Protests launch a chief diversity officer hiring spree

This is Working Together, a weekly series on the changing face of U.S. business. Have ideas about what we should discuss next week? Let me know in the comments using #WorkingTogether or email me at [email protected]. 

It’s a C-Suite title that women and other underrepresented groups are landing at a rapid clip. And yet, it’s a role that lacks clear definition and scope, a tough spot for even the most seasoned executives. 

Chief Diversity Officers have been on the ascent in the U.S. for some time, with the position experiencing a steady 17% annual increase in hiring since 2015, according to an analysis of LinkedIn data. But since the protests against systemic racism began, job listings for diversity and inclusion roles — including leadership positions such as Chief Diversity Officers, directors and managers — have skyrocketed. In the 45 days since the start of the protests, postings for such positions were up by nearly 100% compared to the 45 days prior to the wave of demonstrations. 

What changes can these leaders enact once they enter these roles? It’s a question my former LinkedIn colleague Chip Cutter sought to answer this week for the Wall Street Journal. What he discovered is too often diversity and inclusion experts are hired to turn around homogenous corporate cultures, only to find that they have very little authority to do that. As a result, the role is fraught with turnover. The median tenure of a Chief Diversity Officer is about three years, according to LinkedIn data. The median tenure of a CEO is more than double that figure. 

So, as Corporate America recruits diversity and inclusion leads en masse, what signs should these executives pay attention to before accepting these positions? Here are a few questions they should ask: 

Is building equitable teams a business priority? It’s a question IBM CMO Michelle Peluso likes to ask when she hears executives from different companies talking about this issue. While most will agree that inclusive teams yield better results — a finding that has been demonstrated by research time and time again — very few companies tie diverse hiring to the bottom line. Leaders need to formalize their commitment to diversity — and empower a Chief Diversity Officer to track that commitment — if the rate of change is ever going to accelerate. 

Where in the organization does D&I sit? Depending on the company, diversity and inclusion efforts can either be siloed into an existing branch of the organization or formally attached to the C-suite. When considering a D&I role, it's important to understand what kind of access you will have to corporate leaders. Experts have told me constantly through the years that if the heads of every line of the business aren’t directly tied to what is happening within D&I, it’s nearly impossible to succeed. 

Are corporate leaders willing to get uncomfortable? Too often, our ability to build equitable teams falls short when corporate leaders fail to recognize their own biases. Those considering D&I roles should pay attention to the rhetoric that executives use to describe these efforts. If leaders fail to bring up difficult topics of intersectionality and even race itself, it may be a sign that any effort toward change is just lip service. “Folks don’t want to have difficult conversations around race. It’s the big elephant in the room,” Desiree Adaway, the founder of inclusion consultancy firm The Adaway Group, told me. “When we have those conversations … that really helps to free people up to do good work.” 

If you’re the “only,” what’s the plan from there? If you are entering a company as its first Chief Diversity Officer or as the first member of a D&I team, it’s likely you will be the only woman or person or color within the leadership team. Companies have to start somewhere, but what is the plan after you are hired? If executives have only given thought to getting you in the door and letting you figure it out from there, that’s a reg flag. It’s a sign that hiring you is more a symbol of change than a desire to make it really happen. 

How are diversity and inclusion efforts organized within your company? Do you think they are effective? How has your company started to speak about building equitable teams differently since the protests began? Share your thoughts in the comments below or send me an email to [email protected]. 

What’s Working

Potential realized. This week delivered plenty of good news for female founders. Rethink Impact announced its second-fund for female-led startups at $182 million, surpassing their expectations. Victress Capital also announced its first institutional fund for early-stage female-led businesses, coming in oversubscribed at $21.7 million. 

Black women first. When you look at the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market, Black women are facing an outsize share of the pain. They are more likely to have lost their jobs and are more likely to be single heads of households than their white female peers. Putting Black women at the center of economic policies in the wake of this crisis is going to be critical to recovery. [Economic Policy Institute] 

Social networks as a tool. Beyond broadcasting messages and tools that support antiracist behavior, now is a good time to consider how inclusive your social network is in the first place. “When you include individuals who are the targets of stereotyping and bias in your network, you and others signal to them that diversity and equitable treatment are important values,” writes London Business School Assistant Professor Raina Brands. [HBR]

What’s Not

Wall street struggles. Black people account for only 8% of executives at financial firms, even  as many leaders speak out against systemic racism within the industry. Wells Fargo is among a suite of banks that is tying employee bonuses to the ability to foster diverse teams. [LinkedIn News] 

Pregnant on the job. Workplace discrimination against pregnant women is a long-documented problem. New research from the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests the stress of discrimination may lead to premature and low-birthweight babies as well. [Bloomberg]

Who’s Pushing Us Forward

AI for good. National protests have put a spotlight on injustices ingrained in systems throughout the country and across different parts of the global economy. One of the more controversial systems under review? Artificial intelligence. I sat down with Bloomberg Beta’s Roy Bahat and Google’s X. Eyeé to learn what can be done to build more equitable systems in the future. Catch the conversation above. 

What topics do you want to discuss next time? Let me know in the comments below using #WorkingTogether