Business’ Role in the 3rd Reconstruction
This is a confusing time for a challenging topic—but it is also a time of opportunity.
Lately, I’ve been talking to clients and their employees about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Many are confused. Some say, “I just do not know why our company is not diverse.” One white male participant in a virtual session said “I am confused and dispirited, I do not know what to do, and actually would prefer to be in a jingoistic country where people are more openly demeaning of me.” This is a confusing time for a challenging topic—but it is also a time of opportunity. Let’s explore why.
The Landscape:
We are in the messy middle of a Third Reconstruction. I find this idea helps to understand our context. The Civil War is associated with the First Reconstruction; the Emancipation Proclamation and constitutional amendments freed black slaves and provided rights.
The Second Reconstruction was a period of progress associated with the Civil Rights movement and Congressional Acts in 1964 and 1965. I cannot predict how the current protests and national discussion will affect our statutory environment in this Third Reconstruction—but I expect greater things from businesses to come.
Across organizations, there are many efforts, acts, and policies that will ultimately change the workforce practices and cultures to be more diverse equitable, and inclusive. These changes can improve the lives of underrepresented groups in ways that politics have not. The world and the customers have become more diverse, so these changes are core to business success.
Businesses are motivated to change the racial climate. Further, businesses have become more committed to social responsibility. The Business Roundtable has redefined the purpose of corporation to promote “an economy that serves all Americans.” With this shift in emphasis, it’s clear we are in a new era.
Many organizations have spoken out and even acted in support of Black Lives Matter—issuing statements vowing to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, and sometimes additionally even making major donation pledges. Yet building diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations remains challenging and many are looking for guidance.
Aligning Business and Social Matters Meaningfully
In the U.S., many have looked to the human and civil rights movement for guidance on how to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive—but I respectfully question the wisdom of wholesale adoption of social justice tenants. While we can respect and learn from social movements, businesses are different; in addition to acting on the rationale that “it’s the right thing to do,” it is important to have a strategic, or market, rationale.
Strategy may endure longer than our impulse to do good. Look to early adopters, especially in the B-to-C space for examples. P&G, who serves a huge diversity of global consumers understands how an understanding of diversity and inclusion is an understanding of customers. (Note that P&G is a client, but I am not sharing anything that is not public knowledge.) If you are in the service business, your workforce empathy for the customer can easily be enhanced if it matches the population it serves. Strategy should inform and shape diversity efforts.
Where do we go next?
Known methods of changing organizations work to improve diversity equity and inclusion, or DE&I. Goals and metrics are key to executing any strategy—specificity matters.
A goal to improve workplace diversity will not make management and leadership more diverse. A committee should reflect, in detail, on what is needed for the business and how these changes can be made. After goal setting, the methods of increasing DE&I differ in how to do it and who is accountable. I’ll mention a few key pieces from my experience:
DIVERISTY is the differences that matter. Management and HR are largely responsible for diversity, since they are accountable to build process and make decisions that build the workforce. Business processes systems that err towards sameness limit diversity. Look at your systems more than just for deliberate bad actors. Recruiting at the same schools will yield the same type of candidates, while recruiting at historically black colleges and universities, for instance, will change things. Change can also be encouraged. For example, by requiring a diverse candidate in every roster or promotion candidates or rewarding recruiters.
INCLUSION is making the differences matter. Simply having a diverse workforce that does not feel engaged with the business is not helpful. Everyone can contribute to a culture where everyone, especially those in underrepresented groups, feels they belong and are valued for their unique talents and points of view. Motivation to be inclusive is not the problem. Rather, I counsel organizations to provide skills and educate for behaviors, such as micro affirmations, which encourage positive interactions and culture. Becoming more aware of how our thinking and decisions are influenced by stereotypes and automatic thinking can be helpful for those who have not had this type of unconscious bias training.
EQUITY is making sure that diversity does not mean different access to advancement or reward. Leadership and management have a special role here. In addition to making sure that HR systems are bias free, leaders and management must ensure informal opportunities to advance are equitably shared. Too often, a “golden boy” gets the plum assignments that offer opportunities for visibility and achievement. Special attention, training, sponsoring and mentoring for underrepresented groups can help here.
It is easy to be confused given the enormity of change happening socially, but there is a well-defined roadmap for organizational change. Engage with others by commenting and sharing your thoughts below on this blog.