VOA标准英语2008年-On the Job, Biases Can Be Deep and Subtle

（单词翻译）

Most U.S. companies act swiftly and forcefully to root out discrimination based on race, sex, age, or appearance when they discover it. And there are good reasons to do so: intolerance on the job hurts morale¹ and productivity. It's illegal under civil-rights laws. And offending companies can face expensive lawsuits² and ruinous publicity³.
　
Steve Robbins' book of short stories about diversity emphasized its importance, not just to worker morale but also to a company's credibility and image

But Steve Robbins, a business consultant⁴ who specializes in diversity issues, points out that not all intolerance on the job is clear-cut, easy to spot, or even conscious and deliberate. In a country in which, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll this month, 3 in 10 Americans still admit to feelings of racial bias⁵, prejudice can bubble up in subtle ways.
　
Leadership that include men and women and different ethnic⁶ groups is more than a cosmetic⁷ statement. It tells employees that varied⁸ viewpoints are welcome

So-called harmless jokes around the office water cooler aren't so harmless to those being mocked. And Robbins says such behavior can fester when executives and department heads – no matter how sensitive and enlightened they may see themselves – are part of what he calls an all-white boys' club; they can easily miss offensive innuendos⁹ or shrug¹⁰ them off as no big deal.
　
Humor in the workplace can be a tonic¹¹. Or it can be toxic¹², if the jokes are at one person or one group's expense

Other signs of what Robbins calls unintentional intolerance at work include high turnover¹³ among women and people of color. He says it's a red flag when these folks get the lion's share of poor performance evaluations¹⁴. Workplace stress, lack of promotion¹⁵ opportunities, and what he calls flat-out exclusion¹⁶ can sometimes explain their inadequate¹⁷ productivity.

Steve Robbins notes that biases¹⁸ can be deeply and darkly held and are hard to change. But companies that allow even unintented intolerance to turn into offensive behavior are asking for trouble. Big trouble.

[Steve Robbins is the author of What If? Short Stories to Spark Diversity Dialogue, published by Davies-Black.]