Discovering Diversity Success: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself

 

By Jessica Alvarez, Chief Management Officer

A few years back, I was yearning for a community to embrace me, a tribe that would understand and respect that I’m not just a few general categories of a person, including female, Latina, mother. I needed a community outside of my corporate life that understands that the indigenous roots in me are not only from the Americas but can be traced back to slave trafficking from Africa to the coasts of the Caribbean, central and south America. My grandmother’s knowledge of the use of roots, herbs, and plant medicine has been passed down the generations through song and story.

In my search for such an embracing community, I found Centro Ashe, now the Wild Ginger Center in Washington D.C., which shares, protects, respects, and promotes the connections between plants, earth, and people. I enrolled in their training program to spark and renew the love and knowledge of plants I had in me.

Yes, it sounds very urban hippy, right? The first day I was amazed to be surrounded by an astonishingly diverse group of people, all coming together to learn and share experiences. Here, I didn’t need the emotional and mental protective walls I habitually built around me.

With my corporate and human capital lens, I tried to analyze the reasons for such “diversity success.” They didn’t use a sophisticated recruiting system with algorithms tweaked to maximize diversity. The curriculum was the same for everyone. The setting was a barn on a small farm. Yet, the diversity success was evident with race, ethnicity, creed, preferences, identities, age, careers, education, and social-economic levels all in one room, ready to learn. Everyone showed up with a smile and open to an embrace. Cell phone connection was awful, the conversation was great, and we all had meals together where we learned about each other’s families, interests, and even dreams. It struck me how different this was from work and school settings. Although there was a lot to learn and do, there was ample room for each person’s personality and voice to shine equally. They organically met the diversity and customer loyalty aspirations of the corporate world.

After months of enjoying the camaraderie, I concluded that the Wild Ginger Center’s secret ingredient for their diversity success is the kindness and respect that runs through its core. Empathy and respect not only for the plants and the earth but for people. Each person that walks into the center is unique, respected, acknowledged, encouraged, and celebrated for showing up as who they are.

By the time the workshops concluded, I had acquired lifelong friends, carpool mates, herb/veggie exchange buddies, but most importantly, I found the tribe I yearned for. I belonged.

Can we translate this success to the corporate world? Yes! Below are my top 10 questions to ask yourself.

1.    Is your mission clear?

2.    What is the human connection to your work (the back story of why we do what we do)?

3.    Are people working with a purpose?

4.    Is everyone’s uniqueness equally celebrated and acknowledged beyond the basic categories?

5.    As employers, are we creating safe spaces for team members to connect beyond transactional tasks?

6.    Does each employee feel encouraged to grow, to say, to be?

7.    Does every employee feel free to show up as who they are (i.e., my big curly hair vs. straightened hair, my ethnic wear vs. pantsuits and heels)?

8.    Is respect and compassion part of your corporate vocabulary?

9.    Is diversity even valuable to your corporate goals?

10. Are you aware of your company’s diversity standing?

I can help you start diversity conversations too. I’m pleased to announce DEI360, an organization’s starting point for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). It’s an easy, customizable, online assessment that quickly allows organizational leadership to see how they’re doing from the employee’s perspective. Once an organization takes the assessment,( our team walks through the final report giving clear DEI data, a snapshot of the internal DEI landscape, and actionable next steps. Have questions? Check out our FAQ or contact us directly.

 

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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Book Review: The Disordered Cosmos

 

Even today, you won’t hear many perspectives from black, women cosmologists/theoretical physicists. Not surprisingly then, this incredibly personal, emotional, and scientific work, The Disordered Cosmos, might be the most unique and original book you’ve read in years.

Associate Professor Chanda Prescod-Weinstein teaches physics, astronomy, and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire. Her professional recognition includes the 2021 Edward A. Bouchet Award from the America Physical Society.

Though many will label her views and words radical, we urge you to read this partly autobiographical, partly historical, but always withering social critique of America. Even if you don’t completely agree with any of her views, you’ll gain a vital and necessary perspective, one that speaks to almost unbearable pain, yet remains cautiously hopeful.

Over the centuries, through overt and subtle words, advertising, the media, movies, books, leader behaviors, and the like, the colors black and brown have become associated with dirt and negativity, while goodness and cleanliness have attached to the color white.

