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Benefiting From Nonsexis tLanguage in the W orkplaceBill Daily and Miriam Finch

Does your orga-nization spen dits time an dmoney recruiting thebest people av ailable ?Does it then increasethe chances of retain-ing those people b ytreating them fairly ?How can you tell? Lis-ten to the languag ethat is used, particu-larly by management .Members of an organi-zation shape interna land external realitie sby the words and phrases they use . Managers inparticular set the tone for other employees b yacting as language role models . This phenom-enon is easiest to witness in highly defined situa-tions . For example, managers who give perfor-mance appraisals know that the words they usein appraisals can powerfully affect an employee' ssubsequent behavior .By choosing w ords that focus attention o npersonality characteristics rather than on con cret e

behaviors, manage rs run the risk of reinforcingnegative actions . They may say an employee ha sa "bad attitude" instead of p inpointing th eaction(s) that lead to the interpretation : "Yo uwere late to work three times last week ." What ismore im portant, focusing on the concrete behav -ior may help the employee chang e the inappro-priate actions . Mana gers also run the risk of no treinforcing positive behaviors wh en they sa ysomething such as, "I can always count on you, "rather than, "I appreciated your staying late o nThursday to com plete that report . "The same h olds true for the consequences o fother specific activities . For instance, when amanager and employees from a particular unit se tout to develop long-term goals, the language of

those goals can set the ton e for that unit . "Outd oour competitor by 10 percent" may create a natmosphere of friendly competition, wherea s"Break our competitor's back" may create a natmosphere of aggression and hostility .Language RoutinesIn such special situations, choosing appropriat eand effective words can be a difficult and time-consuming process . W e generally do not m in dmaking the effort . however, because we kno whow w orthwhile the outcomes can he . Attentio nto the language we use in our ong oing interac-tions can be just as important for the success of aunit or of the organization as a whole. The im-pact our everyday language choices have o nemployees is often more subtle and hard er t oobserve, primarily because our language choice sbecome habitual . In other words, we come torely on what w e might call "language routines . "Language routines are composed of pat-terned responses to situations ; they often reflec tour unique commun ication styles . For instance ,think about the various ways y ou and yo ur co-workers greet each other every morning . Onc eyou have w orked together for a while, you ca nprobably predict with a fair amount of accurac ywhat each of you is going to say to the others .Language routines offer several advantages .They reduce the am ount of "think time" neede dto produce the messages we send . Imagine ho wmuch time you would spend during a norma lday if you had to plan all of your comm unicatio nexchanges . Moreover, language routines provid eus with predictability . How m any t imes have yo uthought to yourself, "I knew ex actly what w a sgoing to be said and how it was going to b esaid ." The ability to anticipate one or severa lresponses helps us plan our own actions betteror prepare alternative responses. For the organi-zation as a whole, language routines provide

T h e e l im in a t io n o fsex is t lang uag e ca nim p rove the qu a l ityo f w o r k l if e a n dh e ig h t e n e m p lo y e esa t isfac t ion w i th th eworkp la ce .

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some of the building blocks the organization use sto develop its unique culture and identity.

On the other hand, some language routinescause discomfort; they offend; they alienate .These routines discriminate against individuals o rgroups, andwhether intended or notthei reffects can be devastating. Although we recog-nize the need for organizations to address waysto overcome all types of language bias, in thisarticle we will focus specifically on sexist lan-guage .Types of Sexist LanguageSexism enters into our language in a number ofways. The most obvious of these is the use ofderogatory labels or phrases . Because these la-bels and phrases don't belong in any arena, wewill not waste time on them here . However, sex-ist language also includes various forms of ad-dress, such as job titles and courtesy tiles .

It is a mistake to underestimate the impor-tance of a job title . More than anything else, i treflects an employee's identity throughout th eworkplace . Many traditional job titles, however ,

reflect sex-role stereotyping . With a little effortand some creativity, titles that are biased an dexclusive can become neutral and inclusive . Forexample, "salesman" can become "sales agent, ""foreman" becomes "supervisor," and a "work-man" is a "worker" or "employee ." (If you areunsure how to change a sexist title, consult th eU .S . Government Dictionary of Occupationa lTitles, 3rd. ed., 1975) . It is also important not tosabotage already neutral titles by unnecessaril yindicating gender, such as "male nurse," "woma nlawyer," or "female doctor." An indication of gen-der clearly devalues the person. With the positionitself, the unnecessary use of gender at the veryleast signals that gender somehow makes a differ-ence . More commonly, it serves to question un-fairly the competence of the individual .

Using the appropriate courtesy title can go along way toward establishing good relations .Deciding what is appropriate, however, can betricky, because it is often a matter of personalpreference . When in doubt, use the title thatwould be appropriate for a man (Dr. instead o fMrs.) or one that does not indicate marital statu s(Ms. instead of Mrs .) .

