I have always held the position that much of an organization’s success (or lack thereof) results directly from how well it manages and leverages its most precious asset—its people. While an organization may have a valuable brand, its real value and ability to generate greater value rests in the contributions and performance of its people. People drive innovation. People create solutions. People deliver results. Above all, people create the culture.
Given the importance of people as human capital, human resources professionals are in a unique position to help recruit, onboard and develop this valuable resource. In many cases, an HR professional is the first contact a job applicant has with the organization. An HR professional definitely helps with onboarding, which is the most critical interaction for setting the foundation for the employee experience. Throughout an employee’s tenure, they are most likely to reach out to an HR professional when they have concerns over performance, promotions, calibrations and challenges with leadership.
The influence and impact of HR professionals are today needed in the implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives more than anywhere else. Many organizations have implemented DEI strategies over the past 20-plus years. Those efforts have achieved varying degrees of success, but the goals have consistently been to create a more equitable and inclusive culture while increasing diversity across all levels of the workforce.
My own years of working with both organizations that are just starting their DEI journey and that have been at it for some time have made it evident that HR professionals must play prominent roles if DEI initiatives are to gain traction and become part of the organization’s DNA. Here, I suggest five ways HR professionals can add tremendous value.
Be Transparent and Truthful When Generating, Analyzing and Reporting DEI Metrics
Until recently, many organizations held their DEI metrics close to the vest. In fact, most organizations did not share their DEI results at all. This was understandable to some extent, given the sensitive nature of these metrics.
When organizations did share DEI metrics, they often did so at such a high level of abstraction that it was difficult for a reader to draw any meaningful conclusions. A common example of this was reporting out on “people of color” instead of showing breakdowns for Black, Latinx, AAPI and Indigenous.
Even worse were the organizations that would paint a misleading picture by showing only positive results or by giving numbers without context. Cherry-picking favorable metrics while ignoring or masking areas needing improvement allowed organizations to tell a happy, but inaccurate, story to leadership and the public.
Encouraging and supporting full internal transparency of DEI metrics will provide a more realistic assessment of the organization’s performance. It will also enable leadership to develop and implement initiatives, programs and solutions that will move the needle and drive meaningful and sustainable improvement.
Engage Diverse Workers in Creating the DEI Strategy
One of the biggest mistakes I see organizations make is creating a DEI strategy with minimal, if any, input from members of the very groups they are trying to support. No matter how well-intentioned, people almost always dislike having something done to them. True adoption of, engagement with and support for DEI initiatives come only when solutions and strategies are created with the individuals who will be most affected.
In order to truly address what ails an organization’s DEI program, leaders must first perform a diagnosis. Identifying a problem dictates its cure. Until leaders get proximate to the problem and truly understand and engage diverse populations within the organization and wider community, they run the risk of committing malpractice by issuing prescription that not only do not produce cures but actually make matters worse.
An essential step toward reaching a diagnosis is hearing directly from diverse groups to better understand their lived experience within and in relation to the organization. Depending on the organization’s culture, feedback can be gathered by administering surveys, holding focus groups or organizing listening session. HR professionals can add tremendous value by coordinating those activities.
Move Beyond Focusing on DEI During Recruitment to DEI Throughout the Employee Experience and Lifecycle
Most organizations lean in on recruiting for diversity. The logic behind this is that an organization needs diverse employees in order to have a diverse talent pipeline and concerns over equity and inclusion.
Focusing on recruiting makes a great deal of sense for organizations that employ few people who are not white, male and heterosexual. But a problem I have observed is many organizations start and end with recruitment of diverse employees without ever following any real strategy to ensure a positive experience throughout the career lifecycle of the diverse individuals they hire.
As a result, many organizations resign themselves to a never-ending cycle of recruiting to fill positions recent hires have already left. Or, worse than the revolving door, leaders interpret poor retention rates as evidence that “diversity simply doesn’t work.”
HR professionals can lead the way in helping their organizations move beyond diversity recruiting alone. Examples of questions to convince leaders to ask and answer are
- How have we prepared the organization to receive and embrace diverse new hires?
- Are we providing peer mentors to help new employees navigate the organization?
- How do we effectively share information on organizational culture while onboarding new employees?
- Are employee resource groups made aware of new hires so they can extend a welcome?
- Do we adequately assess the backgrounds of new hires who come to the organization with previous work experience so we can begin developing possible career paths?
- Are we tracking the career progress of diverse employees during their time with the organization?
Encourage Deliberate Action and Accountability
When they value a program or project, organizational leaders set goals, measure results, and recognize and reward performance. DEI efforts are often glaring exceptions to this standard way of doing business.
For a multitude of reasons, many organizations struggle to hold leaders accountable for creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture. HR professionals can step up to serve as leaders’ confidantes and conscience, as well as to provide ideas, support and encouragement to help leaders take a more deliberate approach to ensuring DEI.
Help Elevate DEI to an Enterprise Initiative
Organizations that move the needle on DEI the most recognize that everyone must be engaged in efforts to keep DEI initiatives impactful and sustainable. For DEI to become a part of an organization’s culture and DNA, it cannot be the job of only HR or a chief diversity officer. Rather, a more holistic view of DEI needs to be embraced. Such a view, as described in the approach to systems change developed by FSG, encompasses
- How the organization’s policies, practices and resource flows fit into the DEI strategy;
- How organizational relationships, connections and power dynamics affect DEI; and
- Which mental models that exist within the organization may be hindering their DEI efforts.
Stated another way, viewing the organization’s DEI strategy through an enterprise-wide lens helps create a culture of DEI that perpetuates itself.
In closing, HR professionals have the ability to act as champions of DEI by delivering consultative value to their organization’s leaders. The goal should be to help move their organization’s performance on DEI from where it is to where it needs to be.
01 December 2021
Category
HR News Article