The Only/Other Ratio

Last May, as I prepared for an interview for a director of diversity role, I was asked a question around creative solutions in the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) space and I came up with an idea on the spot: The Only/Other Ratio.

Imagine a 100-person company has 10 teams of 10 people each. Ask every member of each team to answer the question "Are you the only representative of a particular group on your team?" If even one person on a team says yes, that counts. Tally up how many teams have someone who is the only or the other or whom feels this way. What is that number?

• If it's 10, you have work to do.
• If it's 9, you still have work to do.
• Hell, even if it's 0, you still have work to do because representation doesn’t automatically signify inclusion or belonging.

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Or put another way - how many teams in the company have someone who is the only [insert demographic dimension - i.e. the only woman, the only person of color, etc.] or feels other?

Image credit: Benjamin Slyngstad?

This is the core of the only/other ratio because it breaks down averages and the organizational blur that comes with company-wide numbers and acknowledges the individual or team unit experience that likely involves lack of inclusion, exclusion or feeling other.

• For example, if you have 20% of your company who identify as Asian, but they constitute two entire teams of 10, then you don't have real diversity. You have segregated diversity.
• If you have 40% of your company who identify as women but they are the overwhelming majority are in HR or marketing or barely constitute part of every other function, you don't have real diversity.
• And if your organization has 10% Black employees, which has doubled over the last few years, but individuals are consistently the only Black team members on their teams (i.e. one person on each of your 10 teams), then you also don't have diverse representation (and I don't even need to remind you - but I will - that that number still lags the 14.6% of the US population that identifies as Black).

[The number of teams in the company have someone who is the only [insert demographic dimension]... is the core of the only/other ratio because it breaks down averages and the organizational blur that comes with company-wide numbers.        

Doing this exercise can reveals more than overall representation numbers because you can have overall diversity and still have imbalanced teams with over- and under-represented groups across the board. It's important to note that this effort doesn't address belonging - rather it is meant to provide a truer measurement of diversity and where it exists. ?

Is your organization doing anything like this? Nothing like this? Want to discuss more how it could work? Drop me a message on LinkedIn and let's talk.

#diversity #inclusion #belonging #equity #justice #dei #dibs #deib #jedi #representation #representationmatters #silos #hr #people