Has Cultural Diversity toppled the 1980’s Cultural Squeeze?

Welcome to the latest edition of Alex Advocates for DEI@Work. In this month’s newsletter I explore the juxtaposition of organisational culture, cultural fit and diversity and inclusion. I ask questions about whether they can coexist in harmony together, are polar opposites or whether they are one and the same. I also share stories from my recruitment career and from our podcast Friends In Law about discrimination masquerading as 'cultural fit' and how the legal industry is being influenced to change.?

What 'Cultural Fit' used to look like

In my early recruitment days (imagine – red power suit, big shoulder pads, bigger hair), I had a placement experience that made me realise something was not quite right in the business world.?

I was often given a job brief that sounded a bit like this….

“We would like to recruit a like-minded individual who will be a good cultural fit. Our firm enjoys taking clients to the rugby, having drinks after work, playing golf and we really like cycling in our spare time. If you could find someone like that, who likes the same things we do, with more than three years legal experience that would be perfect!”?

What they didn’t say out loud at the time, was “even better if they were a University of Queensland Alumni and went to a particular Brisbane Grammar school, and even better still if they lived in the suburbs of Chandler, Teneriffe or New Farm”.

I was often then tasked with providing feedback to a stellar, talented, and vastly experienced candidate who was not particularly pro-golf or rugby, that they had interviewed well, had all the right skills and experience but were perhaps just not the right cultural fit for that firm.?

What I was learning, early on, is that what seemed to be the recognised definition of ‘cultural fit’ was somehow the dead opposite of diversity and inclusion, it was what I’ve long referred to as culture squeeze. Cultural fit at the time meant find people like us. Talented people were being discriminated against simply because they liked different things or worse still did not ‘look like’ the existing staff at an organisation.?

In the rare instances that someone from outside this mould was hired, they did not last the distance because the odds were stacked firmly against them before they even began.? They didn’t ‘quite’ fit in with the existing team or their expectations of social interactions or the work-hard, play-hard customs of the time.? In most cases those that didn’t ‘fit’ either left after feeling a sense of isolation or were conveniently squeezed out during the ‘try before you buy’ probationary period.?

Over my recruitment career, there have been a number of talented and experienced candidates who have been omitted from short lists for roles based on something unique about them.?

I remember working with a very senior lawyer who had many years of valuable top tier experience who was overlooked for a position because he had a strong and distinctive accent. The firm jumped to the conclusion that their particular clients would simply not be able to understand a word he said. This was a shortsighted decision, particularly for something as simple as an accent, where familiarity tends to dull its impact.? At the time I was astounded by this discrimination. Especially as the accent belonged to a mid-career, Anglo-Saxon white male (many of whom I consider friends and mentors but are not often the first to be discriminated against!). When prejudice exists, even towards this group, the world is indeed a crazy place. Imagine how much harder it is to be given career opportunities as a lawyer in Australia when English is your second language, or you have grown up in a refugee camp. ?

In another tale from my early recruitment days, I was acting for an experienced lawyer who was very involved in his community church. His curriculum vitae (CV) included his extracurricular and volunteer roles within this faith-based organisation. He had the required skills and experience required for the senior role I put him forward for. The feedback from the hiring manager was harsh. They had rushed to judgement that he would be evangelical and attempt to convert their staff and clients to his beliefs. There was no way he would fit the culture.? I found this particularly difficult feedback to deliver to a hopeful candidate. In fact, looking back on it now, I am embarrassed to say that I advised him to remove the evidence of his faith from his CV. I would approach it differently now, being much firmer in my belief that you bring your whole authentic self to the workplace. An inclusive culture supports your whole self and embraces both who you are, your career goals and achievements.?

Cultural Fit versus Thriving Organisational Culture

Over time, our knowledge of the benefits of diversity of gender, culture, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion has changed. There are proven benefits in terms of:

• Innovation
• Productivity
• Increased profit margins
• Problem solving
• Better decision making

Law firms are beginning to realise that diversity and inclusion makes good business sense and, accordingly, organisational culture has begun to shift. They have started to recruit for diversity of thought and life experience. Having said that, in my experience, this shift is not yet occurring universally across the board. I am, however, always hopeful!?