Oppressors have long used the color of people’s skin to reinforce power and to justify horrific deeds. As a result, people with more generous amounts of melanin identify as black and have created a black culture. They face more challenges and greater odds of dying at the hands of police. Many people with little to no melanin consider those with more melanin less intelligent, and less capable of physical and emotional feelings, even though melanin has no bearing on these things.

Scientists have played no small part in creating these fictions. Science and pseudo-experimentation, including eugenics have deliberately supported and championed racism or turned a blind eye.

Of late, however, because of shifting demographics, American leaders have begun to encourage black and brown youth to enter the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). This is for fear of having too few scientists and falling behind competitor nations.

Here are a few key takeaways from the book:

·         All things, including humans of all colors and all gender and sexual preferences, formed from the same stardust.

·         In physics, with its captivating theories, wonderful weirdness, and mysteries, anything is possible.

·         ‘Western’ science ignores the perspectives of marginalized people and often claims credit for their contributions.

·         The author’s experiences, beginning at Harvard, demonstrate that racism in science remains an insidious force.

·         Varying amounts of melanin determine the color of a person’s skin and hair, but race was a construct before the discovery of melanocytes in the 1800s.

·         White supremacists still pervade science, ignoring racial injustices and perpetuating centuries of inequities.

·         Instead of opening doors to the marginalized to do right, white leaders, including scientists, do so mainly for economic, military, or personal gains.

CHCI weaves over a decade of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) expertise into all of our core offerings. If you want to determine your company’s DEI strengths, opportunities for growth, and actionable next steps, check out DEI360, our new online assessment tool. We’d love to help.

 

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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The Hidden Story Behind Your Organization’s DEI Data

 

By Ian Thompson, Data Analyst

Successful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is more than just checking off boxes about gender and race. It’s about new types of workplace conversations, personal self-awareness, courage to call out micro-aggressions, organizational culture change, increased innovation, and a thorough data-driven DEI approach.

So, what is DEI data? Beyond demographic information such as race, age and gender (which covers Diversity), how do you measure Equity and Inclusion? The E and I data come mostly from surveys and solicited feedback from employees and applicants. One of the outcomes of DEI is to create a more positive work environment for all. Therefore, the primary way to know where to start for E and I data is by collecting data on the current sentiment of your employees.

Consider the following key metrics when collecting DEI data from your employees and other sources:

·         Demographics: All employees by function, level/seniority and tenure by group.

·         Employee satisfaction/engagement: Scores and survey results by group. Includes question set, and any other surveys aimed at employee perceptions.

·         Attrition data for each group, ideally by role, function, and tenure (separated by voluntary and involuntary).

·         Qualitative attrition data: Exit interviews identified by group.

·         Compensation data, including bonuses, rewards, pay increases, etc. by group, including new hires.

·         Recruiting data: Number and percentage hired by group, per job type, role, and level.

·         Numbers and percentages of job applicants by group, by source, and stage of hiring process achieved (e.g., screening to hire).

·         Promotions by group, broken down by level and time to each promotion.

·         Performance scores/evaluations by group and by level/rank, role, tenure in organization and in current role. Include qualitative data surrounding performance reviews.

·         Career Development: Enrollment in programs by group. Nominations to leadership positions. Number of mentoring and coaching programs.

·         Internal and external complaints, such as discrimination, bias, harassment, and the resolution status by group.

Fundamentally, DEI data analysis will expose the demographic gaps in the above areas to identify where to focus. For example, a DEI survey can show that African American employees feel as though not all employees are treated equally when it comes to compensation, career advancement and following rules. Looking at the below figure, we can see that more than half of African American respondents disagree to some extent about many of the Equity statements.

Looking at the statements that start with “Compensation, benefits…” we can see the most egregious disagreement among the African American workforce. 65% of African American respondents disagree with the statement to some degree, while only 25% of the non-African American respondents with Somewhat Disagree to the same question. This comparison can indicate what might be happening. Primarily, it signals that employees perceive leadership holding a bias toward certain demographics. Since most African American respondents feel as though there is equal access to professional development opportunities, the inequities appear to be coming from the supervisor positions. Whether it is predominantly non-African American leadership acting on conscious or unconscious bias toward their employees, action is apparent when it comes to equal compensation and benefits. Remember, identifying this gap does not make it magically go away just because you know it exists; it is merely a conversation starter toward action.

