“Shall We Communicate How Inclusive We Are?”

The leadership team at Miles Inc. has converged to review the company’s policies and practices. A third party agency reviewed the organization’s business practices and employee engagement initiatives. Daisy, the head of diversity, is worried about the results although she wants the leaders to face into the issues that get raised. Following is an extract of a conversation the team has had together. I invite you to reflect on the discussion and share what you believe can help the group out.

Milo: (the CEO, settling into his chair). ”Hello everyone, thanks for coming for this review meeting. We have an important topic to discuss and I am glad you all have taken the time to make it. In a recent review by Torrid, our consultancy, we discovered a few insights that will help us revisit what we do as a company to be more inclusive for employees.”

Jack: (the HR leader) “Excellent idea to have a 3rd party review – let us look at the insights”.

Matt: (representative from Torrid) “Let me begin by sharing that this review is very timely. Many of the organizations that we benchmarked against are among the top employers in the country. It is therefore helpful for us to understand the areas that Miles Inc. can focus on.  The findings indicate that Miles Inc does some parts well and some areas need urgent attention. The areas you are strong at include the benefits and opportunities for employees to grow within the organization. What requires urgent attention from your team is to focus on your policies around inclusion and create more visibility on the employee welfare pieces. Your employees don’t feel you are inclusive enough as an employer”.

Lata: (the technology leader) “It is strange. Why are the polices on inclusion and employee welfare important? What makes employees feel we are not inclusive? I feel we must be focusing on the positives or the areas that stand out strongest rather than what we haven’t fared well on. “

Daisy: “Lata, we probably need to let Matt complete his assessment and then take a call.”

Jack: “I agree. We may be missing out on key points.”

Matt (continuing). “From the focus group discussions the theme that emerges are the lack of transparency in how internal hiring is done and cases of how the culture of ‘groupism’ and how ‘where you hail from’ determines how much you progress in the company. This is impacting credibility within the system and therefore employees feel the values are eroding. “

Milo: (looking uncomfortable) “This is worrying. It will impact our chances of entering the ‘Coolest Company To Join’ Awards, the annual company list that everyone strives for in the country. This has been our goal from the start. Getting on the list also ensures prospective hires see us as a great employer“.

Jack: (trying to defend the company’s track record) “This isn’t true. We have been known as a good employer who invests in employees and even for the communities around. In the last few years we have even hired people from our disadvantaged neighborhood – people will low skills or qualifications and we trained them to fit into our factory set-up. We have now hired some differently- abled people as well. I feel we haven’t communicated our inclusive culture sufficiently”.

Daisy: “Jack, I disagree. Our diversity numbers are among the highest in the industry. We have been sharing best practices about our inclusion and diversity at key forums. Our leaders are sought after as speakers at conferences on diversity. Our policies are also very supportive to all communities. What more can we do?”

Milo: “What is the issue then?”

Lata: “I feel we are not communicating our inclusion enough.”

Jack: “What do you mean? We are sharing how good our policies are, how they compare with the rest and what we are doing to get better.”

Daisy: “I agree – we already do so much to keep our employees informed and engaged about our diversity practices. It is unfair to say we don’t do much.”

Milo: “Team, please let us get our act together. Can you think more about this and come back?”

Daisy: “Let us reconvene in a couple of weeks and take stock. I will connect with you all”.

What is the issue? What can Daisy do about it? Is it about inclusion? Is communication the solution to the issue? Look forward to hearing from you.