This recent article in Chief Executive Women (CEW) , Unlocking women’s leadership: CEW calls for corporate Australia to amplify the conversation about gender and race, announces the release of The?Unlocking Leadership: Conversations on Gender and Race in Corporate Australia?report. This report explores the experiences of culturally and racially diverse women in senior leadership roles in Australia’s ASX300 companies and identifies the actions leaders in corporate Australia can take to support culturally diverse women in the workforce. “Things like having a conversation about race at leadership tables, improving organisational data gathering on cultural diversity in the workplace and actively sponsoring the many highly capable culturally diverse women and men to accelerate change that benefits everyone.”

International firms are starting to understand that it’s difficult to service a global client base if you can’t relate to or understand, nuances, cultural business etiquette or differences. A business needs a diverse culture internally to understand that a hard handshake in some countries is considered rude, or that in some middle eastern cultures, meetings may fall on a Sunday.?

The shift of focus to include diversity and inclusion may even have been client led. The corporations the law firms represent have become more diverse themselves. They want their lawyers to relate to and reflect them. Clients of all shapes sizes, genders, cultures, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity and religion need representation, understanding and connection along with legal skills and experience. Entertaining a client in current times might mean attending a gallery opening, a ballet, a Taylor Swift concert or, as we recently saw in Brisbane, watching the Matilda’s with 50,000 other new fans in all their FIFA Women's World Cup? soccer glory.?

I recently spoke to a General Counsel of a sizeable organisation who was engaging an external law firm to help with a significant project. One proposal came in with a list of the partners they intended to put forward for the work. She sent it back asking for a revised list that was not limited to three partners who were all male, white and in their late 40’s. She wanted a more diverse representation, diverse skills, diverse thought, and diverse experience for the best possible project outcome.? Her inside knowledge of the law firm meant that she knew these diverse lawyers were available. They were just not being given the right opportunities. This is a great example of clients leading the way to real change.?

Law firms are starting to understand that their culture and workplace needs to reflect the community they serve. Some companies even consider the diversity of life experience as valuable. For example, hiring a lawyer who was a former engineer in a past career in a construction law role.? Now that I think back on the early 2000’s, the resistance towards second-career lawyers who were far from the cookie-cutter graduate was not just cringe worthy but ageist.?

A Genuine Shift in Policy versus Diversity Washing

The top-tier firms in Australia are now clearly making strategic decisions to become more diverse. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn to say that some national and mid-tier as well as smaller ones are still on this journey.?

A diversity policy needs to be more than just a statement of intent on your website. It needs to be lived, role modelled and evident in promotional decisions. Diversity of culture lives and breathes within an organisation. You can’t point to culture, it is made up of your people, your values, your expectations, your mission, your day-to-day working environment, your practices, and everyday actions.?

You may have heard of green washing, where organisations state they have environmental practices or objectives to encourage investment or spending by environmentally conscious consumers. Diversity washing is similar, when an organisation may hire a small handful of diverse candidates, to tick a box and to present to clients and as part of a talent attraction strategy. It enables them to be able to say, “look how diverse we are!”?

There is no point recruiting for diversity unless your organisation is ready and there is fertile ground for it.? There is preliminary work to do in a company to be ready for and accepting of diversity in your culture. You may need to explore professional development to ensure you’re building a company-wide broader mindset and becoming more culturally aware. Your team may need to do some bias training and be up-skilled in what is best practice for being more inclusive in your job advertisements. You may need to review your company and client events and consider if they are inclusive. Friday night drinks may not work for everyone.?

You also need diverse and inclusive leaders. There needs to be an understanding of and genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion before you go ahead and start bringing in diversity hires. Without this support from leaders, there is the danger of building internal resentment and setting your organisation up for failure.?

Measure Your Organisation’s Results

Consider whether your organisation has a diverse workforce with an inclusive culture and whether it is making progress towards gender equality. What gets measured gets done. Does the leadership team set and reviews DEI targets? Do they analyse your gender pay gap regularly and take steps to close it? Do they consult regularly with staff? Do they support flexible work practices and have a policy to address potential power imbalances or conflicts of interest?