DEI surveys shed light on inequities such as the one above and much more. If your organization is struggling to initiate change in the workplace, now is the time to collect data and use its insights to drive change. Does your organization have any other tools to measure DEI? Share them below. If you are looking for an online DEI assessment, check out DEI360.org.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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DEI is Personal: My Story of Family, Kenya, and a Career

 

Diversity has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. We just never called it diversity when I was growing up. But it was there all along.

It started with being the youngest of eight children; five brothers and two sisters, all of whom are very different. Add in their friends and you get the picture: a bustling, dynamic house with a never-ending, revolving door of high school and college students. As the youngest, I spent a lot of time observing the differences and similarities of my siblings and their friends, trying to understand what made each person tick.

My early memories start with having Rotary Youth Exchange students in our house, which is when where an American high school student lives in another country for a year, while a student from that country lives in an American home for the same year. Over the years, we had students from Sweden, Belgium, Japan, Bolivia and other countries living with us, each bringing new perspectives on culture, language, food and traditions to my world.

I hung out with a fairly international crowd in college with friends from Argentina, Mexico, France and Kenya. After falling in love with my Kenyan friend, we got married in an international wedding with his family coming from India, Canada and Kenya to help celebrate. I didn’t think much of it at the time; however, someone recently said to me, “You married a Kenyan two decades ago?! That just wasn’t done back then.” Well, we did it. And we also moved to Kenya to live and work. It was only supposed to be for two years; we stayed for 12 years instead. My grandmother referred to Africa as the dark continent; that should’ve warned me of what was to come.

I hadn’t seen real racism growing up, but I saw it firsthand in Kenya. I witnessed how people of different skin colors treated each other on a daily basis. I noticed how people expected less of people with darker skin color, for no reason other than a bias that skin color was linked to intelligence. And I clearly saw how my husband was treated differently than me in various situations. All those observations shaped my beliefs around diversity, inclusion and belonging.

After returning to the US, helping teams, individuals and organizations talk about diversity was my focus. I started with age diversity, being dubbed The Generational Guru by the Washington Post. Yet that felt limited and incomplete. So, I moved into the wider arena of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), using executive coaching, leadership development, and human capital consulting to drive those conversations forward.

Many people tell me that DEI conversations are daunting. I get it; it’s hard to look at our own bias and have these conversations. Yet, I’ve been doing it my whole life, personally and professionally. And my life is richer because of it.

I can help you start diversity conversations too. I’m pleased to announce DEI360, an organization’s starting point for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). It’s an easy, customizable, online assessment that quickly allows organizational leadership to see how they’re doing from the employee’s perspective. Once an organization takes the assessment,( our team walks through the final report giving clear DEI data, a snapshot of the internal DEI landscape, and actionable next steps. Have questions? Check out our FAQ or contact us directly.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

 

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Diversity as a Revenue Engine: What 16+ Studies Reveal

 

“What’s the business case for DEI?” is one of the most common questions we hear. Investing in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leads to cost savings through reduced attrition and absenteeism, and faster, less expensive recruiting; it also contributes to the top line as well. Dozens of studies from respected sources have revealed the business benefits related to DEI so we’ve compiled 16+ studies that show why DEI is a revenue engine.

1.    McKinsey’s 2020 report: Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters analysts found that, “Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 25 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile,” as well as “36 percent likelihood of outperformance on EBIT margin for ethnic and cultural diversity.”

2.    The World Economic Forum’s report Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 4.0 suggests that companies with diverse employees have “up to 20% higher rate of innovation and 19% higher innovation revenues.”

3.    A frequently cited study by Catalyst found that Fortune 500 companies with three or more women board directors attained markedly higher financial performance, on average, than those with the lowest representation. Those with the highest percentage of women achieved 53 percent higher return on equity, 42 percent higher return on sales, and 66 percent higher return on invested capital.

