| Many Black and Minority Ethnic Social Workers in | | | | with the use of short hand and jargon workers |
| social care settings are often not understood by | | | | can get the opposite message for example an |
| the very people who employ them. The main | | | | inquiry about a case can be translated to criticism |
| views being:o Use of the English Language is not | | | | by the worker receiving it. |
| right,o Problems speaking to or presenting | | | | Behavior |
| reportso Did not succeed at interviews due to | | | | With the lack of face to face communication and |
| underselling themselveso Defensive when relating | | | | breakdown in understanding many issues will |
| to colleagues or bosses. | | | | come into the mix such as stereotyping, mistrust, |
| The feedback generally amounts to "work on | | | | racism, inequality. Some workers will be viewed as |
| communication skills" or "this worker needs to go | | | | not having the necessary mindset and attitude for |
| on a good report writing course". | | | | the job, the discussion after the interview will |
| For Black and Minority Ethnic workers our | | | | always include what is known about that person in |
| language, which also includes pidgin, patois, dialects | | | | particular or what is known about workers like |
| and accents have been scrutinized and included in | | | | that. This is mainly generalizations or personal |
| the way our bosses think about us well before | | | | experience of each individual member of the |
| we get into the interviewing room or make the | | | | interviewing panel, or your manager's experience |
| application for Career Grade Progression. It leaves | | | | of working with people like you when they are |
| workers wondering"How can I break the glass | | | | doing your appraisal. |
| ceiling?" | | | | So what can you do about this as a Black and |
| Breaking the glass ceiling is an interesting term but | | | | Minority Ethnic worker? |
| in order to break it you have to travel towards it | | | | Your bosses have a duty to provide you with |
| in some means and in this instance our vehicle of | | | | communication which meets your needs and does |
| transportation is "the glass elevator or lift" and a | | | | not discriminate against you; however we are |
| lot of us do not know what the stages are in the | | | | talking about the subtleties of the elevator levels |
| glass elevator. Communication is a level which | | | | which get you past the floors in order to break |
| stands out and the test at this level can be more | | | | the glass ceiling. There are things you can do to |
| subtle and wide ranging than you think. | | | | prepare yourself for career progression and to |
| We are looking at communication and as a Black | | | | also lessen the impact of communication |
| and Minority Ethnic professional it is essential that | | | | breakdown in your day to day job.o Get to grips |
| you know what goes on here for your bosses. | | | | with how they communicate: look for patterns |
| They actually want to have a good proportion of | | | | and similarities, knowledge is powero Make your |
| workers from diverse backgrounds so that you | | | | responses to them in concise forms: this will |
| can work with the services users however your | | | | encourage your bosses to respond to you in a |
| bosses can at times struggle to communicate | | | | concise way, ideally point by point which makes |
| with you and so you will not attain as easily as | | | | things easier to deal witho If you do not |
| some of your colleagues. There is a bit of a | | | | understand jargon and acronyms say so, many |
| knock on effect here which starts with their use | | | | people do not understand it but pretend they do, |
| of language | | | | you will be asking for clarity not seeming to be |
| Language | | | | ignorant.o Do not consider every correspondence |
| They will use jargon or slang, acronyms and short | | | | or verbal interaction as a threat or criticism, |
| forms for concepts or titles, examples which | | | | consider possible meanings and seek advice if it |
| make no sense to some workers experience, | | | | still seems vague or negativeo Seek support; if |
| unknown brands names and hard to decipher | | | | the support you have been getting still does not |
| research, usually taken out of context. And they | | | | make a difference you may need to consider |
| will expect you to know what they mean. They | | | | getting outside advice and guidance for your |
| themselves may not use plain English. | | | | development |
| Modern technology | | | | My best advice is for you to get a Mentor, why? |
| By using tools to aid efficiency such as | | | | Because some of us have been breaking the |
| Computers and emails aimed at large numbers of | | | | glass ceiling for years by sometimes getting off |
| staff non-verbal communication is lost and | | | | the glass elevator and using the stairs, and |
| interfered with. Body language, expressions, | | | | contrary to popular belief, we are keen to pass |
| pronunciations and tone are not seen and coupled | | | | our information on! |