Just having a diversity program won’t instantly solve all your problems.
“Diversity is not simply a means to an end, but rather, an ongoing journey that evolves over time,” says Jennifer Melton, an EEO/diversity management consultant for F&H Solutions Group, an affiliate of Ford & Harrison LLP. “The idea that the implementation of these initiatives will automatically facilitate change or dispel any notion of discrimination is an unrealistic proposition.”
But with a lot of time and tenacity, she says, greater diversity in thought, experience, and communication can gradually emerge from within an organization.
However, it will never happen if the organization doesn’t first have a realistic, strategic plan.
“Statistics show that 85 percent of corporate change efforts fail due to the lack of effective strategic planning and knowledge,” Melton says.
The first step should be to secure critical “buy in” from the senior management team.
“This not only ensures that the team is engaged and has accepted accountability and ownership for the initiative — as opposed to a check mark on its “to do” list — but also offers greater support of the diversity mission and the strategic vision overall,” she explains.
Too often, the planning ends at that point — which is a fatal mistake, Melton says. If you want your diversity initiative to truly succeed, you must be able to answer the following questions:
1. What is your ultimate objective in pursuing this initiative? Is it to mitigate legal risks or to react to concerns expressed by community representatives? Or, is it simply to respond to outstanding internal issues within the organization?
“All too often, organizations rush to implement diversity training without conducting a thorough assessment as to what expectations are to be fulfilled through the engagement in such training,” Melton says. “The absence of a specific focus or goal can often result in merely an exercise in futility for many organizations.”
Therefore, you must adopt a “futuristic” view of your diversity objective: What do you want your organization to look like in five, 10 or 20 years from now?
2. What are the expectations (expressed or implied) of your CEO through this diversity initiative?
3. How do you define “success” for this diversity initiative? “Keep in mind that there will be gaps between what you are espousing and what will become reality,” she says.
4. How will you measure that success? “It is no coincidence that the most successful organizations with strong diversity initiatives embrace the importance of benchmarking,” Melton says.
5. Is your initiative tied directly to the organization’s business imperative and bottom line? It absolutely must be, Melton asserts.
Of course, this list is not exhaustive.
“But it does impart a solid foundation on which to build a viable action plan,” Melton says. “Those who are successful and business savvy consistently ask themselves the question ‘What would have to be true?’ throughout the entire planning process. This method encourages both motivation and breakthrough thinking in resolving workplace issues.”