said Tombari. “I remember one occasion where a team was put
together for a project and someone looked around the table and
said, ‘My goodness, we’re all the same age.’ They thought of gender,
of cultural differences, but forgot about age. Being able to act
on that is really powerful.”
The blind spot you know is much easier to manage than the
one you don’t. If an employee is aware of biases, he can do something
about them.
“We all have biases and prejudices, but when we come to work,
we need to bracket our personal biases and put them aside, in order
to stay focused on the task before us,” said Sally Ellis Fletcher,
a former professor at the University of Rochester and the author
of Cultural Sensibility in Healthcare.
What’s necessary, as well, is philosophical support.
“If there’s nothing in the organization’s mission and vision that
talks about diversity and inclusivity, then it may not be high on
the organization’s priorities,” said Ellis Fletcher. “When it comes
to cultural diversity, inclusivity and equity, HR professionals
have the unique position to pause and assess the organization’s
pulse on this issue. Be that flashlight and do that organizational
assessment.”
ASSESSING AND DEVELOPING
While cultural competency may seem a difficult thing to quantify,
measurement is entirely possible. It’s necessary, too, to ensure
you’re moving the needle. But simply assessing how diverse a
workforce is will really only measure diversity. It’s important to
delve a little deeper and get a read on employees’ attitudes and
interactions.
“With our clients, I suggest assessing cultural competency
whenever there’s an opportunity,” said Zigelstein-Yip. Targeted
questions can be included in engagement surveys, self-assessments,
exit interviews or even small focus groups. “Get your first
benchmark, then resurvey and see if you’ve made an impact.”
At the heart of cultural competency challenges – and therefore
the root of opportunity for improvement – are employee communications,
miscommunications and conflict.
“Investigating this area can shed light on any attitudes or perceptions
people may hold towards certain groups or individuals,”
said Zigelstein-Yip. “Depending on how you end up coming out
of your investigative process, you can determine where you need
to go.” You may, for example, need to go back and do a little more
cultural awareness and sensitivity training. “The good news is
that some of those biases tend to lessen as you create awareness.”
That training, though, needs to be backed up by policies and
practices that support cultural competency at every turn.
“You have to take a very holistic approach before you start doing
any training,” said Zigelstein-Yip. For example, organizations
in the IT sector would be hard-pressed to ask a manager of a
predominantly male team to be more inclusive of female team
members, if the organization has historically allowed gender bias
to influence its hiring, promoting and training practices. “It’s easy
to say, ‘Let’s do training,’ and there are many good programs out
there, but it can become nothing more than a Band-Aid if an
organization doesn’t have the infrastructure to support real cultural
competency.”
cover feature
SUCCESS FUELS MORE SUCCESS
With a thoughtful and long-term approach, cultural competency
is likely to lead to a more diverse workforce.
“As you become more comfortable with these concepts and become
more inclusive, you start to see more diversity in leadership
ranks,” said Tombari. “You see stronger representation at the VP
level and above.”
That becomes self-sustaining, as well. Research tells us that
with increased exposure to an opposite association, our biases
tend to recede. So a greater number of female senior executives
and CEOs reduce the implicit bias that women are less effective
leaders. More Gen Xers and Boomers working on code projects
reduces the notion that anyone over 40 can’t excel in an IT role.
Another bit of good news? People are genuinely interested in
this subject, and usually quite keen to learn.
“It’s about self betterment, both personally and professionally,
and it speaks to everyone – it’s not a women’s issue or a race
issue,” said Tombari. “When you open doors to this topic, the interest
is incredible. People take ownership. They’re curious. It’s
an area that requires time, but it’s absolutely worth the investment.”
n
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