it.

Liam didn’t rely on a policy or a procedure to take action, he led with empathy. Liam took a collaborative approach to the challenge by setting up a Caring for Culture Committee made up of residents and employees from all walks of life. The committee came together to collaborate on actions to tackle the issue in a culturally safe environment.

Together they decided to lean into celebrating and valuing culture with an explicit goal of creating connection and shared experiences. The hope was that this would address the biases and divides that underpinned the racism they faced. Hindu staff were delighted to be able to show residents, families and other team members how they celebrate the festival of Holi and other cultural practices.

For staff, this valuing of their culture  made them feel included and welcome. It gave them a sense of pride to share their cultural practices  with all the people in their workplace. Team members now tell us of a stronger sense of cultural safety and positivity at the centre.

Residents shared that they felt a sense of “freedom” when celebrating these cultural festivals. Freedom in knowing that people from different backgrounds could come together and enjoy themselves and be equals.

The impacts of this collaboration and inclusivity have been amazing to watch – it’s in the smile on the faces of the residents and staff, it’s in the positive interactions, it’s in the staff who feel confident enough to speak up, it’s in the way that residents, staff and families feel more comfortable in their environment. Liam didn’t avoid the difficult conversations, but rather, called out racism, which made staff feel seen and heard.

There’s been a shift that’s hard to quantify. Staff feel more comfortable to be who they are and are expressing themselves more openly. Liam has a sense that residents and their families are now looking at staff beyond their culture, as the person they are. It’s made for much more positive interactions and a greater sense of wellbeing.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a critical focus for Uniting. The narrative in global politics about DEI have left many people feeling concerned about the future, But at Uniting, this makes us only more committed to ensuring people are welcomed, included and celebrated. In fact, DEI is crucial for achieving our vision for disrupting entrenched disadvantage.

As an organisation, we exist in times where communities feel let down or challenged. We can’t change the world overnight, but we can ensure safe and inclusive places for our people and those we serve. As leaders, it’s time for us to step up, show up, speak up, and act with compassion.

Liam embodies Uniting’s values by looking at the situation through a compassionate lens, being respectful of all people involved, creating imaginative solutions, and being bold enough to try something new. It’s the key ingredients to being a good leader.

Tammy Pararajasingham is Uniting’s Director of Impact and Innovation, responsible for driving systemic change for disrupting entrenched disadvantage. She also overseas Uniting’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,  Social Innovation and Research and Social Policy.