“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.” – Verna Myers***
The year 2020 brought the shocking reality of the COVID-19 Pandemic, along with the piercing jolt to many Americans and millions of others across the world through the Black Lives Matter Movement. While the BLM Movement and its message of social justice, equity and fairness is not new, its more recent impact nudged the world society just a little more, infusing new energy and moving us just a little more in the right direction.
Do Companies Really Value Diversity & Inclusion?
According to a 2020 Glassdoor survey, 76 percent of surveyed job seekers and employees said a diverse workforce was an important factor in evaluating companies and job opportunities. According to a Deloitte survey, 80 percent of over 1,300 respondents said inclusion efforts is an important factor in choosing a company to work for. Despite this reality, as COVID ravaged its way through every aspect of our existence, companies began cutting budgets due to the impact of the pandemic, and yes they cut the diversity and inclusion (D&I) budgets too. According to a June, 2020 report, Glassdoor report, job openings dropped 60% during the pandemic as companies began eliminating these jobs. This was a much greater drop than that which occurred for overall human resources jobs, which dropped 49 percent, or overall job openings, which fell 28 percent.
Companies and executives that had been bold enough to implement diversity initiatives because they were meaningful and good for business, were now reversing its importance because D&I had taken on the appearance in their eyes that:
- “It is a luxury add-on, so we can eliminate it and use the money for, what we perceive to be, more high priority initiatives!”
- “We have arrived and thus don’t need to keep spending money on work that’s no longer necessary!”
- “Our message has been received!” – Unfortunately, in some cases organizations create and hire for DE&I initiatives to send a public message that they embrace diversity and inclusion. I know it sounds as if I’m saying they do it for marketing purposes. That’s exactly what I am saying.
DE&I Rises Again
On May 25, 2020, the death of George Floyd occurred, in the custody of Minneapolis police officers and the video recording that went viral across the world caused the streets to explode as protesters across the world stood with Americans for social justice and change.
According to the Glassdoor Report, D&I job openings increased 54 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels and 245 percent higher than their intra-crisis low in June of that year. At that time, HR job openings were still 32 percent below pre-pandemic levels and overall job openings were still down 10 percent. So post pandemic, DE&I rises again!
Prior to the protests, organizational D&I initiatives often focused on cultural celebrations and introductory messages on valuing diversity and diversity awareness. Healthcare organizations making the same attempts may have made meatier strides with their patients by building in cultural competence and language assistance programming to aid patients with limited English proficiency… although such programs are required for compliance purposes, they served the broader purpose as well. Following the George Floyd murder, the voices of employees and customers pressed companies to ensure fair, equitable and inclusive workplaces. They responded in the affirmative out of fear of losing their customer base. So with DE & I on the rise, If we have learned anything, they will take on a more substantive format and meaning.
Diversity & Inclusion at Work
As I write this, I do so having acknowledged an increase in DE&I job openings, promotions and department creations. I see the increased need, I always have; I see the increased demand but for some things are slowly returning to business as usual. Some such organizations are those that previously seemed to “get it”! Having worked in this area for more than 20 years, I am well aware of the ups and downs that can occur as well the changing levels of support that one can find themselves facing, with and without warning. One very important competency required in this work is navigating change. What has become blaringly obvious is the lack of inclusion and cultural competence in spite of the knowledge and commitments of corporations and healthcare organizations. Even COVID-19 itself and its related data forced Americans to look at disparities within the healthcare system and the workplace.
Diversity & Cultural Competence
Diversity initiatives have to take a deep dive into the realities of all the internal and external customers that an organization serves. That would include customers, employees, volunteers and communities served. While addressing the needs of these groups it is most valuable and necessary to understand who these people are, what they represent, what matters to them and why. Understanding these dynamics, helps to serve them better. If 50% of your customers are Latinx then it would be imperative… and common sense… to hire a high percentage of employees who can easily relate to and identify with that population. That would not just be people who are sensitive to their needs and familiar with their cultural norms but people who come from these communities, allowing customers to see and interact with employees who look, sound and maybe see things like them. Doing this would require planning, follow up and follow through to accomplish such goals. It doesn’t stop there. Hiring goals are not a one time process, it has to be ongoing and continual and it requires research and leg work into how to source good quality candidates, how to attract and actually hire these quality candidates then work has to ensue to retain the candidates.
