Some organisations love diversity targets. They can give leaders a sense of purpose and a feeling of agency on issues around which otherwise they lack confidence or feel fearful. I’ve come across leaders who feel the very act of agreeing diversity targets is an achievement in itself.
I’ve always been a bit of a sceptic on diversity targets. I can see that for some organisations, targets focus the mind and give leaders something tangible to hang onto.
To me target setting is like deciding to walk a certain number of steps a day to improve your wellbeing while still eating junk food, drinking too much alcohol and getting five hours’ sleep a night. Even if you achieve your step count, you are unlikely to have improved your health.
If targets work for your organisation, go for it. However, below are four things to be wary of or at least think through in setting and working towards your targets.
1. Are you breaking the law?
Talk to an employment lawyer and you will realise that setting targets, while not illegal in itself, can lead organisations into dangerous territory. While the intention can be “positive action” to increase diversity (which is legal), the actions to meet targets can lead to “positive discrimination” (which is illegal).
Part of the problem is that there are shades of grey in between positive action and positive discrimination. If you are not sure where your actions to meet diversity targets lie, I strongly advise you to seek legal advice.
2. Are you undermining minoritized colleagues?
Some who benefit from societal privilege openly talk about feeling threatened by the drive for diversity, and can overtly or covertly criticise or undermine colleagues they consider to be “diversity hires”.
Mistakes are amplified or ascribed to their protected characteristic. Success is minimised or attributed to other factors, e.g. luck. The ability to create trusting relationships is undermined, and can leave a minoritized person feeling isolated or undermined. They can experience microaggressions or in extreme cases, bullying.
When the minoritized person fails as a result of all this, out comes “told you they weren’t good enough”, reinforcing the bias of those that think like them and making it even harder for other minoritized people to succeed.
If you are actively increasing the diversity of your workforce, what are you doing to uncover this kind of bias and ensure minoritized people are set up to succeed?
3. Do leaders/managers know how to lead & manage inclusively?
You’ve recruited someone with minoritized characteristics. Hurray. But are you then placing them into teams where their bosses are not equipped with the skills and competencies to lead and manage inclusively?
Something I often hear leaders say is: “…but I really value people who work with me”. What they mean is I demonstrate that I value people by doing the things that make ME feel valued.
Spoiler alert: this is not valuing people. It is certainly not inclusion.
For many leaders an understanding of inclusive practice starts and ends there – with considering how they value people. But there is SO much more to inclusion than that.
And don’t forget: people with minoritized characteristics live in a world of microaggressions, discrimination and prejudice to varying degrees outside of work. They will be carrying that burden as they walk through your office door. Therefore, it is not enough for managers to simply not be racist/misogynist/ablist/homophobic etc. They will have to work proactively to create conditions in which their minoritized colleagues can thrive.
Inclusion can’t be an afterthought. It needs to be consciously bedded into leaders and managers’ daily practice, measured and rewarded.
4. Are you missing the point?
Organisations that have thought only superficially about diversity, when asked why they want to increase representation from minoritized groups, often say having more diversity will help change their organisations for the better. (What “better” means is often unarticulated…)
Many organisations I come across talk about increasing the number of minoritized candidates coming into the bottom of the talent pipeline. In other words, young people. To put it another way:
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People without the agency to bring different ways of thinking and new ideas to problem solving or decision making
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People who have the least power to change the way an organisation operates
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People who feel the need to assimilate to progress (and in some instances survive) in your organisation and in their careers
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People who do not yet have the expertise to change the way you work
When you are looking at increasing diversity, specifically what do you mean? And if you are hoping that a more diverse workforce will help to change the culture of your organisation, have you defined in what ways and what you will do to enable that change?
If setting and working towards diversity targets is right for your organisation, I wish you well. Just think deeply about what this really means: for your organisation and for the minoritized people that join you.
Can we help?
Want help with any aspect of your leadership and inclusion journey? Reach out and to set up an informal, no obligation chat. Contact [email protected]