“You can put diversity into the proposal upfront with pictures or by including a diverse slate of professionals on the pitching team, but that client is going to expect to see those individuals throughout the project. If you don’t involve them in the project, this is tokenism.”
That is straight talk from Stacey Gordon, author of UNBIAS: Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work. She is executive advisor and diversity strategist of Rework Work, where she and her team counsel executive leaders on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies, while offering a no-nonsense approach to unconscious bias education for the broader employee population.
Gordon’s unconscious bias course has consistently been the second-highest viewed course on the LinkedIn Learning platform.
According to Gordon, tokenism is also disrespectful to the professional and lying to your client. This is more than bad optics; this is horrible business ethics. But like greenwashing, which is disinformation disseminated by a business to present an environmentally responsible public image, tokenism does happen.
DEI cannot be mere window dressing; it must be an honest effort to foster more innovation and engagement that contribute to increased results.
“The individuals know they are being used as bait and they won’t stand for this for long,” says Gordon. “You will find that it may work in the short-term because they have the hope and expectation of being included and valued as a team member. Those professionals will be excited about the opportunity, but they will eventually realize they aren’t being invited to project planning meetings or they’re being invited but aren’t being listened to.”
Gordon asserts this progression will eventually create a retention issue based on a poor reputation, which will then make it more difficult to make future hires of diverse talent. The tokenism will also begin to negatively impact your ability to attract new business.
“You have diversity in your employees in retail stores for the customers to see, but they are only staying as entry-level and not being promoted,” says Gordon. “The assistant managers and the managers are all white. Again, you have major turnover in your front-line staff and can’t figure out why.”
Customers look at your website to see who is represented, what your diversity policy is and what the leadership team make-up is. They vote with their dollars.
“Are you making money? Yes. But could you be making more money if you lead with inclusion rather than exclusion? Absolutely yes,” says Gordon. “You’re leaving money on the table every day.”
She cites Coca-Cola as one example of a company that is taking a stand when it comes to hiring outside legal counsel. They’ve stated that “If firms fail to meet their commitment over two quarterly reviews for new matters, their fees will be reduced by 30% for the matters going forward until the commitment is met.”
Additionally, Gordon notes McDonald’s has announced that by 2025, they aim to have at least 35% of senior-director and higher-leadership roles held by people from historically underrepresented groups.
When it comes to DEI, Chief Diversity Officer Robert Sellers at the University of Michigan has taught the importance of considering all three topics—diversity, equity and inclusion—which he famously likened to various aspects of attending a dance: “Diversity is where everyone is invited to the party, equity means that everyone gets to contribute to the playlist, and inclusion means that everyone has the opportunity to dance.”
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Diversity As A True Business Development Strategy - Forbes
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