4.    The Center for Talent Innovation found that employees in firms with above average diverse leaders are 60 percent more likely to see their ideas developed, 75 percent more likely to see their innovation implemented, 70 percent more likely to have captured a new market in the past year, and 87 percent more likely to feel welcome and included in their teams.

5.    According to PwC’s 20th annual CEO survey (2020), diversity and inclusion was the top priority for global CEOs, with 83 percent agreeing that they promote diversity and inclusion initiatives.

6.    Per the diagram below, the Berkeley University Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership has found that DEI drives five key levers of financial performance.

 Berkeley University Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership

7.    The Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership has found that companies with a higher proportion of women in their executive committees possessed stronger financial performance, including a 41% increase in Return on Equity on average, and those in the top 25% for gender diversity are 15% more likely to possess financial returns above national industry means.

8.    A 2016 Credit Suisse study reported that firms with 25% female senior leadership outperformed peers at a 2.8% compound annual growth rate. This annual growth rate number increased to 4.7% for companies with 33% female senior leadership and 10.3% for companies with 50% female senior leadership.

9.    A 2018 Harvard Business Review article states that firms in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity and inclusion are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians and that diversity overall improved profitable investments at the individual portfolio-company level and overall fund returns. Teams that shared the same ethnicity experienced a lower success rate for investments: 26.4%, compared to 32.2% for diverse teams.

The same article states that firms with above-average DEI measured by six dimensions – migration, industry, career path, gender, education, age – had 9% points higher EBIT margins, on average.     

10. A HBR article reports that employees of firms with diverse leadership are 45% likelier to report a growth in market share over the previous year and 70% likelier to report that the firm captured a new market. This article also demonstrates that when members of a team have traits in common with a client, such as ethnicity, they are 152% likelier than another team to understand that client, and that leaders who emphasize inclusion, by giving diverse voices equal airtime, are nearly twice as likely as others to unleash value-driving insights, and employees in a “speak up” culture are 3.5 times as likely to contribute their full innovative potential. Where diversity exists without equity and inclusion, these results are rarely achieved.

11. A study by the Center for Talent Innovation reports that ideas from women, people of color, LGBTs, and Gen-Ys are less likely to win the endorsement they need to go forward because 56% of leaders don’t value ideas they don’t personally see a need for. The data strongly suggest that homogeneity stifles innovation.

12. Leaders should also bear in mind that changing demographics are causing the buying power of people of color to increase much more quickly than that of White Americans and that already a majority of youths under 18 are of color. By 2030 a majority of young workers will be people of color, and by 2040, people of color will be the majority across the US as a whole.

13. Bear those numbers in mind when you consider that a recent Glassdoor survey found that 67% of job seekers evaluate a company’s diversity practices before accepting a job offer.

14. Moreover, employees with the highest level of engagement perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organization, according to a survey by Towers Perrin.

15. And, according to LinkedIn, turnover costs employers half of an entry-level person’s salary and up to 250% of a senior executive’s salary. As you tap diverse networks for critical talent like data scientists, sales specialists and engineers, imagine the costs of losing and having to replace them, let alone the costs and difficulty of recruiting them if your firm is not already known as a great place for diverse talent to work.

16. Performance Excellence Network compiled an up-to-date and compelling list of financial and business reasons for DEI:

·         The top quartile of diverse companies are more likely to financially outperform their national industry means – 35% for ethnic diversity and 15% of gender diversity (McKinsey)

·         Diverse management teams deliver 19% higher revenues from innovation (defined as new products within three years) compared to their less diverse counterparts; in other words, they produce better ideas (BCG)

·         Companies with a diverse workforce enjoy 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee, and smaller companies as much as 13 times higher cash flow (Bersin)

·         Employees in highly diverse and inclusive organizations show 26% more team collaboration and 18% more team commitment than those in non-inclusive organizations (CEB/Gartner)

·         Teams that follow an inclusive process make decisions two times (2X) faster with half the meetings, and decisions made by diverse teams delivered 60% better results (Forbes)

·         Inclusive companies are three times (3X) more likely to retain Millennials for more than five years (Deloitte)

·         According to a national study, those who experienced discrimination at work were twice as likely as those who have not to report illness, injury, or assault which impacts productivity, engagement, and overall workforce effectiveness (NCBI)

CHCI weaves over a decade of DEI expertise into all of our core offerings. If you want to determine your company’s DEI strengths, opportunities for growth, and actionable next steps, check out DEI360, our new online assessment tool. We’d love to help.

