Having conversations about diversity and inclusion through forums and roundtable discussions is not only important to engage excited supporters who care deeply about fair and inclusive workplaces. It’s also an effective way to engage people who may be ambivalent or somewhat resistant to organisation goals and programs.
We recently had an opportunity to facilitate workshops for hundreds of employees of a telecommunications company across Australia. This was billed as a learning opportunity and a chance to ask questions in an open and respectful way about diversity and inclusion initiatives.
And so many questions came in – from people in the sessions, through slido, and prior to the workshops – that reflected a range of views from supportive to ambivalence.
The client valued the design and delivery of the workshops:
‘A special thank you to our amazing facilitators from Diversity Partners, who expertly guided these meaningful discussions. They created safe spaces for questions that needed to be asked, and the feedback has been very positive!’
We’ve captured some of the questions, comments and our responses here, with the hope that they might help others to facilitate important conversations.
1. On the importance of open conversations
Q: ‘With a focus on diversity and inclusion, can this have an opposite effect on some people who feel like it is better to say nothing for fear of offending anyone?’
DP: That can sometimes happen. That’s why it’s important to keep emphasising the importance of safe and respectful conversations when we talk about DEI, and to recognise we all make mistakes and may unintentionally offend someone. Inclusion efforts are part of creating psychologically safe environments, and that includes creating a learning culture where we can continually learn and grow.
Q: ‘Sometimes it can feel isolating and less psychologically safe to have an alternative view if you are a white male.’
DP: If that’s happening for you at work, it can be helpful to share examples of exclusionary comments or behaviours from team members that lead you to feel isolated.
Q: ‘How do you balance all the different views and beliefs while remaining inclusive?’
DP: A helpful strategy is to find common ground – for example, that we all agree we want to work in a fair and respectful workplace. At your organisation, this might be referring to your vision and values to find common ground.
2. On the focus on under-represented groups
Q: ‘How do you stop diversity initiatives from appearing to favour one group over another?’
DP: By reminding people that DEI initiatives are focused on fairness. They are designed to address systemic biases and barriers that reduce opportunities for under-represented and marginalised people. For example, DEI efforts focus on reducing bias in recruitment (such as affinity bias), so that genuinely fair and objective hiring decisions can be made. Efforts to support more inclusive meetings – such as encouraging equal contribution time – help to create a more positive environment for all team members.
Q: ‘Is there a possibility that by reinforcing awareness of minority groups that we are in fact also highlighting our differences where instead we should be focusing on our similarities?’
DP: Effective diversity and inclusion education programs focus on both our differences and similarities. On one hand, they help people understand and value our differences. On the other hand, they emphasise the importance of similarities – such as a commitment to shared values of respect and fairness in the workplace.
3. On the alignment of diversity and inclusion efforts with meritocracy
Q: How do you square DEI hiring with meritocracy?
DP: The idea of a meritocracy – where everyone plays on a level field – is an attractive ideal, but it ignores arbitrary barriers and biases in the workplace. As Ludmila Praslova explains in her article ‘The False Dichotomy of Merit and Inclusion’ in Harvard Business Review in February: “Today, meritocratic framing, regardless of the intention, often serves to justify inequality and unfair barriers while perpetuating the myth that opportunities to obtain success are evenly distributed.… Perceptions of merit are frequently shaped by biases and social capital rather than objective performance, and marginalised people are often judged more harshly for mistakes others get away with. To get closer to fairness, we need both merit and inclusion.”
Q: ‘Can you please provide insight into recruitment targets and quotas. Do you think it is ethical and that we are getting the best person for the job?’
DP: The idea of targets is to make sure that all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, have equal access to opportunities. Targets don’t diminish the expectation of the most suitably experienced and talented candidates.
Gender targets help to widen the talent pool, ensuring that qualified candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply and considered fairly.
