Beginning Actions Towards a More Equitable Workplace
4 min readJun 26, 2020
--
A compilation from the work/experiences of so many brilliant BIPOC minds
When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, the Black community owned a total of 0.5% of the total wealth in the United States. More than 150 years later, today that number is around 1.5% (Source: Washington Post). I constantly find myself wondering: how do these numbers compare to the racial breakdown of an organization’s budget, payroll, and investments? How do the daily actions within these structures and systems continue to uphold these longstanding inequities? As we all look for ways to change and do better, we must remember:
Changes that don’t come with a reallocation of resources aren’t real changes.
Where to Begin?
- Identify Existing Gaps in Compensation and Title
- Hold Managers Accountable for Succession Building
- Restructure Pipelines in Targeted, Measurable Ways
- Review Investments and Spending; Then Divest and/or Re-allocate
1. Identify Existing Gaps in Compensation and Title
- Don’t inherit salary gaps from elsewhere. Do not ask new candidates their past salary. Rather, offer what you think is a fair rate, and then be open to their negotiations.
- Do an audit of compensation by demographics (and be intersectional). Track how these rates differ across roles and departments.
- Report these numbers publicly and regularly. Advocate others in the industry (competitors, suppliers) to do the same.
- Review promotion process. When promotions are being considered, make sure the pool of candidates is diverse (refer to pipeline strategies below in Section 3). Requirements and paths for promotion should be transparent and systematic.
- Refer to Salesforce closing their gender pay gap.
2. Hold Managers Accountable for Succession Building
- Systemize and track how work is assigned. Build systems to formalize assigning work (e.g. create a database for “special projects” that all eligible employees can see and apply for). Pay attention to demographics that may be repeatedly overlooked for certain assignments, which can limit these employees’ ability to demonstrate their skills, and later on negatively impact their potential for promotion. Formalizing how work is assigned can help control for informal information networks and unstructured channels of career advancement (e.g. via personal connections, shared backgrounds/interests with managers).
- Create clear and frequent channels for feedback. Give employees regular feedback, to ensure that they are on track for success. Avoid relying on annual reviews, which can be too late to get them on track. Find a regular, frequent cadence (e.g. monthly, after every big deliverable).
- Set targets for hiring/retention/promotion and track regularly. All levels of leadership (managers, directors, C-Suite etc.) should have measurable targets in hiring/retention/promotion, that are reviewed regularly. Refer to Harvard Business Review for more info.
3. Restructure Pipelines in Targeted, Measurable Ways
- Do not start interviewing candidates until at least 50% of your candidate pool is from underrepresented backgrounds, with qualified credentials. Oftentimes the diversity of a candidate pool is addressed far too late (i.e. when interviewing or about to pick a new hire). If your candidate pool is not hitting the 50% mark, look outside your typical feeders and specifically target underrepresented groups. We must all acknowledge that our networks are quite segregated (which one could say is most obvious at weddings). Refer to Colbert’s experience staffing new writers.
- Reduce bias in the hiring process. Rework job descriptions. Before reviewing resumes/cover letters, remove names/contact info/company names, and try to prepare a neutral candidate summary (for example: B.S. Comp Sci, 5 years product platform experience at international ride-sharing co., 3 years at ecommerce, managed team of 10 for two years). More guidelines here. And check out Google’s efforts and most recent findings.
4. Review Investments and Spending; Then Divest and/or Re-allocate
- Investments: Do an audit to understand if/how an organization’s investments are tied up in unjust systems. Many universities have been working towards divesting from private prisons (i.e. Columbia, Harvard). Employees should receive more transparent information on how their company’s finances (as well as their own 401k’s) are being invested, and in what sort of systems they are supporting. Consider re-investing in schools, programs, organizations, communities that will help build a stronger pipeline of diverse talent later on.
- Spending on Vendors and Projects: What are the demographics of (1) your vendors and (2) the communities your projects serve? Review these numbers and then if needed re-allocate spending (refer to relevant strategies in previous sections to begin tackling these gaps).
All strategies and numbers should be reported and reviewed regularly, and made public to all employees, such as in a public annual report (e.g. Google Diversity Annual Report 2020, Salesforce Equality Report)
Overall Guiding Principle: “Your Budget is Your Moral Document”
re: what/who you spend on is a direct reflection of who/what you value
