Does your company really understand the term ‘diversity’?
As a recruitment specialist a lot has changed during my 25 years in the sector.
At the start, I used to experience something now referred as ‘microaggressions’, which could be verbal or physical, intentional or unintentional, but are mainly targeted towards minority groups.
It’s hard to believe, looking at me now, but I used to have a distinctive high top hair style when I was younger and people thought it was okay to pat my hair. I used to hate it inside but didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to be seen as complaining. At the time I would laugh it off, get my head down and focus on my career but I actually I regret not challenging it in an intelligent way.
Back then there weren’t many black people working in recruitment and, if I’m honest, I wasn’t really looking for them because I was just trying to build my career.
Subconsciously I must have been aware of it because all I remember feeling was that I had to work twice as hard as my peers around me to prove myself because I was black so that’s what I did.
Thankfully things have changed a lot since then. In my experience companies fall into two distinct categories when it comes to their approach to diversity and I define diversity as listening to the views of everyone in the room irrespective of their race, religion and gender.
The first are the businesses who see diversity as a box-ticking exercise. They see the PR that goes with it but they don’t see the lasting benefit that comes with truly embracing diversity. There’s not much that can be done for this group because the leaders aren’t looking beyond their own reflections. If you’re only looking for people who look and sound like you then you won’t create a product that appeals to everyone.
The second category is made up of the companies who just get it and have diversity running through their DNA. The greatest leaders get the best people in the best positions no matter who they are. They almost don’t see gender or colour but they recognise that a diverse workforce is a happier and more productive workforce.
