Do Your Employees Know Your Rationale for Racial Equity?

The Flawed Narrative of Inclusion and Equity

Structural racism has conditioned us to accept that including people of color in majority-white workplaces, especially Black people, equates to lowering the bar. Not only is this framing incorrect, it is also dangerous. Nevertheless, it remains pervasive. Too often in my work helping organizations strategize on diversity, inclusion, and equity goals, I hear from people who tell me they would love to hire, advance, or invest in more companies founded by underrepresented people, but they are worried about reducing standards and outcomes.

The False Narrative of Charity

As corporate America finally steps up to vocally condemn racism and discrimination (and in some cases, make big commitments to reducing bias within their organization), I worry that companies are approaching inclusion and equity with this flawed narrative. Falsely labeling diversity efforts as charity or compulsion will only further divisions between employees. As someone who has been called a “diversity hire” in previous roles, I know all-too-well what it’s like to have one’s contributions underestimated because those in the majority thought standards were lowered to bring me in.

The Reality of Inclusion and Equity

In reality, ensuring people from underrepresented communities are recruited and advanced is far more beneficial for an organization than any one individual. Diversity, equity, and inclusion attempts to level the playing field to allow the best ideas to flourish, connect talented individuals from underrepresented backgrounds with opportunities that those in the majority often have unfair access to, and empower the best organizations to thrive. Done right, creating diverse, equitable, inclusive organizations yield greater profitability, innovation, and smarter teams. The problem is, much of these benefits aren’t communicated well by company leaders, so many employees think steps to create greater DEI are check-the-box.

A New Way of Communicating Inclusion and Equity

Too many leaders implicitly frame their solutions as: We’re doing this because we are forced to. We’re downgrading our processes to accommodate. This is a side project or charity, it’s not related to our company’s core strategic priorities or mission.

It is possible to do better. Much better. Instead, focus on equity – address how many of our systems were created to be inequitable, but now you are committed to removing the barriers that kept people of color out in the first place.

Communicating the Why of Equity

Recently, when I was working with a team on announcing a new startup accelerator program for underrepresented founders, I advised the company’s leaders to regularly communicate the purpose of this initiative – that it was not a charity, but a highly-selective program for startups that would go on to raise a lot of money for its investors. I advised the organizers to ensure all communication would center around this narrative: Propelling underrepresented founders would unleash a significantly more powerful, innovative, and profitable entrepreneurial ecosystem of the future.

How to Effectively Communicate Inclusion and Equity

Do not send communication on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts without explicitly calling out the reasoning for it. It is fine (even encouraged) to name existing racism and bias but operate from the framing of: “We are missing out on incredible opportunities by not examining and dismantling systems of exclusion today. As an organization, we could be significantly more productive and innovative by focusing on this. That’s the reason for us launching better hiring and promotion practices.”

Additional Strategies for Effective Communication and Execution

• Understand the history of bias and discrimination – which explains how these initiatives and programs are righting past wrongs.
• Invite buy-in and advice from people of color…and listen with humility.
• Prioritize anti-racism efforts in-house.
• Show up personally.

Conclusion

We all have a part to play in undoing institutional bias. When leaders communicate the why, align new anti-bias initiatives with the organization’s strategic priorities, and do the tough work of identifying and fixing barriers within their organization, they’re more likely to get buy-in from a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. Otherwise, we’ll be back to status quo in no time.

FAQs

• What is the flawed narrative of inclusion and equity?
  The narrative that including people of color in majority-white workplaces, especially Black people, equates to lowering the bar.
• What is the reality of inclusion and equity?
  Ensuring people from underrepresented communities are recruited and advanced is far more beneficial for an organization than any one individual.
• How can leaders effectively communicate inclusion and equity?
  By explicitly calling out the reasoning for their efforts, framing it as a missed opportunity to increase productivity and innovation, and prioritizing anti-racism efforts in-house.