Maturity Models were just one demonstration of that, although organisations crave having diversity and inclusion in place, they are still asking themselves the question of What is the right way to do it?
Many companies make the mistake of aggressively starting to recruit minorities or more women in the first instance, even though the company may not be ready for such a step and proper company culture may yet to be established. Therefore, when undergoing such steps, there should already be efforts in place that focus on creating an inclusive culture, where people are willing to share, and are aware of their biases as well as try to prevent them. If such a setting is not established within the company, managers then cannot be surprised that the tactic of directly recruiting under-represented groups without shifting the perspective of the firm simply does not work and does not bring the promised fruitful advantages (Anderson & Billings-Harris, 2010).
Multiple experts from the field agree that diversity and inclusion need to be implemented both as a top-bottom and a bottom-top approach. It is especially crucial for management to be convinced of the importance of diversity and inclusion and coaching focused on it, and not to do it only for the sake of having the most diverse workforce possible. If a company is in a situation where not even management is persuaded of the benefits, it is not very likely that employees will be treating these practices as important ones.
36 Essential for companies is to have diversity and inclusion embedded into the strategy of the organisation and to have part of the budget dedicated to it. As Vera (2020) claims, oftentimes, there is the issue of companies wishing to implement diversity processes, but don’t have the resources or dedicated budget for the tools and training or coaching necessary for building an inclusive environment. That is why it is needed to approach this in a structured way and to have diversity and inclusion clearly stated in the strategy of the company, so that both management and employees can follow these pre-defined processes. In addition, companies wishing to directly implement some D&I-focused training and other initiatives as the first step is often the stumbling block. There needs to be a comprehensive strategic plan for D&I, and after having all the goals clearly stated, then, specific activities can be delivered (Anderson & Billings-Harris, 2010)
Below, I will elaborate on both the steps that companies should take if they want their diversity and inclusion processes to be implemented well and how individuals can work on their cultural awareness.
2.11.1 What companies should do to make D&I work
According to Vera (2020), there are four steps that can help companies to make D&I initiatives work. But before taking the first step, it is first needed to conduct an organisational analysis, in order to locate the characteristics of a business that wants to implement D&I practices.
Disturbingly, the research found that such analyses have been historically gender-blind (Acker, 1992; Gherardi, 2003), and such an issue can be applied to other dimensions of diversity, like ethnicity/race, disability, and sexual orientation (Brotheron, 2003; Hall, 1990; Prasad, 2003;
Smith, 1996). It has been argued that this belongs more in the private than professional sphere, which is not necessarily always the case, as these two inter-connect in various instances, examples of which are company events. Additionally, it can be also connected with religion, as celebrations are usually located around traditional Christian festivals, not taking into consideration other religious traditions. Thus, it is first a must to conduct such organisational analysis to investigate the climate in an organisation, which can be carried out by the combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods (i.e., focus groups, narrative interviews, or problem-centred interviews), before moving to the first step.
Having conducted the organisational analysis, the next step to ensure that diversity and inclusion initiatives go hand-in-hand is to keep track of diversity initiatives that are already present. It is recommended to regularly measure the most important KPIs with regards to the state of D&I, which help to be better able to set short-, medium- and long-term goals. Such
37 KPIs can be, for example, the current percentages of genders or minorities represented in the company as well as in individual departments.
As Asare (2018) highlights, it is not only important to have access to such measures, but also to evaluate their impact throughout the process. However, evaluation is possible only when the goals of diversity management initiatives are clearly defined in the strategy. Otherwise, it is not possible to say whether the implemented D&I measures are effective and appropriate for the given organisation.
The second step is to show the D&I efforts of the company to outsiders because if the firm wants to attract diverse candidates, it also needs to be able to prove that diversity, inclusion, and equity are reflected in the workforce. It is especially important to be aware of the potential biased language used while writing job descriptions, for instance, and to keep this type of communication aligned during the whole application process and after hiring the candidates to the company (Vera, 2020). Crucial is to show D&I initiatives running in the organisation, the goals, what has already been achieved as well as pushing out the information about diverse communities that employees can become engaged in. This is especially important because according to a survey conducted by the employment marketplace, ZipRecruiter (2019), 86% of jobseekers claim that representation of people from diverse backgrounds in the workplace is an important factor for them when looking for a job. Additionally, for around 50% of young people that experienced workplace discrimination, it was the reason to quit their jobs (Pollak, 2019).
Moreover, The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2020 also shows that diversity is especially essential for representatives of Millennials and Generation X, as they are almost twice as likely to stay with a company if it cherishes diversity and inclusion. In addition, for these two groups, workplace diversity is among the top three criteria in the job search.
After managing the communication of a company’s D&I initiatives, the third step is to be aware of any biases that may be present in the hiring process itself and to do as much as possible to avoid them. As Tikalová (2020) explains, the human brain works in a way that it is looking for patterns it is used to and although it is trying to make it easy for us, it does not mean that it is right. So, for instance, if recruiters were accustomed to hiring only white men for a specific position, it is very likely that they will be looking for a white man again, even if unconsciously.
Apart from that, as described above, there are multiple biases that hiring managers can succumb to. Therefore, interviewers usually undergo various bias training and try some other methods, such as anonymising the interviewees, to make the hiring process as objective as possible.
The fourth and last step is then to provide mentorship and coaching programmes to the employees. Similarly, as it is important to have a proper strategy when implementing D&I
38 practices, it is also essential to have some structure when preparing and conducting such programmes, with clear initiative coming from the management. The side result should also be that while mentees learn a lot during the process, mentors will also become more committed to D&I (Vera, 2020).
2.11.2 Steps individuals can take to become more inclusive towards others
Above, I have described four steps that companies can take to correctly implement D&I initiatives. Equivalently, Shrieves (1995) describes four steps which individuals can undergo too, in order to improve their awareness.
Firstly, it is to get to know their own culture. It is paramount for individuals to become aware of their own behaviour – how they act, respond to various situations, the tone of voice and body language they use when they speak to different people. After individuals understand their own culture, it is then essential to become familiar with the culture of the other person. For this step, it is needed to be earnestly interested in the culture of the other individual, as to be able to understand his or her behaviour. That leads to the third step, which is making effort to understand the other person. Instead of trying to persuade the other individual about why they should start acting more like us, it is much better to be rather aware and accepting of the differences. Lastly, it is important to value the variation that everyone brings to the workplace because it is those contrasts, that allow the companies to thrive.
As was stated in the results of various research, even big corporations having diversity in place often struggle with creating a truly inclusive environment. That is when diversity and inclusion coaches come to the firm. Although there are many steps that individuals can take by themselves, powerful one on one conversations with D&I coaches about – for some – sensitive topics around biases and prejudices might be the catalyst of change towards a more inclusive workplace. Therefore, the topic of D&I Coaching is the subject of the next chapter.