Gone are the days of recruitment of employees who could work Monday-Friday between 8.30-5pm. The world has moved on. Diversity and inclusion are both here to stay. Productivity, innovation, and profits follow.? Old school cultural ideals of recruiting those that look, sound, work, play and speak like us are gone. Organisational culture is like a garden. It needs care, tending, structure, training, praise, sunshine and ongoing reassessment and attention. It’s a living, breathing ever-changing entity. Recruiting for real diversity and inclusion will continue to challenge old fashioned views of cultural fit, but I have hope!

The best practice companies who are ahead of the curve in relation to diversity and inclusion are reporting regularly on and providing programs and policies in relation to:

• Gender diversity
• Ethnic diversity
• LGBTIQ+ diversity
• Indigenous/ First Nations diversity
• Employees with a disability

Many companies now measure these diversity targets and their progress towards them as an overarching KPI. Imagine the world we will live in when the targets are met! Will we be done? Or will there be new work to do?

Some time ago we spoke to Peter Smith , commercial litigator currently with Johnson Winter Slattery . Peter is a champion of change when it comes to diversity and led the way of cultural change at Herbert Smith Freehills during his time there.? You can listen to the full episode here.?

Peter talked to us about his time living through cultural change in the workplace as a result of introducing formal diversity and inclusion training. His organisation started to understand that diversity was more than just about gender, but also about diversity culture and teams and inclusion of LGBTQI+ individuals. He shared with us how that even though lawyers tend to be sceptics, that by delivering the empirical evidence that diverse teams to better, the penny dropped with actual scientific proof, and it became much easier to get everyone on board. An example of the changes he led was being part of the very first law firm with its very own loud and proud LGBTQI+ network which was incredibly successful and has been emulated by many.?

Respect @ Work?

The?Respect@Work Act 2022?(Cth) ensures that employers have a positive duty to take reasonable and proportionate action to eliminate and respond to sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation in the workplace.?The positive duty will operate concurrently with existing duties in work health and safety (WHS) laws, which require employers and PCBUs (person conducting business or undertaking) to provide a safe working environment.?The general principle of the act also flows through to cultural identity, religion, disability, age, marital status, and family responsibilities.?

I expect the Respect@Work Act 2022 (Cth) to have a positive impact on organisation culture over time. The Respect@Work website identifies that “Culture reflects the shared values and beliefs within an organisation, or the unwritten rules for how things are done. Organisations with diverse and inclusive, gender-equal workplaces with values of trust, respect and integrity are most effective at preventing and eliminating the risk of sexual harassment and the harm that can arise if sexual harassment occurs.”?

You can read more here.?

As part of my team’s work in relation to helping organisations get ready for the Respect@Work Act 2022 (Cth) deadline of December 2023, we defined the actions required to comply from a company culture perspective.?

Download our?Respect @Work E-Book?for a quick guide to the changes that employers will need to be aware of to ensure compliance with the?Respect at Work Act 2022.

This includes a comprehensive checklist and the seven key areas that organisations must address to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment.

How to Help your Organisation Be More Inclusive and Diverse

I encourage you to consider your own approach to your work environment.?

• What can you do personally to foster an inclusive work environment??

Consider your leadership team.?

• Are they gender balanced and diverse??
• Do they model inclusive language and behaviours?

Consider your induction, training and policies.

• Does your company have both induction and regular training that relates to discrimination?
• Does your organisation support flexible working arrangements for all employees to promote diversity and inclusion?
• Does your organisation have discrimination resources that are clear, practical, trauma informed, easily accessible to all employees from a central location and widely publicised?

If you answered no, or you need help with this to any of the above, then please get in touch. We can help. If we’ve met, you’ll know that I describe myself as a DEI advocate.? I’m proud of the impact my brand Developing Talent is having on Australian workplaces.?

Developing Talent | Diversity + Inclusion is a DEI training and consultancy firm and works with Government departments, the health and aged care sector and service-based organisations to improve their outcomes. ?

Please subscribe to this newsletter so you can come on the journey with me and learn more about the opportunity embracing DEI in your workplace can offer you and your team.