3 Questions to pose to your Employees
(Unconscious Bias Training)
Part 2 of 3
The ‘Sharmaji’s New House’ Story
Mr and Mrs Sharma invited Mr Sharma's colleague, Ashwin, who Mrs Sarita Sharma knew as an acquaintance, for dinner. As is the Indian culture, Ashwin accepted his drink and took a seat closer to Sharmaji. He looked around the house admiring it, then turned to Sharmaji.
Ashwin: What a beautiful house! Congratulations on your new house, Sharmaji!
Sharmaji beamed a smile, politely thanked him, and proceeded to describe some trivia about the house. After some time, they all had a simple but lovely dinner, and then Ashwin thanked both Mr and Mrs Sharma and left.
As soon as Ashwin left, Sarita Sharma took her husband to task.
Sarita: Your house?!! Did you buy this house by yourself? Didn't I contribute equally to this house?
Her bluntness astounded him! He thought the evening had gone well. He had utterly missed the point that he might have told Ashwin the house was bought by them together. But not ready to accept blame, he quickly gathered his wits and fired back at her.
Mr Sharma: Why did you not tell him? You were also sitting here, na?
Sarita was not going to let him off the hook this easy, so she retorted.
Sarita: If I had told him, it would have looked awkward, but if you had told him, it would have been so apt.
Sharmaji had one more salvo with him. He tried to blame Ashwin for having congratulated only him and not her. To his dismay, Sarita stated;
Sarita: Oh! He is so nice! Why are you trying to pass the blame on to him? It was your job to share the credit with me, not his.
Both husband and wife left the room wondering if they had faulted, but neither dared to own up.
Suggested Questions:
- When a husband or wife says, "my house," does it implicitly mean "our house," irrespective of who contributed to it?
- If all male employees are posed this question, what is the percentage of a “Yes” response?
- If all female employees are posed this question, what is the percentage of a “Yes” response?
- If there is a substantial difference in the percentage, what could be the possible reasons?
Interesting Stats: In 2021, India has slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered in the Gender Gap Report. Employers need to pay attention to the gender gap not only because such inequality is inherently unfair. But also, because numerous studies suggest greater Gender Equality leads to better economic performance.
Rainmaker excels in training on Diversity and Inclusion at Workplace. Our Online Diversity training courses are benchmarks for e-modules, just like our PoSH e-modules. Our workshops on Respect and Inclusion at the workplace are delivered by an ex-Major who has served in the Armed Forces. She has also been a CHRO at large MNCs as well as a National Award Winner for a White Paper on Gender Sensitization. The outstanding feedback that we receive from our clients who bank on us to make their DEI journey efficient and sustainable, is what motivates us every morning, to get up and do what we do.
Call us today for a Demo of Rainmaker Training’s D,E&I e-Module, WorkVIBE https://youtu.be/QAJihR48_Kg, or a Dry Run of any of the D,E&I workshops, given below:
- Purpose in taking on the D,E&I Agenda
- Open-Minds (Unconscious Bias)
- The Empathy Lens
- Gender Sensitization
- Gender & Gender Pronouns (LGBTQ+)
- Stages of Life (Generation)
- Diagnostics & Cultural Competence
Link to Part One of the three stories: Unconscious
Bias And Workplace Diversity – A Thought Exercise On Bias Reduction – Rainmaker
Author: Sumali Nagarajan
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