66 DIVERSEability Magazine www.diverseabilitymagazine.com

BUSINESS 2 BUSINESS

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ollowing the news that COVID-19 first appeared in China, prejudice against the Asian community increased across the U.S. Stop AAPI Hate recorded about 2,500 inci- dents of racism in March 2020, with California accounting for 46 percent of the cases. Most of these cases were verbal harassment, physical assaults, shunning and business vandalism. As a small business owner, its vital to learn how to handle instances of discrimination, particularly when you have a diverse team. Incidents of racism, sexism and ableism can affect your employees morale and perfor- mance, hurting productivity and stifling cre- ativity. Plus, employees are even at high risk when an incident turns violent. Knowing how to handle these attitudes in a small business can go a long way in protecting your employees and businesses. Here are the steps you can take:

How to Implement Safety and Inclusion in Your Small Business

Stay Calm & Avoid Overreacting

While staying calm when negative remarks are directed to you is challenging, remaining professional and avoiding rage is advisable. In some cases, unruly customers become more aggressive when you respond angrily, aggra- vating the situation. If you fear the situation is likely to esca- late, its better to walk away. Ask a colleague or coworker to take over or tell the customer youll call them back and hang up the phone. Staying calm helps to defuse the situation, allowing you to avoid reacting against the person or going down to their level.

Listen to Your Employees

Being a victim of racial abuse or ableist attitudes can be traumatic to some employees. They might feel unwanted and disrespected,