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.
Manager of Backup & Recovery Professionals LinkedIn group.
4 年Needs to start with just a simple hello. There were so many times, I said hello, to no answer and when I ask management what they though of it, they felt it was not needed to be addressed or I should speak when spoken too. This position is really needed if not but to be a place for a person not feeling understood to go to. It's not about race it's about fareness in the work place. Understanding others feelings. Once an employee is let go from their job. That person should be allow to good to this department and speak about all that they feel is wrong at this job. So this work place can better itself. And that persons stress level is released, so they don't return and hurt others. The businesses should not blackball their past employees from getting their next job. I took so many job reference calls for people being blackballed at there last job. I once was told after a reference call for someone, 'this is the best job reference call he had every had'.
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4 年The first element is that diversity in any and all companies and institutions is everybody's job--not just that of the diversity officer. He or she may have that title, but does not solely bare that responsibility. Diversity should be a part of all you do, even in subtle decisions like product development and what should you name your product; your marketing and advertising; pricing; outreach for sales, marketing, personnel decisions both inside your workforce, your executive suite, and inside the Boardroom. It doesn't mean lowering any standards, but rather expanding your vision and reach to all parts of our society, striving for economic, ethnic, individual and community inclusion. Not only will it result in a richer cultural environment for company growth, but usually results in a richer bottom line!
Freelance Writer + Book Editor | Mental Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Food, and Travel | Value-Based Content + Mission-Driven Copy To Help Your Business Help People
4 年It's good....but also, the response "Are you kidding me? All of a sudden, now?!" is also valid. It's a bit pandering. I'm really tired of seeing BIPOC hired as a 'Diversity & Inclusion Officer' and not CFO, COO, CMO, CEO, and CTO, when if you just hire BIPOC in different roles, all the way up to leadership, then it would allow you not to NEED an entire position dedicated to including them. It's a split between progress and keeping the same barriers. There are SO many talented BIPOC out here and we can't get a fair look at the talents because of skin, name, background, etc. I am in full support of roles like this, but the title of inclusion and diversity is like telling people who are discriminated against to solve the problem. They aren't the issue. The issue is that those with the problem are in leadership and down and don't want to let go of their prejudices and give the room at the table. Again, it's a complex issue that needs better discussion.
Sr. Director-Strategic Accounts
4 年Parth Rawal Michael Tedesco
Certified Professional Building Designer at GREEN DESIGN BUILD INC.
4 年?race issues "needs to change." And that goes both ways--or every way I am glad Nike made there move.