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(A m ore subtle form of sexism can be seen i nsuch usage as in the following introduction : " Iwould like you to meet Dr . Jones, Mr . Sm ith, an dDebbie Johnson ." Frequently, the familiar form o faddress is used for a woman w hen she is ad-dressed along with males who are given courtes ytitles . Regardless of the intent, this lack of paralle lstructure implies inequality . Either use courtesytitles for everyone, or omit them altogether .)A third form of sexist language is the use o fmale-based generic pronouns, such as "he," "his, "and "himself ." These pronouns con stitute th emost controversial category of sexist language ,because we hav etraditionally under-stood them to includ eboth men an dwomen, as in th esentence, "E ach em-ployee should readhis packet carefully . "In a comprehensivereview of the litera-ture on sexist lan-guage practices ,Pearson et al . (199 1 )report that empirica lstudies indicate that the use of traditional generi cpronouns encourages a male bias . They als oreview proposals for neutral generic pronouns ,but it does not appear that we are going to ac-cept them into our language any time soon .Thus, it will take a bit m ore creativity to counte rthe negative effects of traditional generic pro-noun use . Som e suggestions include 1) usingplural pronouns : "Em ployees should read theirpackets carefully"; 2) using pronoun pairs : "Eachemployee should read his or her packet care-fully" ; or 3 ) avoiding the use of pronouns alto-gether: "Each employee should read the packe tcarefully . "To promote better customer/client relations ,all three areas merit a m anager's attention . Weneed to be c areful not to fall into the trap of at-tending to our external constituents exclusively .Internal relationships also need to be nurtured, a smany companies have found that employees ten dto treat custdmers as they themselves are treated .Even if managers or employees do not have di-rect contact with customers, they interact wit hthose who do .Em ployees who believe that they are treate dunfairly may knowingly or unknow ingly transfe rtheir resentment to external customers . V erball ythey may be cu rt, not respond a s quickly as the yotherwise might, or give only the m inima lamount of service necessary to keep customersfrom complaining. Nonverbally, they may trans-mit their resentment through the ir tone of voice ,lack of eye contact, or rigid posture . R egardless

of the manner in w hich these feelings can b evented, the consequences will be negative .Benefits of Using N onsexist Languag eS exist language in any form emphasizes the ap-propriateness of one gender and the inappropri -ateness or absence of the other gender . Althoughchanging old ha bits is never easy, it will be we l lworth the effort involved . The following are jus tsome of the advantages that can be gained b yridding organizational language of sex bias .N onsexist language puts the emphasis on jo broles and the work produced, not on gender .Dropping gender distinctions is one tangibl emethod managem ent can use to announce tha tthese distinctions are unnecessary and, w hat i smore important, inappropriate . Most employees ,both male and female, will appreciate this over tgesture and will follow the lead .N onsexist language helps employees reac htheir full potential . Even though it may not b epossible to show a direct causal relationship be-tween sexist language and low self-esteem, com-mon sense tells us that the individuals in th econstant subordinate position are eventually go-ing to feel the effects o f the artificial inequalit ycreated and perpetuated with sexist language . O nthe other hand, nonsexist language allows n ofalse links between knowled ge, skills, abilities ,and gender .N onsexist language helps create a supportivework climate . The better the climate, the moresensitive it is to the personal needs o f employees ,and the better the quality of work life . In fact, a nincreasing number of organizations are imple-menting actual "quality of work life" program s t oadd ress the personal needs of their employees .On e criterion for assessing a firm's quality o fwo rk life is its ability to provide for ad equat e"social integration in the work organization "(Gray and S meltzer 1989 ) . By providing a climat ethat does not cond one the use of sexist language ,the organization ca n help facilitate the process o fsocial integration . W hen sexist language is th enorm, management may falsely assume that ev-eryone supports or at least accepts its use . Eve nthough employees may not express their disap-proval, however, they may vent it in some indi-rect manner, such as subtly w ithholding suppor tor cooperation . This type of backlash can b eavoided by using language that supports ever yemployee, not just some .N onsexist language unifies the work forc einstead of dividing it. This advantage become sparticularly important when o ne considers th ecurrent emphasis on improving quality in prod-ucts and services . Efforts to gain a competitiv eedge often require new or improved team-build-ing activities, creating self-directed wo rk teams ,

"Employees who believethat they are treatedunfairly may knowinglyo r u n k n o w in g ly t r a n s f e rth e ir r e s e n t m e n t t oe x t e rn a l c u s t o m e r s , "

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cross-functional cooperation, and increased sensi -tivity toward customers. The unifying qualities ofnonsexist language help create the ideal environ-ment for these activities to flourish . Moreover, itestablishes better relations with suppliers andcustomers, whose barometers are becoming in-creasingly sensitive to fair and equal treatment .Implementing Systemic Change sA change in the norms of language routines wil lnot happen overnight . Real and lasting changetakes time, because it demands a change in theway we think, in the way we view the world, oras Peter Senge (1990) puts it, in our "menta lmodel" of the way we interact with others in ou rorganization . Furthermore, this kind of behavior-altering change will occur only if all the organi-zation's members sincerely adopt nonsexist lan-guage as an organizational value . To ensure thatthis is done, systemic intervention is necessary,not simply by introducing a new technique butby planning systematic changes across all levels .

