|
Avoid
common mistakes when implementing diversity efforts.
For
organizational change to occur, the behavior of both
businesses and individuals must adapt. However, change
is often difficult for organizations and the people
who work in them, and resistance is an expected part
of any change process. In order to increase diversity
and create inclusive work environments that benefit
all employees, managers must understand, anticipate,
and address employee resistance at every stage of the
process.
Why
Do Employees Resist Diversity Efforts?
Employees resist diversity efforts for a number of reasons.
For example, if the organization’s definition
of diversity is not broad and inclusive, some employees
may feel excluded or left out of the change process.
Furthermore, employees who are not often made to feel
included in the process, such as white men, may feel
blamed for inequities in their organizations and react
with defensiveness. Employees who feel excluded may
also believe that their own concerns and issues are
not being addressed by organizational efforts. On the
other hand, employees who are specifically included
in diversity efforts—such as women or people of
color—may express resistance because they do not
want to be singled out or perceived as having succeeded
purely as a result of change efforts. Finally, employees
are also cynical and reluctant to get involved with
new diversity efforts when past change efforts have
not been successful.
How
Is This Resistance Expressed?
Resistance may take on many different forms, depending
on the stage of a diversity initiative. In some organizations,
the most marked struggle can come at the introduction
of the change effort when employees don’t understand
what changes will be made and why. Alternatively, employees
may be curious about what is happening and thus remain
neutral in the early stages. Their resistance, however,
may become more pronounced in the implementation phase,
when more concrete changes directly affect their day-to-day
experiences.
Perceptions.
Without clear communication, individuals create their
own perceptions of the “true nature” of
the initiative’s goals and rationale as well as
the methods by which these goals will be achieved. Employee
perceptions of diversity efforts may include:
-
Belief that unearned benefits or advantages will be
given to a specific group, such as parents, white
women, or people of color
-
Perception that one has to be part of a specific group
in order to be promoted
-
Equating the goal of the diversity effort with tokenism
-
View that diversity and inclusion efforts separate
employees by emphasizing groups over individuals
-
Perception that the development of some employees
necessarily impedes the advancement of others
-
Sense of being singled out or punished
-
Sense of being dominated by “political correctness”
Behaviors.
Resistance may be passive or active. Some examples of
resistant employee behaviors include:
-
Propagating rumors about why certain promotions, or
development opportunities, are given—perhaps
openly insinuating preferential treatment
-
Charging
that ill-considered promotions are made for the sake
of making quotas
-
Ignoring or giving very low priority to program implementation
and policy compliance related to a diversity initiative
(i.e. ensuring a diverse slate of candidates when
recruiting, attending a mandatory professional development
session on managing diversity effectively)
-
Making dismissive jokes regarding inclusion efforts
(i.e. disrespectful nicknames for employee resource
groups and networks)
-
Taking legal recourse because an individual believes
his/her retention and advancement has been adversely
impacted by diversity programs or policies
-
Believing or communicating that the team-building
process is time consuming, arduous, or doomed to fail
What
Can Companies Do to Address Resistance?
There are a host of strategies that organizations can
employ to minimize, manage, and address employee resistance.
Strategies cluster in three key areas: communication,
program and processes, and education.
Communication
Of all the tools available to manage resistance, clear
and frequent communication may be the most critical.
-
Articulate
a vision. Resistance to workplace diversity initiatives
is most dramatic when diversity programs or policies
are implemented independently of efforts to put forth
a new vision of the culture—the beliefs, values,
and behaviors that define the organization. The vision
establishes how the organization will benefit from
the change and what the change will look like at the
individual level.
-
Communicate
the business case. Articulate a clear business case
that makes sense for your organization, and communicate
it extensively through leadership speeches, broadcasts/videos,
town hall meetings, newsletters, and regular memos.
Make it as specific as possible.
-
Establish
a broad umbrella for diversity. Adopt as broad a definition
of diversity as makes sense for your organization.
Be sure to communicate that white men are an important
employee group. Other factors to consider that go
beyond the typical racial/ethnic and gender groups
include parental status, education, physical abilities,
age, sexual orientation, work status, and functional
expertise.
