DE&I and why progress doesn't mean perfection
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A fairer, more inclusive society feels instinctively like something we’d all like to see. Yet, as we know, it’s a complex issue for which there are no quick wins, and this extends to the role of businesses in matters of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).
I’ve wondered whether fear of ‘getting it wrong’ may be inhibiting business leaders from starting the process of making positive changes and I put this idea to Tamika Curry Smith in this week’s podcast. Until recently, Tamika was Nike’s Global Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, and she now works with a wide variety of businesses as a DE&I consultant. As she explained, the best thing to do is treat DE&I like any other part of your business - as with marketing or finance, it needs a clear plan with targets and a budget and people accountable for its success.
If there’s one thing that Peloton’s instructors have taught me over the past year, it’s that ‘practice makes progress’. Likewise, Tamika’s succinct observation that “progress doesn’t necessarily mean perfection” was a key takeaway from our conversation. We all have to start somewhere, and while we may never achieve perfection, small changes can gradually add up to something great.
So, here are three thoughts that might give you the confidence not just to start the process but to throw your energy into making DE&I a core part of your strategy - not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the smart thing to do too.
Listening:
Tamika discussed the demand she’s had from clients over the past year to run ‘listening sessions’. They are, as they sound, an opportunity for people from all backgrounds to listen to the experiences of underrepresented and marginalized groups because, as she explains:
“The reality is in today’s world, that topics that are considered political to one group are called everyday life to others.
We were taught growing up that you separate work and home life - you don’t bring them together. You come to work, and you don’t talk about those things that are happening.
But the reality is for underrepresented and marginalized people, there is no separation there. They’re living these issues every day, and they don’t get to leave them at the door when they come to work. It’s still with them, and they’re caring. What they’ve done historically is carried those burdens in silence, and they’re over it, and they’re saying I’m not willing to do that anymore.
So leaders are now being expected to create space for these discussions and also to show some humility, some vulnerability and show their own humanity as well by also talking about their own experiences.”
Organisations take various approaches to unconscious bias training, but this seems like a practical and straightforward approach to breaking down barriers and building empathy in a team. Rather than deal in abstract conversations about the challenges and disadvantages experienced by groups of people, hearing these expressed by your colleagues, in their own words, humanises the discussion.
While there are plenty of people who’d rather avoid these types of conversations altogether – take Basecamp and Coinbase by way of example. The question you should consider is what you have to lose versus what you have to gain?
Suppose you were launching into a new market, for example. Would you take the opportunity to research consumers’ motivation or try to understand operating challenges in the respective countries? Of course. So why would you not do the same with the people you’re working with every day?
As I wrote last week, open communication is a prerequisite for business success, and it’s no different with DE&I. Here’s a link to an NPR article on how to structure a listening session to get you started.
Talking:
Once you’ve kicked the process off, it’s essential to talk about it, so why do so many companies remain silent? In many cases, it isn’t that they’re doing nothing, so could it be that they’re still worrying that they’re not yet doing enough?
Irrespective of what stage you’re at, Tamika’s advice is simply to talk about it more. Critically, you should also ensure that the internal and external communication of your DE&I strategy is aligned.
In Nike’s case, despite taking a very public stand on social justice issues over recent years, there have been internal questions over the composition of their board and the structure of athlete sponsorship deals.
Nike appears to lead the way when it comes to the seriousness with which they take DE&I. However, last year, an overemphasis on external comms jarred against the ongoing under-representation of minority groups in senior roles and a lack of equity in agreements with female athletes.
The answer wasn’t to stay quiet on their public support for change but rather ensure that there was as much focus on their work to improve internal diversity and communicate that more clearly with their people and partners.
Once again, progress doesn’t necessarily mean perfection and acknowledging that goes a long way to building trust.
Thinking:
While most of the conversation around DE&I is rightly about fairness, the reality is that team diversity can be a game-changer in business success.
In Matthew Syed’s excellent book, Rebel Ideas, he skillfully outlines the benefits of cognitive diversity to innovation, arguing that:
“Cognitive diversity is set to become a key source of competitive advantage and the surest route to reinvention and growth. You might say we are entering the age of diversity.”
While he is careful to distinguish between demographic and cognitive diversity, the reality is that people’s background, upbringing, education, and interests all play a part in the way they think. Their lived experience contributes to their outlook and beliefs and how they approach subjects like problem solving and creativity. All of this explains why it makes business sense to put the objective of creating a diverse and inclusive team foremost in your strategy.
Need some evidence to back this up?
McKinsey recently studied executive teams in over 1000 large companies in 15 countries and found that:
“The greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn, these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. A substantial differential likelihood of outperformance—48 percent—separates the most from the least gender-diverse companies.
In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, our business-case findings are equally compelling: in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014. As we have previously found, the likelihood of outperformance continues to be higher for diversity in ethnicity than for gender.”
I often talk about why a learning culture is crucial to businesses evolving and innovating, which is why creating an open dialogue about DE&I represents an opportunity. While it may initially push you out of your comfort zone, you’ll quickly realise the benefits.
Please listen to the podcast if you’d like to hear more from Tamika Curry Smith and have a good week,
Ollie
Any Other Business:
Worried about cliques forming if you adopt a hybrid model with some people returning to the office more than others? You probably should be, although most companies don’t want to admit it. You can read why in Emma Jacobs’ Financial Times article.
You probably saw the ill-thought-out comments by WeWork’s CEO the other day. Does Sandeep Mathrani really think that staff who decide to go back to the office are more engaged than those that choose to work remotely? Probably not - it sounds like one of their PR team had an off-day with that episode. In case you’d like to read some evidence to discount the idea, you can read this article from Tech Monitor - it includes these two charts:
Be warned, working too much can literally kill you, as this chart from Statista shows.
If you’re looking to revamp your career, then have a read of Herminia Ibarra’s Harvard Business Review article. If you don’t want to read it or can’t, I’ll summarise it for you in a sentence - start now and ask anyone you can think of for help.
And finally, this podcast conversation between upcoming Take My Advice (I’m Not Using It) guest Bob Glazer and Erica Dhawan is well worth a listen. Dhawan’s new book, Digital Body Language, explores how remote work changes the role of leaders and how to communicate effectively, clearly and empathetically in the digital workplace.