As the population of the United States continues to become more diverse so do the people who eat in its restaurants. In the past year (and in years before)  we have seen restaurants and businesses involved in the industry hit with lawsuits, and charges of racism and  discrimination from customers and employees, with police being called on people of color who were waiting for friends, asked to pay in advance, or being charged extra for plastic utensils.  Lawsuits are not only expensive but the resulting publicity leads to loss of business and a working environment that is uncomfortable for people of color, women and any one else who feels devalued because of their differences.

For companies in this industry to be successful and move ahead of their competition they need to know how to create environments where all people can be accepted, respected and utilized for the differences they bring to the workplace. Racism and other forms of bigotry cannot be tolerated or accepted. Knowing how prevent racism,, bias, etc. t can enhance productivity and increase profit.

While some organizations may understand the need to have its employees be representative of its customer base in order to stay competitive, they don’t know how to integrate diversity into the overall business strategy. They may hire more people of color and women, but don’t address systems and processes for recruitment, and retention, promotion, mentoring and leadership. It’s not enough to talk about diversity, or have a few training sessions without creating a change in the culture of the organization from the top down.

They may have training in mitigating bias, racism and other forms of discrimination for managers  but don’t bring it to the hourly employee level enough and  relate it to practical every day behavior. In addition, employees who resist learning, exhibit racist or discriminatory behavior, and refuse to learn need to be let go. (They shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.)

Diversity initiatives need to begin with an assessment of the organization, no matter how big or small, to identify how employees perceive things. Its more than just race, and gender, but includes differences like age, ethnic background, work function, education, sexual orientation and religion. You have to address the diversity of the customer base and how well you are meeting their needs. If you have a restaurant  where there is a large Spanish speaking population, it only makes good business sense to have some employees that speak Spanish.

Create an environment and set written norms of what you won’t tolerate, like customers raging about people talking in languages other than English. The customer is not always right. Over 30 years ago, I was fired from my server  job for telling a customer to leave after she had called another server the “N word.” As much as I needed the job, I walked off, never looked back and glad I took a stand.

Educate employees about how to handle offensive, bigoted, haterade  behaviors by customers. That intervention training is often not included in training and orientations but needs to be. Educate employees about how to intervene, and what to say and do when they witness another employee acting inappropriately towards a customer. Your business is more important than one employee not wanting to confront racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. behavior from a customer or another employee. Take a stand, provide the right tools and practice and run your business according to you values (if you value inclusion and serving people of every race, religion, gender, etc.)

Organizations like Women’s Foodservice Forum, and the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance are good resources for networking and best practices from people who are involved in promoting diversity in their organizations and the industry.

As industries compete for qualified employees at all levels, in a shrinking labor pool at all levels, no one should be disqualified because of their differences. In order to develop a diversity initiative that can improve productivity and profit, people at all levels need to be educated. It means a commitment to change, not only how the company looks but how people treat each other personally and professionally.