Moving Beyond the #BLM Statement with Board Diversity — The Context

This Moving Beyond the #BLM Statement with Board Diversity blog is a series of three: Part 1 — The Context, Part 2 — The Why, Part 3 — The How

Part 1: The Context

Amid the urgency and momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020, organizations voiced their solidarity to the #BLM movement with public statements. Support statements across all sectors, sizes, and markets flooded your inbox and social media. Yet, are these statements truly brand activism (businesses playing a role in the processes of social change) or short term appeasements? The majority (55 percent) of Americans support the Black Lives Matter movement according to the thinktank Pew Research Center’s September poll. Soon enough, customers, donors, and/or clients will most likely be checking in with their choice brands and/or nonprofits to determine if they have moved beyond the statements.

Many organizations have gone beyond their statements and have prioritized an organization-wide diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Some high-profile corporations and nonprofits have listed out detailed action plans to address racial injustice, see these strong examples from Pepsico (Black initiative), Pepsico (Hispanic/Latin X initiative), Microsoft, Peloton, and the National Urban League. Although these heavily resourced corporations already had established diversity, equity and inclusion programs before their public statements, they extended and accelerated their plans.

Public statement highlights include…

· Pepsico has committed to adding 100 Black associates to their executive ranks, to increasing their current Black manager population by 30 percent, and to increasing their Hispanic/Latinx manager representation to 10 percent over the next 5 years.

· Pepsico will double the number of spending with Black-owned approved suppliers with an incremental spend of $350M.

· Microsoft CVP/GM’s will be held accountable on their progress on their diversity and inclusion goals when determining their impact, rewards and promotions.

· Microsoft will double the number of Black-owned approved suppliers over the next three years and spend an incremental $500M with those existing and new suppliers.

· Peloton will provide anti-racism learning opportunities at all levels of the company, a comprehensive diversity and inclusivity audit, and the implementation of bias-mitigating strategies in all key points of the employee lifecycle (hiring, reviews, promotion, and more).

· The National Urban League will be focusing on new programs to further racial justice including a new partnership with Entercom to connect with more diverse voices by leveraging Entercom’s robust portfolio of digital and broadcast assets to serve the National Urban League communities.

Other organizations have created or updated their diversity, equity and inclusion action plans in response to their original statement, but have not publicly communicated their plans. Organizations must be mindful of common stumbling blocks before communicating the Beyond the Statement update on your website and social media outlets.

Obstacles to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

· Lack of organizational alignment. The executive team must convince themselves and then their employees of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. Articulating the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) diversity benefits such as: improved performance, boosted reputation, increased innovation, and stronger decision making. Articulating the inclusion benefits such as a highly engaged workforce, employee retention, and higher productivity. Finally articulating the moral benefits of pushing for racial justice and equity. Once an organization is aligned on the benefits and has set the intention, only then will diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives be prioritized.

· Missing a racial equity lens. Race and ethnicity must be factored in when analyzing issues, developing solutions and creating success criteria. Understanding the root causes of why enormous discrepancies exist between white people and BIPOC in all of our main systems: criminal justice, health care, real estate and housing, finance banking and industry, and education is imperative before diving into planning. An organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion action plans must be designed and executed considering the impacts of structural racism and the existing barriers BIPOC face.

· Ineffective and/or divisive diversity and inclusion training. Diversity and inclusion training has been around for decades. The avoidance of lawsuits was the initial focus, becoming a standard part of compliance training. Although the trainings have evolved over the years, they remain largely ineffective. According to this study from the Harvard Business Review, most companies use negative messages and negative incentives throughout their training which results in more divisiveness and bias in the workforce. Many companies have added unconscious bias training to their standard annual compulsory diversity training. According to another study from the Harvard Business Review found that although employees have an immediate positive reaction to unconscious bias training, it rarely changes their behavior. Out of sight out of mind. University of Toronto behavioral expert Sonia Kang says recent trends focusing on undoing implicit bias do not work. Instead organizations need to focus on removing the biases out of their processes and structures. For example, there are many opportunities for change in the hiring process, see this Ideal article “6 Steps for Hiring More Diverse Candidates.” Training is still an important part of the puzzle as it builds awareness. To make the training resonate, design an ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion training program with reminders, exercises, checkpoints and effectiveness assessments delivered throughout the year.

· One-time efforts. An effective diversity, equity and inclusion program is not an annual compulsory two-hour training session. To reap the benefits of a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce, organizations must (1) be willing to change processes and structures throughout their organization, and (2) ensure that this an ongoing effort. There should be regular communication updates from the organization’s leaders; your Diversity and Inclusion officer and/or committee should not be the only communicators. Progress reports should be published on diversity targets, hiring and retention statistics, and inclusive climate status.

· Unrealistic goals. Setting aspirational diversity, equity and inclusion goals that are unrealistic will result in frustration and lack of engagement, regardless of the worthy intentions. Make diversity, equity and inclusion goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Start from the Top with Board Diversity

Whether your organization has a strong diversity, equity and inclusion plan or is just starting to build one, board diversity should be a key part of your plan. Traction in racially or ethnically diversifying boards is slowly progressing in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Many boards have started efforts to diversify, yet many of these attempts have failed or been poorly executed.

The Case for Board Diversity

The next post: Moving Beyond the #BLM Statement with Board Diversity: Part 2 — The Why will review the economic, marketing, and moral reasons why your organization should tackle board diversity now. Part 2 — The Why will also review common challenges that often deter boards from realizing the benefits of board diversity.