Inclusion Matters Because Representation Matters

By: Shelly-Ann Wilson Henry, CEO & Strategic Communications Leader

For the first time in America’s history, the Vice-President-elect of the United States of America is a woman. In fact, she portrays the meaning of intersectionality as a woman of color, Asian and Caribbean descent, and daughter of immigrants who came to the United States in search of better opportunities. If you are vaguely contemplating why this would be a big deal, you may need to reflect on the privilege you’ve had of always seeing yourself represented at this level of our nation’s leadership. For those, like me, whose story bears some resemblance to Kamala Harris’, this unprecedented selection by the Democratic Party and now the American people fuels our audacious hope and dreams that we too can achieve our highest potential.

Representation matters the same way in any organization or industry. It is crucial to whether current and future employees feel included or see themselves rising to the top of your organization. Would someone like Kamala Harris see herself represented on your board of directors or executive leadership team? And if she’s not represented, do you have policies in place that foster her rise to be the first, or are there hurdles due to the absence of an inclusive culture? As a black woman and Caribbean immigrant who has had challenges navigating the corporate space, I reflected on my journey and some essential ingredients that organizations should consider if they want to foster inclusion and encourage employees of underrepresented groups to aim for higher leadership levels.

Embrace Differences

Being inclusive requires more than providing access to the table or an invitation to join teams; it is also respecting different voices and styles of expression or behavior. When Kamala Harris said, “I’m speaking,” how she said it was just as important as what she said. It’s how she expresses herself, facial expressions, and mannerisms included. Forcing her to tone down because her assertiveness makes you uncomfortable or doesn’t make her ‘nice enough’ is asking her to choose between who she is and conforming to your organization’s norms that have little or nothing to do with her professional abilities. An insightful article from the Harvard Business Review titled Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case noted that “Managers may believe they’re giving helpful feedback when they tell a large Black man to smile more so that his white colleagues won’t fear him, when they ask a Latina who advocates passionately for a project to dial it down, when they encourage a no-nonsense white woman to be “nicer,” or when they urge a soft-spoken woman of East Asian descent to speak more forcefully. But all such messages communicate that these employees must be ever mindful of how others see them in relation to stereotyped images of their group, making it harder for them to bring their talents and perspectives to the table.”

Encourage Allyship

Many organizations moved quickly in coordinating training sessions around anti-racism, unconscious bias, cultural competence, and micro-inequities on the heels of the recent racial and social issues. These training sessions will be a one and done activity in most organizations, repeated annually, or revisited when similar problems resurface. However, progressive organizations understand that creating a culture where diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging become a part of their DNA is the only way to ensure that employees thrive regardless of their differences. An essential ingredient that helps to drive inclusion is encouraging allyship. Allies are sponsors that belong to dominant groups within the organization. They use their influential voices to represent underrepresented colleagues and peers in spaces they may not have access to and help to open a window or door to get them in. Supporting your employees in establishing business resource groups and motivating other employees to join an affinity group that they least understand or want to support, goes a long way in encouraging allyship.

Create Opportunities

If an employee applies for an open position in your organization that you believe he/she is not quite ready for, what do you do? Do you disregard it, or do you have policies in place that will put them on a track to get to where they see themselves within the organization? Additionally, if an employee comes to you with a plan to drive an initiative that could benefit the organization, but it falls outside of their job description or department, what would you say? Do you question their involvement because it’s not their job, or do you have systems to support further ideation and development of the initiative? Establishing policies and strategies that provide mentorship opportunities and cross-training go a far way in empowering employees to see themselves in executive leadership positions and supporting them in developing roles where they can add the most value to the organization for the long haul.  

Realistically, many organizations are just now contemplating issues around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. These issues have been magnified and have become business imperatives, as mentioned in our blog post, Selling Why: 3 Business Imperatives That Have Become More Important to Employees and Customers. Because these issues are just now coming to the fore, these organizations are unlikely to have employees that look like Kamala Harris on their board of directors and executive leadership teams. Therefore, the integral next step would be to create an inclusive culture with policies and systems that foster and support employees becoming the first of many to come. 

Not sure where to start? Or want to enhance the strategies you already have in place? Let us help! Schedule a consultation and let’s talk about the way forward for your organization.