Diversity & Inclusion: Is Deloitte's move a Revolution or Evolution?
Tim Collins, GPHR, SHRM-SCP (he, him)
Lifelong Networking Connector. Servant Leader. P&G, IBM retiree. Boards of Blue Ridge Public Radio, Leadership Asheville Forum, Phi Kappa Tau Foundation, Buncombe County Planning. Mentor. #LGBTQ
There is a very interesting and thought provoking debate going on right now in the business community about how to achieve Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) objectives.
Voluntary Employee Resource Groups Play a Role
Since Xerox pioneered this approach in 1970, one of the key strategies most companies and organizations have pursued has been to create Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) made up of a particular constituency, as identified by the company or its employees. It is common for there to be groups for women, African American, Hispanic, LGBTQ, for multi-nationals, for those with disabilities, and many others. These groups gather, network, share their stories, mentor and support each other, and work with senior executive sponsors to help achieve D&I objectives.
I myself have been a member of such groups for LGBT* people -- GABLE at Procter & Gamble, OUT Executives at IBM, and I founded the LGBT* Alumni Network at my alma mater, Transylvania University. They have been beneficial for me personally, safe and comfortable havens, but now I wonder how much they did to foster achievement of the organization's larger goals.
Deloitte Creates Discontinuity
Deloitte has turned that approach on its head. By many measures, they've done well in creating a diverse workforce -- they have a female CEO -- but Deloitte is not satisfied.
The central idea: Deloitte will offer all managers — including the white guys who still dominate leadership — the skills to become more inclusive, then hold them accountable for building more-balanced businesses. The response to Deloitte's announcement has been a mix of critical and celebratory. Bloomberg Businessweek. Grant Thornton's National Diversity Manager Erin Thomas criticized the move (and I liked her post). The Harvard Business Review weighed in. Christie Smith, retired Deloitte Principal and founder of the Deloitte University Center for Inclusion (same person who gave the TEDx talk referenced above), offered a balanced critique.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your point of view.
Lifelong Networking Connector. Servant Leader. P&G, IBM retiree. Boards of Blue Ridge Public Radio, Leadership Asheville Forum, Phi Kappa Tau Foundation, Buncombe County Planning. Mentor. #LGBTQ
6 年Neil Walker-Neveras
Lifelong Networking Connector. Servant Leader. P&G, IBM retiree. Boards of Blue Ridge Public Radio, Leadership Asheville Forum, Phi Kappa Tau Foundation, Buncombe County Planning. Mentor. #LGBTQ
7 年Janine Truitt - what's your point of view on Deloitte's intervention?
Lifelong Networking Connector. Servant Leader. P&G, IBM retiree. Boards of Blue Ridge Public Radio, Leadership Asheville Forum, Phi Kappa Tau Foundation, Buncombe County Planning. Mentor. #LGBTQ
7 年Sean Tipton
Lifelong Networking Connector. Servant Leader. P&G, IBM retiree. Boards of Blue Ridge Public Radio, Leadership Asheville Forum, Phi Kappa Tau Foundation, Buncombe County Planning. Mentor. #LGBTQ
7 年Eduardo Nino-Moreno
Executive Coach @ The Empowered Leadership | Supporting Leaders Elevate their Impact & Influence | Power Up Communication l Cultivate Emotional Intelligence
7 年As a woman I worked in a multinational in India . Coming back from maternity, was hard. What I had to deal with, was the mental conditioning of my male colleagues, the blurred lines between empathy and expectations. There was a lack of clarity on how diversity needs to be approached, because everyone was coming in with different perspectives/experiences which resulted in caution, doubt and fear. I am not sure if just offering skills is the right answer, I agree with Sofia that we need to provoke reflection, exploration and questioning of our biases to create meaningful shifts.