Recommended Reading

·         Laura Tyson, Jeni Klugman, Genevieve Smith, Business Culture & Practice As A Driver For Gender Equality & Women’s Economic Empowerment, org

·         Mark Misercola, Higher Returns with Women In Decision-Making Positions, Credit Suisse, March 2016

·         Girls Rule, Forbes, October 2010

·         Rocio Lorenzo, Martin Reeves, How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance, Harvard Business Review, June 2018.

·         Paul Gompers, Silpa Kovvali, The Other Diversity Dividend, Harvard Business Review, July/August 2018.

·         Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, Sara Prince, Why Diversity Matters, McKinsey & Company, 2015

·         Why DEI Matters, Catalyst, June 2020

·         Rocío Lorenzo, Nicole Voigt, Miki Tsusaka, Matt Krentz, Katie Abouzahr, How Diverse and Inclusive Leadership Teams Boost Innovation, The Boston Consulting Group, June 2018

·         Rocío Lorenzo, Nicole Voigt, Karin Schetelig, Annika Zawadzki, Isabell M. Welpe, Prisca Brosi, The Mix That Matters: Innovation Through Diversity, The Boston Consulting Group, April 2017

·         Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Melinda Marshall, Laura Sherbin, How Diversity Can Drive Innovation,  Harvard Business Review, December 2013

·         Mariateresa Torchia, Andrea Calabrò, Michèle Morner, Board of Directors’ Diversity, Creativity, and Cognitive Conflict: The Role of Board Members Interaction, International Studies of Management & Organization, vol. 45, no. 1 (2015): p. 6-24.

·         Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Melinda Marshall, Laura Sherbin, and Tara Gonsalves, Innovation, Diversity, and Market Growth, Center for Talent Innovation, 2013

·         Muhammad Ali, Isabel Metz, Carol T. Kulik, Retaining a Diverse Workforce: The Impact of Gender-Focused Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 25, no. 4 (2015): p. 580-599.

·         Dana Kabat-Farr, Lilia M. Cortina, Sex-Based Harassment in Employment: New Insights into Gender and Context, Law and Human Behavior, vol. 38, no. 1 (2014): p. 58-72

·         Lindsey Joyce Chamberlain, Martha Crowley, Daniel Tope, Randy Hodson, Sexual Harassment in Organizational Context, Work and Occupations, vol. 35, no. 3 (2008): p. 262-295.

·         Cary Funk and Kim Parker, Women in STEM See More Gender Disparities at Work, Especially Those in Computer Jobs, Majority-Male Workplaces, Pew Research Center, January 2018

·         Anat Drach-Zahavy, Revital Trogan, Opposites Attract or Attack? The Moderating Role of Diversity Climate in the Team Diversity-Interpersonal Aggression Relationship, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, vol. 18, no. 4 (2013): p. 449-457.

·         Stephan A. Boehm, David J.G. Dwertmann, Florian Kunze, Björn Michaelis, Kizzy M. Parks, Daniel P. McDonald, Expanding Insights on the Diversity Climate-Performance Link: The Role of Workgroup Discrimination and Group Size, Human Resource Management, vol. 53, no. 3 (2014): p. 379-402.

·         Stephanie N. Downey, Lisa van der Werff, Kecia M. Thomas, Victoria C. Plaut, The Role of Diversity Practices and Inclusion in Promoting Trust and Employee Engagement, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, vol. 45, no. 1 (2015): p. 35-44.

·         Society for Human Resource Management, Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement: The Doors of Opportunity Are Open: Executive Summary(2017): p. 2.

·         Angela Glover Blackwell, Mark Kramer, Lalitha Vaidyanathan, Lakshmi Iyer, Josh Kirschenbaum, The Competitive Advantage of Racial Equity

·         Brian S. Lassiter, The ROI of DEI: Still Much Work To Do, Performance Excellence Network, March 2021

·         Ronadso Hardey, The Role of DEI. Credit Union Times, Credit Union Times, March 2020

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

 

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