What to look out for in increasing diversity in your company
Alan Stein
?Want a better job faster? DM Me! Ex-Google ? Ex-Meta ? Ex-AmEx ? Ex-Salesforce ? Ex-VC ? Ex-Wall Street Analyst ? Bootstrapping Startup Founder ? On A Mission To Accelerate 1 Million Careers By 2040
Ways to increase diversity in your company
Company diversity – we know it, we’ve heard a lot about it, but when will we fully experience it? It may take decades. Whether we like it or not, systemic biases run so deep in the workplace that even big companies have only made little progress in their diversity reports. But it’s not to say that we haven’t taken steps to combat this.
In the past decade, employees have made great strides in fighting for diversity, equality, and inclusion. They’ve created movements to influence change in their organizations to serve the underpaid, the underrepresented, and the disadvantaged. Fabian Elliott, Google Customer Experience Lead and Black Tech Mecca Co-founder, shares SYCK things to look out for to proactively increase diversity in your company:
Look for community
Chances are that other employees experience the same microaggressions you do. Try to have your radar up and be extra observant in your workplace. How many people look like you? How are they treated? What you see will open your eyes. Who you see will be your support network, so reach out to them. If there’s already an existing group, join them. Communities foster a sense of belonging and inclusion. They also provide support during difficult times and promote creativity and collaboration. And those in huge global companies have the opportunity to create global communities. Elliott says that no matter where employees are located, they should have a community to plug into.
Look for data
Change starts with data. It paints a clearer picture of the problem – the disparities, the barriers, the demographics affected. Is there an issue with hiring, compensation, career advancement, or representation in management? Whatever you find will not only boost awareness and urgency, it will also serve as a blueprint for management to allocate resources, craft targeted solutions, and identify success metrics. Data can be acquired in the form of surveys, focus groups, or partnering with third-party research groups. It will be a challenge to gather and understand everything, but without this, employers would be operating in the dark and struggling to effect lasting change.
Look for ways to build your network?
Inequity in the workplace is complex and layered. Getting hired by big tech companies is already difficult, then you have to deal with systemic biases in the process. How can you escape these? Networking. From acing college internships, to landing a high-paying job, getting a raise, or navigating a career shift, networking can take you far – especially if you’re coming from a disadvantaged background. Be proactive in finding a community and connect with them. If you want to expand your network both in quantity and quality, here’s the secret Elliott shares: always look for ways to serve them. Find out what they’re trying to accomplish and help them with that. And if you’re not fortunate enough to have organic ties with people at your target companies, there are coaching programs like Kadima Careers to help bridge the gap.
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Look at the work ahead
The conversation on diversity, equity and inclusion has tremendously evolved. From just an afterthought 10 years ago, DE&I has now become the zeitgeist of the decade. Companies now issue diversity reports. People now talk about issues like cultural appropriation, the wage gap, microaggressions, pronouns, and much more. However, action is still lagging. Ten years ago, 2% of Google’s employees were Black. Now, it has only gone up to 4%. While we have built momentum, there’s still so much work to be done – identifying measurable results, strategizing action plans, and committing investments.?
Career tip: Look at other things beyond the job
It's easy to get caught up in the idea that your career should be your passion and your job should check all of your fulfillment boxes. However, it's important to remember that work is something you do, not who you are. There are many other ways to find fulfillment in life, such as through your family, hobbies, or setting out to improve conditions for the underrepresented in your company. It all boils down to how you set your priorities and distribute your energy.