But somewhere between the two extremes lies a course of action that leads the employee from simple situations to more and more difficult ones in which his manager provides full information beforehand, discusses possible tactics, and then gives him his full chance.
Tokenism
Some firms and some managers have felt it necessary to comply with the letter but not the spirit of the Civil Rights Act. They hire one black, one Mexican, or one Oriental as evidence of good faith and then argue that everything possible has been done to find qualified candidates but to little avail. This is tokenism, and it has an effect on the man hired. First of all, he knows or gradually becomes aware of his situation. If he is a serious professional, he feels used, and his inner confidence is certainly not helped.
More than this, the token minority employee finds himself in an impossible situation from a career viewpoint. He may find the atmosphere friendless and feel cut off from normal informal channels of communication. Even more important, he finds himself competing solely against Whitey, and this may be a ball game for which he is not prepared and for which the ground rules are not very clear. When several minority employees are hired, they can compare notes, exchange information, help each other, and compete against each other as well as against their white associates. Tokenism in the long run can only result in increased turnover among minority employees, which in turn reinforces the prejudiced manager's view that "These people are unreliable" and he doesn't want too many of them around.
Showcasing
The rather obvious placement of a minority employee in the employment office, the reception area, or some other showcase spot indicates that management is trying to prove to the world its lack of prejudice and discrimination. Merely placing people in such spots is not a particular hazard to their career growth; but it can be a signal that the system for implementing their advancement is not functioning. Moreover, the person placed in such a showcase position is often the object of a combination of tokenism and showcasing in that he has few qualifications for the work, little is expected of him, and indeed he has little to do but be there, displaying management's good intentions. This can be devastating to the employee. Whatever skills he has are soon lost and whatever confidence might have carried him through the transition period is rapidly undermined, to be replaced with bravado, rebellion, or withdrawal.
Costly Omissions in Minority Career Development
Such errors as overpricing, overprotection, tokenism, and showcasing are only one side of the coin. On the other are a number of serious management omissions that slow the employee's growth and hold down his level of performance. Let's look at several important ones.
Inadequate and Inaccurate Responses
In the preceding chapter, it was pointed out that young people need clear, substantive day-to-day reactions to their effective accomplishments and to those that need to be changed, and that they should be encouraged to experiment and test reality so that they begin to learn about themselves and how to function effectively in business. A minority employee entering the business world for the. first time at any age needs these same kinds of information.
Unfortunately, because of cultural differences (or more likely because of fear of cultural differences), there is a certain uneasiness in the relationship between a minority employee and his manager. As a result, managers have been more delinquent than usual in performing this essential responsibility. If they are confronted with this charge, their rationalizations are fantastic. "Well, I have to give him a little time to adjust" is a frequent comment. But how will the man adjust if he doesn't realize that what he is doing or failing to do is not useful? Another says, "I don't want to hurt his feelings." Would anyone truly prefer to substitute a lifetime hurt for a few painful moments?
Even worse than no reaction is truly inaccurate feedback. Joe L., on his first accounting job, is making the usual mistakes of the new employee and is failing to submit all his reports on time. Does his manager tell him so? No. He slaps him on the back and tells him, "You're doing fine, Joe." How will Joe grow in these circumstances? How will the manager explain to Joe why he hasn't gotten a better job in a few years?
How often have you heard it said, "Yes, I know that work isn't being done right. We have a Puerto Rican [or Mexican-American or whatever ethnic background] in the job, and you know, we just can't fire him"? There is racism of the rankest sort.
The limiting effects of such treatment on the individual's growth and personal career management are so obvious they need no further elaboration.
Under Delegation
Delegation of trivia or work fragments is a serious managerial failure. Even managers who are normally good dele-gators sometimes fail with the minority employee. He is asked to do certain tasks but is not given a complete assignment to achieve. He may be given just enough information to carry out instructions but not enough to allow him to make any choices. And so his judgment, which is one of the essential ingredients in professional and management positions, is not developed. The supposedly successful employee operating under these conditions must be a robot. What is the effect on his career advancement? If he stays, he's limited; if he leaves, he starts over and probably must undergo an unlearning process. Sometimes the reason for under delegation is the over protectiveness of the manager. Sometimes it is lack of trust or of full communication. Whatever the reason, the result is the same.
Then he might come back in a day or so to ask whether work on it has started yet and if so what has been done. He may even go so far as to ask an associate of the employee's to look in on him to see whether he needs help. This kind of checking is bound to irritate the employee or make him nervous, depending on his feelings of security or self-confidence.
Attitudinal expressions of distrust may be more difficult to describe, but they're just as obvious to the employee. The manager's attitude is the sum and import of all the things he says or fails to say, the way he says them, his response and reaction to questions, his facial expression, gestures, and all the other verbal and nonverbal cues that convey the message, "I don't think you can do this or will do it or want to do it." Its effect on the employee's estimation of his own value can be devastating. He may refuse to do anything without the direct approval of his boss. He may spend an inordinate amount of time asking his associates how this or that is done to make sure he does it right. Or if he has strong confidence in his own abilities, he may turn rebellious, bent on belligerent win-lose confrontations. Or he may simply make a job change.
