Diversity Doesn’t Guarantee Inclusion
Senior leaders or HR specialists will generally be contacting me for a few reasons:
There has been an incident which indicates the need for specific training.
A working group, steering group or employee resource group has recommended some actions to address one form of discrimination or other, and they need support with how to implement the next steps.
They recognise their organisation lacks diversity and want to address this as soon as possible.
Almost without exception, when I begin to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion needs with an them, they invariably recognise that at least parts of their organisation are very white, able bodied, heterosexual and often very male. They want to do something about the lack of visible diversity and want to work with me to address this. They see the lack of visible diversity as a problem. Whilst this is admirable, getting more diversity in your organisation, will not mean your organisation will be able to hold on to that diversity. How do I know? Experience working with a range of organisations across a number of industries which have helped me to identify some common trends:
High staff turnover in specific groups.
‘We can’t seem to hold on to our Black and Asian employees’.
Organisations may be able to attract diverse talent, but cannot make them stay. When I investigate this, I find that people with protected characteristics are experiencing microaggressions and working in environments which are hostile to them, unbeknownst to the leaders of the organisation.
There is diversity, but people with protected characteristics aren’t happy
‘Our representation of LGBTQ+ people is very high, but their sense of inclusion is very low’.
When we do a survey or speak to stakeholders, we might find that representation of people with a particular protected characteristic can be high, but when we ask them how they feel about the organisation or to what extent they feel they belong or included, their responses can be surprisingly low.
There is diversity, but only in some parts of the organisation.
Leaders: ‘My organisation is actually very diverse’.
Us: ‘No it isn’t.’
Organisations can be collecting data in such a way as to intentionally or unintentionally mask reality. Yes, there may be representation of different protected characteristics overall, but not spread evenly throughout the organisation. We might see people who are Black or of the global majority in lower paid roles, and not in middle or senior leadership. We might see a spike in the number of people who ‘prefer not to say’ when asked to tell us if they have a disability. Patchy diversity can reveal potential problems with systematic forms of discrimination.
Why Doesn’t a ‘Diversity First Approach’ Work?
Focussing on creating more visible diversity in organisations before focusing on current performance and creating an inclusive environment causes harm.
There is a reason why there is a high turnover of staff who are Black or of the global majority. There is a reason why people don’t feel comfortable telling us about their hidden disabilities. There is a reason why there are few women working at leadership levels aged 50 and over. There is a reason why LGBTQ+ don’t have a high sense of inclusion. These are common examples, but what ever the reason for a lack of diversity throughout your organisation is, it needs to be addressed before anything is done to increase representation of marginalised people.
Possible reasons include:
People experiencing microaggressions or persistent unwanted language and behaviour which are linked to their identity. This creates a hostile working environment which employees can’t endure.
There are practices and systems which are not conducive to an inclusive environment. These might include a lack of flexibility or willingness to accommodate caring responsibilities, a hidden disability, religious practice.
Recruitment and retention practices are not inclusive. There may be a culture of wanting to employ people who ‘fit’ into an existing environment, rather than seeking to attract people who can ‘add’.
A culture which does not suggest or invite a willingness to listen to the experiences of stakeholders and respond accordingly. People with protected characteristics often report a lack of trust of senior leaders. Perhaps they have previously communicated their experiences of discrimination and there has been a lack of appropriate response. Perhaps they have a sense that by raising a concern, there might be some form of negative outcome for them.
A lack of empowerment of employees to be able to challenge microaggressions and unwanted behaviour themselves. Microaggressions and sudden triggering incidents can be traumatic and can leave an individual unable to respond. People can lack the words to be able to address situations in the moment and afterwards which will enable them to create an environment which is safe form themselves.
These are just a few of the most common reasons for a diversity first approach not working.
What Does An Inclusion First Approach Look Like?
The most important action is to focus on creating an inclusive environment first. We have to create an environment which is safe for people when diversity is created.
Close your perception gap. Focus collecting data on your organisation and listen to the experiences of stakeholders. If you don’t really know what the problems are, you can’t accurately address them. In fact, you could end up making assumptions and making the situation work. Listening can be surveys and focus groups but can be other methods too.
Provide training opportunities which meet the needs of your organisation. Senior and executive leaders must be part of this training. It should increase the knowledge and understanding of everyone in the organisation on specific protected characteristics and also more general matters of inclusion targeted at the needs of all stakeholders.
Communicate with all stakeholders about the current state of the organisation and what you intend to do to make things better. This creates trust.
Empower employees by letting them know how they can respond to microaggressions and unwanted behaviour, and how you will support them.
Revise and relaunch your complaints procedure. Make sure everyone knows how to complain and that you welcome complaints so you can grow.
Make everyone accountable. The culture of the organisation is everyone’s responsibility. Make sure everyone knows how you want them to behave. What every your inclusion targets or actions are, ensure everyone knows what these are, and how they are also responsible for them.
These are just a few ways you can focus on inclusion first, before trying to create a diverse environment which may fail or worse, cause more harm.
At Spotlight Inclusion we help organisations become truly inclusive and focus on a holistic and intersectional approach first. If you would like help with your listening activities, training, leadership coaching or strategic planning, contact us.