Building inclusive workplaces – one thought at a time

By Taiana Melo

February marks Black History Month in the United States, so I thought it timely to share some advice on building greater inclusivity from one of our Senior Facilitators, Taiana Melo. Taiana is a Senior Management Consultant and a Success Strategist who has worked with Fortune 100 companies including GE, Louis Vuitton, Jaguar, LinkedIn and Salesforce. As a leader of color, she is well placed to share her tips for how leaders can support and integrate the richness of diverse perspectives and backgrounds into their organisation.

Have you ever been the only one who looks like you in a work environment?

Since 1998, more than 20 million people have taken the Implicit Association Test to assess unconscious biases. The tool, developed by researchers from Harvard University, demonstrated that 75 percent of whites and Asians demonstrated an unconscious bias in favor of whites compared to African Americans. 

How does this unconscious bias affect your work environment? I suggest you start answering this question by thinking about what your company’s top-level executives look like. Then, run a LinkedIn search for CEOs, CIOs, and CFOs across multiple organisations. Are there any similarities in how the majority of people in these positions look? 

Although increasing the breadth and depth of racial justice is a long term societal commitment, business leaders worldwide have recognized it is time to embrace the change they want to see in their organizations. The challenges of effecting that change are many, but interesting shifts have been taking place. 

I recently consulted with a large tech company to find the best way to select talented professionals to join a training program that offered a stepping stone to better employment.

By choosing the participants based only on their experience and skills - no name, gender, location or looks considered - something very surprising happened. What transpired was that  more than 80% of the those shortlisted were women of color.

While these women had the best skills and experience for the available places, curiously, at that same company, women of color represented less than 5% of total employees. 

I invite you to reflect on what happens when job applicants look and sound different to others in your organisation. Do they make the shortlist? While executives are more concerned than ever about inclusion and diversity, our brains are still susceptible to subconscious judgments and unconscious biases. 

As human beings we evolved to mistrust anything or anyone that looks different to us. This evolutionary trait, which was designed to keep us safe, is one of the unconscious drivers behind why we create homogenous workplaces.

The good news is that by bringing awareness to this blind spot, we can circumvent the chain of unconscious bias and adopt a more flexible and open approach to hiring.

Here are a few tips to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce:

Get curious and get out of your comfort zone

As a leader, do you spend almost all your time hanging out with people who look like you, think like you and act like you? What sensations come up in you when you think about mixing with people who have a different skin colour or background to you? Observe what’s there with curiosity. 

Only by becoming aware of your biases can you choose to respond wisely rather than reacting from old patterns. Try taking a small first step by making a conscious effort to engage with people who look or sound different from you. 

Trust the now, not the memories

Our workplaces are constantly changing and evolving. Challenge yourself to start each day with fresh eyes, to let go of old paradigms and view reality as it is. 

According to the Women in The Workplace 2018 survey, more than 90 percent* of leaders agree that prioritizing gender and racial diversity leads to better business results. Yet only 22 percent* of employees see racial diversity as a company priority. 

As more well-educated people of color enter the workforce, is your company embracing and supporting this new pool of talent?

Unconscious bias can affect even the best-intentioned leaders. Adopting a Beginner's Mind and resetting your past assumptions will enable your organisation to benefit from the unique skills and talents that a diverse workforce brings.

Let every voice be heard

There has never a better opportunity to redesign the future of your organization and create a system that embraces and integrates the richness of diverse perspectives and backgrounds. With leadership comes great responsibilities, such as giving voice to people of color and providing them with a safe environment to speak up. Listen, ask questions, understand their unique concerns and perspectives. Every voice matters.

Lead for the greater good

Just as small children are susceptible to adopting their parents' opinions, employees are influenced by their leaders' words and behaviours. As a leader, consider what legacy you want to leave and how you want to be remembered. Mind your thoughts and carefully choose your words because they are the key to your success in leading yourself, your people, and your organization to extraordinary results. 

Global companies such as IKEA, Accenture and Cisco are training their executives and managers in core competencies that turn conventional leadership thinking upside down and redefine what it takes to be an effective - and inclusive - leader. They recognise that creating inclusive human-centred workplaces is an inner game, one that requires understanding and rewiring the mind to create new behaviours and different outcomes.

In reflecting on the points above, what steps can you take today to enhance diversity and inclusion in your organisation and enable all people to reach their full potential?