When Your Expertise is Valued More Than Your Humanity

Blog 1. Part 3.

When Your Expertise is Valued More Than Your Humanity

One of the most dangerous things an organisation can become is performatively progressive.

Because from the outside, everything appears healthy. The language is correct. The statements are polished. The workforce appears diverse. The initiatives exist on paper.

But beneath the optics, another story is quietly unfolding. People are leaving.

And not because they are incapable, unprofessional, or unable to cope with the demands of the work — but because prolonged exposure to unhealthy workplace cultures eventually becomes psychologically unsustainable.

What struck me most was not simply the existence of racism within the organisation. Sadly, racism within institutions is not new. What became impossible to ignore was the organisation’s resistance to fully confronting what was happening, despite repeated signs, repeated concerns, repeated departures, and repeated opportunities to reflect. The issue was never that diversity and inclusion work was entirely unwelcome. To a degree, broader EDI conversations were supported. But there was a noticeable shift when conversations became more specific to Black experiences.

And while policies and procedures are not inherently problematic, the disparity in scrutiny raised important questions.

Why did Black spaces evoke a different level of organisational discomfort?

Why did support suddenly become conditional upon increased monitoring?

Why did conversations about Black experiences appear to generate fear rather than curiosity?

At the time, my intention was never to create division. It was the opposite. As a social worker, and as somebody deeply committed to anti-oppressive practice, I could not ignore what these dynamics potentially meant beyond staff experience alone. Because if professionals working alongside one another every day were experiencing exclusion, silencing, racial harm, or fear around speaking openly, then what might this mean for the families and communities engaging with those same systems? That question stayed with me constantly and I was not willing to ignore it.

What many people did not see was the emotional burden that came with becoming a confidante for others. People spoke to me privately. Shared experiences quietly. Trusted me with concerns they did not feel safe raising themselves. And it was important to provide them space and opportunity to do so. However, as they often wanted anonymity; fearing repercussions. and becoming targets themselves, I carried their stories alongside my own. And in doing so, I unintentionally became positioned as the spokesperson for experiences far bigger than myself.

This created another painful contradiction. The more isolated my voice became publicly, the easier it became for others to frame the issue as a personal grievance rather than a systemic pattern.

As though I was simply “difficult.” Overly sensitive. Misunderstanding or overreacting.

But the revolving door told its own story. People kept leaving.

And behind closed doors, many privately acknowledged the same concerns. They recognised that change was needed. That the culture was unhealthy and that certain dynamics were harmful. Yet acknowledgement alone changes nothing when fear prevents action.

This is one of the most effective ways toxic systems sustain themselves; not necessarily through overt villainy, but through collective silence, self-preservation, and the protection of organisational comfort.

What is also true is that sometimes people misunderstand acts of protection because they themselves do not yet realise they are in an environment that requires protecting people from...

Until eventually, the culture reaches them too. But by that stage, the damage has often already spread far beyond individuals. Because toxic workplace cultures are rarely isolated interpersonal problems. They are symptoms. And symptoms cannot be permanently covered with carefully worded statements, diversity campaigns, or surface-level initiatives. Eventually, organisations have to confront the root cause but too often, the very people with the power to address those causes are also the people most invested in protecting them.