It is not unusual for organizations to think that hiring a few persons from racially and ethnically diverse populations will solve all their problems, thus the mistaken assumptions that diversity initiatives are complete once such goals are met. The next step becomes retention and addressing all the things in the organization that push people right back out the door because of the exclusive behaviors and inherent discriminatory practices that may exist within the company. Sometimes, it is not racially, ethnically, gender or religiously motivated behaviors but may be severe cases of favoritism or a lack of good leadership that prevents people from feeling included. Whatever the barriers to inclusion, DE&I initiatives should be able to address them in the course of the ongoing work being done. Hiring and retaining diverse teams that mirror clients and customers enables an organization to provide culturally relevant or culturally competent service to their customers.
Defining Cultural Competence
Cultural competence is an evolving process, in which an individual continuously strives to work effectively within the cultural context of another person or community from a different cultural background other than their own. In simpler terms, it is the ability for an individual to interact effectively with people from other cultures.
Though it originally began as a focus in mental health followed by healthcare overall, today, organizations across multiple industries, recognize the value of cultural competence in providing quality service to customers and employees.
The complexity and the incongruence between cultural competence and reality leaves room for increased measures of success and customer input as to what success looks like. Here I was, 2021, post COVID, post protests, helping a loved one find a primary care physician. We scanned the healthcare system’s website and app, as this individual was looking for a doctor who would best be able to relate to him and his healthcare needs. The need for a patient to be able to see a doctor that looks like them or who may have cultural and or religious qualities in common is not abnormal.
A 2019 study by the University of San Francisco School of Medicine, showed that Black patients may obtain better care with Black doctors because Black doctors could potentially provide them with a higher standard of care. This study compared the short term health outcomes of Black men assigned to Black doctors/healthcare practitioners (HCPs) against those of Black men assigned to non-Black doctors/HCPs. The results showed Black patients with Black doctors/HCPs received more invasive, preventative services, and care from their doctors/HCPs. Other studies show that health outcomes increase for African Americans who see African American physicians and there tends to be greater communication, trust, adherence to treatments and faster treatment of illnesses in these instances as well. Studies also show greater satisfaction from people of color in general when they see a doctor of the same race or ethnicity. Needless to say, the incidents of racial bias are drastically reduced when patients and providers share the same or similar background.
So are hospitals and healthcare systems doing more to recruit African American doctors? This would be a valuable move towards a more culturally competent organization and falls within the realm of a strong DE&I initiative. This may be a tall order but not impossible due to real challenges in finding and recruiting African American general practice physicians versus specialists. When organizations are truly working to build diverse and inclusive workplaces and service provision, these are the questions and dilemmas that need to be analyzed and addressed. In a healthcare setting or other setting seeking to provide culturally competent care, moving beyond entry level introductions of DE&I to the real and more complex issues is a necessity. To not do so is to pretend to employ diversity policy and practice and to ultimately accomplish nothing. We can sit at conferences and meetings and talk about… brag about… what we’ve done on paper and in appearance but if it has not cut through the politics and the pretense and made a real difference in the lives and preferences of customers and employees (at every level) then we’ve done nothing of value. Such organizations are more apt to eliminate that job and department then they are to make the changes necessary for long term equity and inclusion.
Quick Tips for Executives & DE&I Professionals
- Embrace the Reality of Change – No progress can occur without it
- Make Changes for Positive Impact – on the customer, on the bottom line and on the long term community image
- Change and Challenge Employees to Embrace the Value of All Populations – do not choose one or another, denying the needs, existence or importance of one over another
- Change the policies, change the practice and change the perceptions – it starts with policies and the proper enforcement from the top. Call it retooling for success.
- Change at Every Level – that’s where the activity, support and change should occur, at every level of the organization.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully you get the point that diversity, equity and inclusion requires more than just the fun stuff and some hiring goals. I honestly think corporate executives are stumped when they discover that real change is expected by those who are watching, those who are recipients and those who are participating in the work. Things get tough when DE&I professionals and their associates start reaching across aisles, through glass ceilings and into C-Suites. It is at this time that things start to “get real” and the true test of commitment occurs. If an organization is truly committed to changing things for the better, they will do what it takes to make it culturally competent and inclusive, even if it means doing some extra work and fighting the political battles to make it happen. That may also include cleaning up their own areas and changing some of their own practices. That’s an even greater test.
It’s not easy, change never is but it is possible.