Caffeine Makes Me Jittery…I Prefer Herbal Tea
Some pre-COVID-19 musings…
I get it…I swear I do. I mean, EVERYTHING I read and hear today about “THE FUTURE OF WORK” from seemingly trustworthy and well-renowned workforce strategy experts are saying it’s simple really - 1) the needs of companies are perpetually shifting, and 2) the ways with which we solve the problems of companies shifts with time as well. Sooooooo, the actual work of any given company is invariably going to change too, and technology is constantly changing, and the skills to do these jobs is ever-evolving, and the people with the skills are changing…IT’S ALL CHANGING! Recall that I prefaced all of this with, “I get it…I swear I do.”
We’ll leave for another chat the fact that I believe any true equity-minded (meaning social justice advocate & freedom fighter) professional’s first and very real struggle is the fact that “work” for most of the world is founded in oppression and the strategic and intentional division of those with power and privilege. And that, my dear readers has not changed one iota! It is fundamental to understanding how true and meaningful - I mean paradigm-shifting changes for our current and future workforce must be grounded in equity and justice!
“…if you really want me to come to your tea party, stay, feel safe, and enjoy myself enough to bring my best and most authentic self, you’ve got to have offerings…”
Diversity professionals/consultants/strategists (or whatever you call us folxs who align ourselves with workforce equity) spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince companies that 1) it’s not simply about opening and widening the pipeline of diverse talent and then counting the numbers of an increasingly diverse demographic, 2) it’s not only about uncovering the needs of their diverse workforce, and then developing thru oftentimes inappropriate, triggering, and intrusive employee survey assessments, an ineffective dashboard of diversity-related metrics to shop the ROI of diversity with, 3) it’s not singularly about ear-marking massive financial resources, or making a high-profile “diverse” hire to tokenize and set-up for failure, 4) it’s certainly not an effective strategy to continue developing short-term diversity programs, initiatives, or interventions that ignore or aren’t designed to even effectively address and meet the needs to increase inclusivity & Belonging, and 5) it’s most certainly not helpful and it’s actually quite harmful to keep fueling and funding the PR machine highlighting the company’s latest homeless initiative or Community Benefit dollar spend while trying to hide systemic inequities their employees face day in and day out… . clearly, I could go on.
Nope, if you really want me to come to your tea party, stay, feel safe, and enjoy myself enough to bring my best and most authentic self, you’ve got to have offerings of chamomile tea, honey, AND a gender-neutral restroom for my friend. AND, it’s got to be a part of the regular order of things, and not only available because I had to ask (and ask, and ask, and ask again, and then get outed as an herbal tea-drinker for asking).
Simply put, it must begin with a baseline of inclusion that is built into and throughout the organizational design. Your policies, procedures have to be inclusive, your culture must ooze inclusivity and accommodate the needs and differences of ALL of your employees through policies and organizational norms, which means it respects and welcomes diversity of thought, experience, and background, promotes psychological safety for ALL, and integrates inclusive philosophy into all formalized HR procedures…and it must be grounded in equity and justice so that power and privilege dynamics can be addressed.
“…outed as an herbal tea-drinker…”
Then and only then will ongoing assessment of an ever-changing diverse workforce, along with constant infusions into a long-term diversity-equity-inclusion strategy, and the ability to (with integrity) pivot quickly and tweak things according to the constantly evolving landscape of needs for your diverse workforce, begin to even scratch the surface of meaningful change.