Vantage Point: DE&I Advisory Board Insights and Key Take-Aways

Vantage Point: DE&I Advisory Board Series

At Vantage Point, we are committed at our core to advancing social justice initiatives and building an inclusive future that represents real-world diversity in culture, ideology, background, and innovation. We stay true to this commitment by developing emerging technologies for good that unite, inspire, and build empathy — starting in the workplace.

Our Advisory Board Program was born out of a desire to address the pressing concerns facing our society: namely, intensifying racial and socioeconomic inequalities perpetuated by COVID-19. The goal of our Advisory Board Program is to convene leaders in human resources and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) across sectors to share honestly — about what we’re going through and how we are navigating unprecedented, urgent challenges — and together, arrive at key takeaways and learnings.

Our first two Advisory Board sessions welcomed SVPs, CHROs, CIOs, and Heads of People and Culture across tech startups and Fortune 500s. Participants were asked not to share their title nor company to encourage authenticity and honesty through a shared sense of anonymity. These Impressive leaders united to offer up: unique challenges, potential solutions, and capacity-building resources as they work to create inclusive workplace environments in the new, complex context of our world. Below are some of the key takeaways.

Common Challenges

What is your most pressing concern or biggest driving force when it comes to creating inclusion in the context of your workplace.

Pressing Concerns

• There is a discrepancy between the diversity in warehouses and production centers (high) and in the corporate office (low) — How do we balance the needs of these two populations who have very different experiences in the workplace? Further, how is inclusion complicated when the external population you are serving is diverse and underrepresented within your own workforce?
• How do you make diversity and unlearning systemic bias a priority in a mid-stage startup where resources are limited?
• How can we create programs that drive empathy and ensure people are listening to one another?
• Political differences can create roadblocks when it comes to making policy change within the workforce to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. As such, politics must be set aside from the decision-making process when it comes to creating DE&I policy. The best interest of stakeholders and employees must be the priority.
• To create an inclusive workplace, incremental change from everyone is required as opposed to top-down mandates from the executive team.

Driving Forces

• Creating lasting change across an organization that is not surface level requires time, patience, commitment, and discipline from all. With this commitment, results can be measured and progress can be made.
• When the first Black executive joined the team, Black workers were encouraged to speak up about their experiences in the company for the first time. It was a moment of revelation for the non-minority executive team who had not been privy to these conversations beforehand. We must continue to make this space for Black employees to speak up.

What are the behaviors of leaders and employees you see that are the most harmful or counterproductive?

Fear

• Many executives are experiencing heightened fear around “saying the wrong thing and then getting caught” by their employees or the public. This fear should not prevent conversations from happening. Leaders need to set out a clear path to have a productive dialogue where they acknowledge their own limitations yet share honestly what they know along with resources to move the conversation forward.

Emotional Complexity

• There are some leaders who are in positions of power because they have strong technical skills but lack the empathy and EQ to understand how to lead difficult conversations around race and equality. They often tackle social problems through a “product” lens, but complex DE&I issues require a more holistic approach that draws on emotional awareness. As leaders, we must support these individuals.
• Leaders sometimes want to take a fast, task-oriented approach to “solving DE&I Issues” without realizing the complexity of the situation. This mentality leads to a superficial response that can often perpetuate already existing inequities.
• Empathy is about appreciating the full range of experiences that others experience. If you don’t have empathy, you bypass these crucial conversations.

Microaggressions

• Microaggressions are small, negative comments or interactions that have a deep, lasting impact. Because they are small, employees and leaders often assimilate to them and get used to the language, and then all of a sudden you realize the massive impact of these compounding comments when an employee feels unsafe or excluded. The tolerance of these microaggressions creates a toxic workplace culture.
• In certain cases, these microaggressions are perpetrated by executive leaders who vocally speak about how important diversity is, and then they participate in harmful language. As an HR professional, when you are trying to build trust with executives, its difficult to call out negative behavior, but it’s vitally important to do so for the long term progress of DE&I initiatives.

“Cancel culture” is the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures after doing something offensive or deemed so — what is your take on the overall impact of this societal response (mostly driven on social media)?

Social Media

• Social media is closely tied with “cancel culture” by creating an environment where there is little room for mistakes and where individuals are quickly criticized and “canceled” if they express an opinion that does not follow mainstream cultural norms.
• In fact, many leaders are afraid to speak out at all because they expect a negative response from the public, regardless of what is said.
• Social media plays a large role in taking things out of context and sensationalizing stories. With social media, individuals can hide behind screens and make statements they wouldn’t feel comfortable voicing in person. How can we create an environment where social media can be used in a productive and inclusive way?

Cancel Culture

• Cancel culture is problematic because it does not allow for robust and honest dialogue, with a constructive confrontation that works towards the goal of building a bridge.
• With cancel culture, individuals can become paralyzed by fear of criticism or “saying the wrong thing” and this halts progress towards shared understanding and growth.
• However, cancel culture can also be an indicator of larger problems within an institution: One African Proverb shared by an attendee highlight this relationship well, “A child rejected by the village will burn down the village to feel its warmth.” If senior leadership is feeling “smoke” from employees regarding the team’s diversity and culture, it is an indicator that these employees feel unseen and unheard, and larger institutional issues are often at play.

Solution Mapping

In a time of heightened political, social, and economic (virtual) tension, how do you approach cultivating a sense of belonging for all, and how do you know when actions are effective? What actions are the most impactful?

• Even those who have been working in the “Diversity Industry” since the 90s, do not feel equipped to deal with the present moment’s social crisis.
• Part of leadership is recognizing what you don’t know and having the humility and the authenticity to say that you can’t always be an expert. It is ok to say you don’t have an answer at this moment or know the “correct” thing to say. Employees and colleagues will respond well to authenticity and honesty.
• What are the boundaries of what I can control as a non-black person? This is a question all non-black executive leaders should ask themselves, particularly in a remote team environment. The companies that will thrive in the next 6 to 12-months will be those who take the time to look towards their diverse employee base for solutions and take the time to build a culture of inclusivity in the remote environment.
• One of the biggest mistakes in DEI can be paralysis from fear of “boiling the ocean.” It is of utmost importance that leaders lean-in to difficult conversations and act as captains to steer the conversation towards productive solutions.
• Leaders must help their employees, and themselves, to understand the complexity of diversity, equity, and inclusion issues before attempting to create solutions.
• Vulnerability and curiosity and important to leadership. The ability to create and sustain trust is something that can define the success of an organization in creating a collaborative and innovative company culture.
• Those in positions of leadership can help other leaders be brave.
• We must embrace imperfection and work towards creating collaborative solutions that are focused on engaging with diverse staff members and having them drive the conversation in regards to workplace diversity.

To participate in one of our DE&I Advisory Board sessions or explore hosting a facilitated conversation around DE&I and racial equity, please email jaidyn@tryvantagepoint.com.

Link to crowdsourced resources from participants of Vantage Point’s DE&I Advisory Board & Webinar June 24, 25 & 30 available on Medium.