For Leaders: A Few Simple Ways to Advance Women of Color in Your Organization

When we see that only 4% of senior leaders nationwide are women of color, and that many diversity initiatives fail to make a difference, moving the needle on equity in your context may begin to feel nearly impossible. The good news is, while not easy, some of the first steps here are clear and measurable. The even better news is that enacting many of the policies and practices that advance women of color at work will often help staff members at the margins in your organization in other areas as well.

Since women of color are often meaningfully impacted by inequitable people practices, if you’re a leader looking to advance more women of color to your management or top team, strengthening those practices is a great place to start:

1. Assess and develop your managers and leaders - especially if you have retention issues across lines of difference. Let’s be honest: women of color aren’t leaving your organization because the coffee’s bad. What the research tells us is that when people leave organizations, they’re frequently leaving because of their boss and their leadership and the culture and working conditions they’ve created. In the case of staff of color, a frequently cited reason for walking out the door is the perception of bias-based unfair treatment because of identity factors like race and gender. Even the most seasoned managers may not realize they are gravitating toward people they have affinity with, grading them a little easier or giving them more grace when they fail, and doing the opposite for those they don’t have much in common with. That’s why it’s important to make an awareness of managing across lines of difference a critical factor you hire, assess, and develop managers in within your organization - and that you let go of managers that show no desire to develop skills in managing a diverse team and/or mitigating bias in their own decision-making.

2. Audit who you’re setting up for success, and how - and who you may be denying opportunities to grow. As a coach, one area where I’ve seen well-meaning companies and managers often fall flat is by assigning growth opportunities, moments to stand in for your manager at meetings or presentations, and high-visibility projects based on instinct - not rigor. We’re often having to assign these sorts of tasks in the moment, and it’s easier to pass them to our “go-to” person than to think objectively about who deserves, but hasn’t yet received, a high-visibility opportunity. The implication though is that the same people keep having the opportunity to shine and grow their roles, while others can’t show their skills more broadly or build the relationships they’ll need to advance in your organization.

3. Over-correct to ensure folks at the margins have access to sponsors. In your organization or on your team, identify the folks with underrepresented or frequently marginalized identities (and especially those you are working to retain) and go out of your way to get them sponsors. Make sure a person on your leadership team with access and influence is taking them under their wing to provide candid feedback, support them in career planning, and otherwise help them succeed. (This is a great practice to do for all high-performers in your organization, but it’s especially important to ensure folks with less access to leaders or who may be mitigating organizational bias are prioritized for sponsorship opportunities.)

4. Bias-proof your promotion and raise practices. Two of the places that women of color frequently report bias is in who gets promoted and what salaries staff members make. This isn’t conjecture - the data bears out that white men hold most top jobs and out-earn women, and that women of color earn less than their white and male peers for the same work. If you haven’t done hard work to compare salaries and ensure equity here, chances are this pattern is true in your organization as well. One simple practice on this front is having your leaders ask their managers tough questions before approving an off-cycle promotion or out-sized raise like:

• Bias. Would you identify this person as someone you share a lot in common with, or have a particular affinity for on the team? If so, how are you ensuring that your assessment of their performance is not inflated as compared to others in the org or on your team?
• Unsung Heroes. Are there any unsung heroes on your team that others would have selected as the obvious choice for this raise or promotion? From your perspective, why does your choice deserve this raise or promotion more than them?
• Watching for the squeaky wheel. What is driving this promotion or salary increase? (Did they drive it, or did you?) If they did, are there others on the team that didn’t speak up that are equally deserving or might actually deserve the raise/promotion more?

5. Make career tracks, and their prerequisite qualifiers, more explicit - and follow them. What criteria make someone an obvious choice for a management role on your team or in your department? What distinguishes managers who move up from those who don’t in your organization? What are the key behaviors expected of managers to keep their job - and really shine? If they aren’t written down and shared widely in your organization, chances are folks who are the least represented in leadership, or who find themselves on the margins in other ways, have no idea what it takes. Simply by making these implicit guidelines explicit, women of color have a better chance of rising to the challenge - and managers have an instant guard rail to curb bias and ensure their choices are based on logic - not affinity.

When it comes to advancing women of color at work, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. By putting a laser-focus on improving management practices so they’re more even and equitable, you’ve got the best chance possible of making real gains and advancing (and retaining) some of the most talented members of your team.