Exploring Leaders’ Discriminatory, Passive-Aggressive Behavior Toward Protected Class Employees using Diversity Intelligence

The Problem As there is diversity in many workplaces, diversity intelligence (DQ) needs to be integrated alongside intellectual, emotional, and cultural intelligences to be effective. DQ requires leaders to have knowledge to understand protected class employees and the legal mandates and executive orders established to protect those employees from discriminatory practices at work. Irrespective of the billions of dollars invested in diversity or antidiscriminatory practices training, many protected class workers remain underutilized or marginalized due to leaders’ unfamiliarity with these groups of workers and/or incompetence to harness their talents to achieve organizational goals. DQ deficiencies trigger some leaders to apply passive-aggressive behaviors as a coping mechanism. These passive-aggressive behaviors can lead to a toxic and hostile work environment as evidenced through high attrition, unrealized productivity, feelings of frustration, fear, disappointment, resentment, among other adverse responses from both leaders and employees. The Solution To efficiently and effectively integrate protected class employees to contribute at their optimum levels, leaders need to possess DQ. Leaders in this study need to be educated or reeducated so that they understand who protected class employees are in the workplace. The Stakeholders Implications for human resource development professionals and researchers are offered. Opportunities for workplace leaders and protected class employees are presented.