Employee engagement, with its focus on building mutually beneficial emotional attachments between employees and their managers through work activities, has the potential to greatly eliminate either the perception or the reality of racial discrimination, according to Dr. James R. Jones, an associate professor of management in the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Jones shared the findings of a study he conducted with David C. Wilson, assistant professor in the department of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware, at DiversityInc’s two-day learning event in Washington, D.C.

Jones said he analyzed data from a Gallup Organization public-opinion poll to illustrate how companies might incorporate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s social-justice themes of “belongingness and connectedness” in ways that could improve employee satisfaction, loyalty and retention.

Jones said the concept of the “Beloved Community” was central to the thinking of Dr. King. This concept is equally important on the job, especially when it comes to fostering employee engagement among Black, Latino and other traditionally underrepresented employees.

He said that people who feel a sense of engagement, belongingness and connectedness with their workplaces and who believe in their company’s commitment to diversity feel a heightened connection at work. He also noted that higher engagement among employees leads to lower perceived discrimination.

According to Jones, there is a pronounced difference among Blacks and Latinos compared with whites and in many cases Asians in the perception of perceived discrimination in the workplace.

When it comes to employee engagement, the racial composition of the supervisor-employee relationship plays a key role in predicting whether employees will stay at an organization or leave, Jones said. When employee engagement is low, employees who are a different race from their bosses are less likely to stay at an organization than employees who are the same race as their bosses. Conversely, when employee engagement is high, employees who are a different race from their bosses’ race are more likely to stay at an organization than employees who are the same race as their bosses.

Jones said that establishing and effectively promoting and supporting diversity policies can pay huge dividends toward creating an engaged workplace.