Dobbin, F. & Kalev, A. (2016). Why diversity programs fail and what works better. Harvard Business Review.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, corporations like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Bank of America paid millions of dollars to settle race and sex discrimination lawsuits. Employers mandated diversity training programs to minimize these lawsuits, not necessarily to improve diversity. Despite the proliferation of these programs, the number of prospective Black leaders languished over time. For example, the proportion of Black male managers at commercial banks went from 2.5% to 2.3% from 2003 – 2014, (Dobbin & Kalev, 2016). Out of all U.S. companies with one hundred or more employees, the numbers of Black men in management rose from 3% – 3.3% from 1985 – 2014, (Dobbin & Kalev, 2016). Why haven’t these programs made a greater impact on diversifying senior leadership?
The authors suggest that forced diversity training programs may cause resentment and resistance from hiring managers. Diversity initiatives that focus on engagement, contact, and social accountability could yield better results than mandated diversity programs.
Engagement
Cognitive dissonance occurs when someone’s beliefs and behaviors are out of sync, (Dobbin & Kalev, 2016). Experiments have shown that people will try to correct that dissonance by changing their beliefs or their behaviors. Prompts that encourage diversity in hiring could influence the way managers perceive prospective employees of color. Correcting that cognitive dissonance could create diversity champions over time.
Mentoring and sponsorship programs could foster empathy in leadership while developing a diverse roster of emerging leaders.
Contact
Creating self-managed teams with people in different roles (sales, management, manufacturing, etc.) may help to eliminate bias. Rotating a diverse roster of management trainees throughout the corporation would build exposure among more employees.
Social Accountability
Diversity managers and councils made up of internal stakeholders at every level could also have a positive effect on DEI initiatives. Hiring managers might recruit and promote a diverse pool of candidates to look good in the eyes of others. Having to explain their hiring decisions might also change the way managers diversify their applicant pool.
I believe diversity programs that incorporate these three tactics would be effective in solving the Black achievement gap. However, organizations need to mandate unconscious bias training for the purpose of education. Ignorance only maintains the status quo. Branding diversity training programs as opportunities to help all employees, not just those from underrepresented groups, could create an organizational culture built on acceptance, accountability, and growth.
L2: Demonstrate the ability to assess complex organizational environments and achieve communicative goals.
L4: Apply communication-centered scholarship to strengthen communication effectiveness.
D4: Be equipped to influence change.
Keywords: diversity, training programs, learning and development