-
Demonstrate
the support of top management; ensure that top managers
model desirable behaviors. Create opportunities for
employees in top management to discuss their support
and demonstrate their understanding of diversity and/or
women’s initiatives.
-
Keep
in touch with specific employee concerns. Allow employees
to react openly to workplace issues through various
means, such as focus groups, workshops, and computer
bulletin boards. Providing a forum for resistance
can be a powerful way to dispel it. Also, communicate
any adjustments you make in response to employee feedback.
- Communicate
rationale for promotions, and highlight successes. Use
highly visible promotions as opportunities to draw attention
to individuals’ achievements as well as the organization’s
management development and advancement processes.
-
Demonstrate
fairness. Track and communicate proportional promotion
rates and/or development opportunities to counter
perceptions of unfair advantage. Fight myths with
facts.
Programs
& Processes
Tie individual diversity efforts to business objectives.
Initiatives related to diversity should be dealt with
as key business strategies and not as “side-line”
programs. Monitoring progress should be treated as part
of the regular goal-setting and review process.
-
Create
accountability. To illustrate the importance of diversity
to the organization, tie managers’ compensation
to performance objectives related to recruiting, developing,
and advancing a diverse group of employees. It is
advisable to wait for two to three years after introducing
a diversity initiative to tie results to manager performance,
so that managers will have some time to understand
the business case for diversity and what is expected
of them.
-
Leverage
existing internal institutions. Tap into existing
channels (i.e. employee networks, councils, taskforces)
to brainstorm company-specific issues relating to
resistance and possible solutions.
-
Create
ongoing forums for discussion on diversity and inclusion
at various levels. Peers can provide the most persuasive
arguments in favor of supporting diversity, and champions
at different levels can showcase “role model”
behaviors.
-
Ensure
that programs are inclusive. For instance, offer formal
and informal mentoring programs to white men as well
as white women and people of color. Track participation
in programs by demographic group. Ensure that employee
resource groups and corporate networks are open to
employees from groups outside of the defined identity
groups.
Education
Integration
It is critical that diversity education be broadened
beyond the standard diversity training sessions. Integrating
the precepts of diversity into core business and management
practices will lead to the most profound changes and
will best leverage the competitive advantage your business
seeks in creating a more inclusive work environment.
-
Integrate
the business case and vision for diversity and inclusion
in all management development education. As the business
case for diversity is further integrated into all
facets of management practices, effectively managing
workforce diversity will be seen as a core management
skill.
-
Create
diversity leadership competencies and teach behaviors.
Treat diversity as a core leadership competency against
which you can develop, assess, and promote the next
generation of leaders.
-
Provide
executives with greater exposure to diverse communities.
Require executives to participate as members or leaders
in outside community organizations (i.e. associations,
nonprofit boards) in which they are exposed to communities
outside their own demographic and socio-economic backgrounds.
-
Strengthen
management competency. Help strengthen senior management’s
facilitation and intervention skills for addressing
verbal resistance to inclusion. Hire coaches to help
leaders hone their skills in addressing employees
who raise concerns about potential bias as a result
of inclusion efforts. In addition, strengthen senior
management’s team building and conflict resolution
skills.
Organizations
have a responsibility to address resistance to diversity
efforts. Surfacing resistance and its causes is the
first step in moving through the change process successfully.
Employers must be able to recognize how and why resistance
is expressed. More effective implementation of change
efforts helps minimize resistance to the process. Employers
must therefore avoid common mistakes when implementing
diversity efforts and tackle resistance head-on.
About
Catalyst:
With offices in New York, San Jose, and Toronto, Catalyst
is the leading research and advisory organization working
with businesses and the professions to build inclusive
environments and expand opportunities for women at work.
For more information about Catalyst’s research,
products, and services focusing on workplace flexibility,
visit www.catalystwomen.org.
You may also sign up to receive Catalyst’s issue-specific
newsletter, Perspective, and monthly email updates at
news@catalystwomen.org.
See
WomensMedia's
Latest Articles.
|
|