System-wide change must begin with suppor tfrom top management. Top management needsto articulate goals, and it needs to model the ne wbehavior whenever possible : "We use nonsexis tlanguage in our formal and informal oral an dwritten communication, and we expect everyon ein our organization to do the same ." Better yet, i tshould involve as many people as possible fro mthe start to take what is or will become an inter-nalized individual value and turn it into a collec-tive, organizational value that eventually mani-fests itself in all organizational activitiesfromselection and training practices to tie-ins wit hreward systems .Organizational Commitment toNonsexist LanguageOnce the goal is understood, we must do every-thing to gain commitment toward using nonsexis tlanguage . This means that all employees mus tcommit their time and energy to the cause . Themanager's role in this process is critical, althoughtrying to initiate such a change may at first be abit overwhelming. One place to start is for man-agers to develop action plans that help guide thechange process and pinpoint any snags along th eway. The following steps should be included inthe action plan : Managers must model the behavior theywant in their units . Employees tend to do wha tthey see is important, not what they hear. Mos toften they imitate the behavior they observe intheir managers.

Managers must review internal and exter-nal written communication. They must periodi-cally review publications, in-house organs, news -

letters, and business letters to ascertain whethe rthe goal is being accomplished . This is a time-consuming yet integral part of transforming thecurrent environment into a nonsexist one .

Managers must observe interactions . Areemployees working toward the goal of usingonly nonsexist language among themsel v es, aswell as when interacting with management?

Managers must share their observationswith the employees . Ideally these informationsessions would occur individually. Such sessionsprovide valuable input for employees regardingthe status of the move toward a nonsexist envi-ronment .

Managers must reinforce and reward goodperformance. This can be in person or in writing .A general comment such as "good job," "fantas-tic," "well done," or "outstanding," followed bythe employee's name, is an excellent beginning .Providing a concrete example along with a ben-efit of nonsexist language offers powerful rein-forcement: employees receive clarification abou twhat constitutes positive language use and how i tbenefits the unit . Because people tend to repea tbehavior for which they are rewarded, this inter-action could be followed with a written note fortheir performance files . If this social recognitio noccurs in a public setting, it can be helpful to theentire unit . Caution must be taken, however : itcan backfire and embarrass the employee, losin gthe impact desired by the manager .

Managers must assess reasons for negativeperformance. If employees continue to use sexis tlanguage, management must determine whethe rthey have the skills or the knowledge to us enonsexist language, or whether they have chose nnot to use it . If the problem is a lack of knowl-edge or skills, themanager must coachthe individual. Aneffective coachingstrategy is to firstexplain what iswanted, and thenask the employee touse the desired lan-guage . Feedbackand reinforcemenare then needed tomotivate and enable the employee to gain th eknowledge and skills necessary for using nonsex-ist language. It will probably take several session sbefore this change is internalized . If the em-ployee possesses the knowledge and/or theskills, but chooses not to use nonsexist language ,then the manager has a counseling problem .Jointly defining the problem can be the first ste ptoward solving it. This involves listening to th eemployee and discussing possible alternative sand consequences . Such a discussion could lea d

"Organizational memberscannot allow old habitsto slip back into use, orthey will undermine theent i re change process."

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the employee to select a desirable alternative .Developing an action plan follows ; the manage-ment process starts again, beginning with obser-vations and moving to reinforcement and coach-ing or counseling.

The change process takes a tremendou samount of energy and effort, but it i snecessary if the goal of routinely usingnonsexist language is to be achieved. The most

important thing to remember is that organiza-tional members cannot allow old habits to slipback into use, or they will undermine the entireprocess. The desire for change and the commit-ment to change must be on every agenda until i tbecomes a value in the organization.

Much money, time, and energy will b ewasted if this change cannot be maintained . Toincrease the probability that nonsexist languagewill become a part of the organizational culture ,CEOs must address the issue with immediat ereports on a regular basis. All management mus tmodel nonsexist language use and reinforce i twhen they see it in others .

Behavior must become habit, which leads tothe formation of values . Using nonsexist lan-guage will become a value when it is chosen

freely among alternatives after exploring the con-sequences of each alternative, and when it ca nbe followed by a public affirmation of thechange . When your organization can publicl yannounce to the world that it values the use o fnonsexist language, then you will know that you .have taken the right trackthe fair track . 0ReferencesEdmund R. Gray and Larry R . Sm eltzer, Management :T h e C o m p e t i ti v e E d g e (New York: Macmillan, 1989) .Judy Cornelia Pearson, Lynn H. Tumer, and WilliamTodd-Mantillas, G e n d e r a n d C o m m u n i c a tio n , 2nd ed .(Dubuque: W m . C . Brown, 1991) .Peter M . Senge , 7be Fi f th D isc ip l ine (New York :Doubleday, 1990) .

Bil l Dai ly is a professor, and Mir iam Finch i san a ssistant professor, both of comm uni-cation arts at Xa vier University, Cincinnati .

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