Why the Diversity Landscape is Still Slanted Towards Inequality

A recent study highlights nearly 98% of companies have a diversity program. But only a quarter of workers in diverse groups – women, people of color and people who identify as LGBTQ – confirm they receive any benefits from these programs. In addition, some have analyzed the data and concluded Chief Diversity Officers have been set up for failure.

The Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) research, Fixing the Flawed Approach to Diversity, surveyed roughly 16,500 people worldwide and cited several key findings:

[1] Lingering Obstacles and Gaps in Awareness. The "data shows that most company leaders—primarily white, heterosexual males—still underestimate the challenges diverse employees face. These leaders control budgets and decide which diversity programs to pursue. If they lack a clear understanding of the problem, they can’t design effective solutions."

This isn't, sadly, surprising. As of July 2019, it will be nearly 55 years since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; however, for Black applicants, the hiring market hasn't changed much in the last 25 years. Just to provide context, check out a 2016 article, The Faces of American Power, Nearly as White as the Oscar Nominees.

It is not only critical that organizations invest in and deliver unconscious bias training to all employees, but also invest in tools and processes that analyze and remove bias in all company systems. Everyone has bias. It doesn't make you a bad person, it simple makes you human. Have you taken Harvard's Implicit Association Test? What actions are you, personally, taking to reduce your own bias?

Companies must change their current model and approach.

Dare I say, their strategy must - by default - be inclusive.

It must make room because...

There is No Pecking Order to Inclusion.

Any strategy that prioritizes one or more diverse group(s) over another is a failed strategy.

We've seen this approach throughout many Silicon Valley companies only to show dismal numbers, oftentimes buried near the bottom, in slick graphically appealing diversity reports that tout a commitment to change without any measurable results of that change.

We must look for the details within the numbers.

For example, it is no longer enough for an an organization to say they have increased their gender diversity but when asked about ethnic women (Black, Latin/Hispanic, Asian, Native American) they cannot show meaningful progress. Or sideline the conversations of inclusion of People with Disabilities or Military Vets simply because no one is writing a scathing article about their lack of progress in the Washington Post this week.

"Despite representing about 18% of the U.S. population, women of color represented only 4% of C-Level positions in 2018, falling far below white men (68%) and white women (19%). Even graduating from a prestigious business or law school doesn’t help much. Of the 532 African-American women who earned their MBAs at Harvard Business School between 1977 and 2015, only 67 (13%) have achieved the highest-ranking executive positions, compared to 161 (19%) of African-American men and 40% of a matched sample of 150 non-African-American HBS alumni. It’s clear that the factors preventing women of color from advancing at work are quite different from those holding white women and even men of color back." Harvard Business Review

"In addition to underestimating the problem, leaders tend to see it in the wrong place. We break the obstacles to diversity down into four areas: recruiting, retention, advancement, and leadership commitment. Many leaders believe that the recruiting phase presents the biggest obstacles—particularly for women and racial and ethnic minorities. It is not, however, that simple. Hiring people from diverse groups is easier than successfully addressing the deep-rooted cultural and organizational issues that those groups face in their day-to-day work experience."

[2] Leadership Commitment. If I had a penny for every time I heard a leader express their commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and also, behind closed doors, refuse to hold leaders accountable, I would literally be a millionaire. And if I also added a nickel to the other times leaders chose not to provide the adequate headcount and budget required to build, manage, and measure the progress of those same "committed" diversity efforts, I'd be a billionaire.

It is for these reasons why employees are tired of their companies paying lip service to diversity. They want real change. And real change requires companies to make some critical decisions. Keeping leaders who only know how to talk the talk versus those who can also walk it is the biggest impediment to progress. CEOs, and Corporate Boardrooms, will need to level up their knowledge and require other leaders to do the same. Long gone are the days of having the Diversity function report under HR instead of a direct-report to the CEO. And we can no longer accept companies who continue to hire Chief Diversity Officers and staff who only know how to focus on solutions related to their own diversity dimensions while not having a concerted strategy to remove barriers for everyone and every group.

If we want something different in the next 55 years, we will have to do something different - just saying we are doing it in a walk-around deck isn't enough.

[3] Metrics and Tracking. There's an old saying that we use in the Diversity field - 'What gets measured, gets done.' The harsh reality is many organizations are not sure what to track, how to track it, and where to track it. With continued privacy concerns, some organizations are choosing a "no tracking" approach instead of consulting their legal resources to ensure everyone and the systems being used are compliant.

Every diversity program can and should be measured. And benchmarks should be used to track overall progress. Organizations should not be afraid to say we are committed to making change AND map out a 3-5 year strategy on how that change will be realized. And no one should be afraid to hold every leader and every employee accountable to positive results.

Is your company struggling to develop a strategy that aligns your culture, systems, and supports structures that create a more inclusive work environment?

Let's talk - I can help.