Black Lives Matter - What can we do?
It has been 2 months since the gruesome murder of George Floyd and the sound waves of social reform continue to ring out.
Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash
Although frowned upon by many, mass protests against police brutality and racial inequality held across the world in the middle of a health pandemic demonstrated the depth of the global outcry against racial inequality.
Whilst the initial reaction may have been to call this an American issue, the global black community was quick to shout out and point our well-meaning, non-black neighbours to their own backyard where perhaps more divisive and wicked acts of covert racism continue to exist.
In the context of life and work, these events heightened introspective questions of value among members of the black community;
What is our life worth? and is it worthy of defence?
When will the core of our identity stop being criminalized?
Does any level of success, compliance, or conformity protect us or our loved ones from disrespect or unprovoked violence?
Is our work valuable to gain mentorship, sponsorship, promotion, and equal pay?
These events have sprung a wave of courageous conversations about Race at Work globally. Concepts such as privilege, supremacy, microaggression, anti-racism, tokenism, covert/overt racism, colour blindness, tone policing, ally-ship and many others have found their way to the top of engine searches and been on the agenda of many zoom meetings and 1-1 conversations.
Books such as Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo- Lodge, that perhaps were previously relegated to the “Black books section”, became #1 Sunday times Bestseller.
In the UK, despite many calls to action over the last 20 years, acute underrepresentation persists;
Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) communities makeup 14% of the UK population (40% in areas like London) and yet continue to be under-employed and under-represented at senior levels or in roles on the critical path to leadership within both large and small organisations (Business in the Community, June 2020)
Despite a higher level of educational qualifications among BME individuals relative to the white population, BME students are less likely to attend Russell Group Universities (McGregor-Smith Review, 2017)
The UK black unemployment rate of 9% is higher than the national average of 3.5 – 4.0% and is the highest across all ethnic groups (UK office for National Statistics, 2019)
BME individuals are 58% more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts (Race Inequality in the Workforce, 2020) which doesn’t make align given a 10 percentage point gap in the % of BME population that are university degree holders (37%) vs their white counterparts (27%)
BME employees are less likely to be rated in the top two performance rating categories in the workplace (27% vs 35% for white employees) and are less likely to be identified as “high potential” (10% bs 20% for white employees) according to BITC Gender & Race Benchmark
34% of UK employees that identify as Black report that they have been overlooked for promotion in the workplace (McGregor-Smith Review, 2017)
The statistics are shocking and upsetting at every level. One can only hope that this new awareness encourages true ally-ship that helps us all feel jointly responsible for bringing lasting change to the issue of racial injustice in our society and our workplaces.
What can we do?
Photo by James Eades on Unsplash
While the black community is exhausted by the need to continue repeating ourselves, we need to remain strong everyday activists that intend to use this "new awareness" to move our organisations towards sustainable change in matters of racial equality.
Many of us have been asked this question in our organisations and we have been stumped with what to answer. There are many things organisations can do to close the racial inequality gap but I would encourage you to start with these 3 steps;
Step 1: Demonstrate ally-ship by understanding the issues and investing in their remedy
“Whatever you care about, you learn about”
Provide annual racial awareness training for all especially people managers
Encourage learning & conversation using book/movie/podcast clubs where participants can learn together and have courageous but safe discussions about race and other issues
Create two-way mentoring models such as reverse mentoring, that provide a perfect opportunity to build relationship and rapport and learn more about someone with a different cultural heritage or background at the same time
Encourage colleagues to participate in affinity networks even where they don’t naturally belong to those communities
Encourage and reward giving to organisations campaigning against racial inequality. Giving into their work is not only the socially responsible thing to do but also sends a strong message that the your organisation is willing to put their money where their mouth is
Invest in black businesses – Being an ally to black people is more than conferences, hash tags and corporate initiatives especially when less than 1% of business funding goes to black founders. Black people are ready to take responsibility to correct financial inequalities but many lack the social networks/capital to do this. This is why supporting the work of firms like Cornerstone Partners, Good Soil VC, Aruwa Capital, Impact X Capital and many others are so vital
Step 2: Examine Bias and Gather Key Data
“Organisational leaders need to stop hiding behind the mantle of unconscious bias. Much of the bias is structural and a result of a system that benefits a certain group of people...Fixing this will involve a critical examination of every stage of the process, from how individuals are recruited to how they are supported to progress and fulfill their potential. The importance of effective mentoring, sponsorship, role models and networks in delivering positive action needs to be understood at all levels of the organisation, with leaders taking responsibility for creating truly inclusive workplaces”
Organisations should ask questions, gather data and examine gaps that exist. The fact is that we can't change what we don't measure and what gets measured, gets done.
Review recruitment practices for inherent bias
What are the historical % of graduate applicants and intakes are black? If the numbers are low, ask why
How broad and diverse are the universities you hire from?
How ethnically diverse are the pool of candidates, campus representatives and interview panels?
For those that were not hired, what was their assessment feedback? Have these been objectively reviewed?
Is your organisation actively trying to recruit Black & Ethnic Minority talent or simply hoping? Do you use recruitment agencies that specialise in diverse recruitment like BYP Network, Bame Recruitment and Career Masterclass?
Critically assess statistics on Retention, Progression & Promotion of Black Talent
What are the statistics of progression of black talent in your organisation?;
How long does it take a black employees to get promoted vs the expectations?
In performance reviews, are there common themes/descriptors that come up consistently for black employees that denote some unconscious bias or thinking traps?
Are black employees underrepresented in roles on the critical path to leadership roles?
Are there visible role models in your organisation that black colleagues can aspire to. Representation matters and the presence of culturally relevant mentors and visible role models cannot be overestimated
Leanin.org wrote about the Broken Rung effect in relation to progression of women in organisations and the same can be said for ethnic minorities. Does your organisation have an effective pipeline development/ sponsorship program that identifies and groom candidates for leadership?
Is there transparency about career ladders, pay and reward guidelines and promotion metrics? A lot has been said about the Ethnicity pay gap. Is your organisation paying attention and taking action to ensure equal pay regardless of ethnicity or gender?
Step 3: Define the outcomes you want to see, set aspirational targets and have clear accountability lines for the results
Targets need to be jointly agreed by all stakeholders - Human Resources, Network Leads, D&I practitioners, and Executive Sponsors
Is your organisation a signatory to the Race at Work Charter? Are there visible actions being taken on the five action steps that all signatories have committed to?
Is it clear how progress is measured on matters of racial equality in the organisation and Who is accountable for such progress or lack thereof. We are all in this together but someone needs to be accountable for driving results
Do middle and senior managers have KPI’s associated with the BME advancement agenda?
Is there an annual review process for performance against these targets?
It may seem that many of these steps raise questions rather than proffer solutions but asking these questions itself is the solution. Questioning why we think/act the way we do, questioning why our processes and practices inherently favours one and not the other and questioning our roles and responsibilities in driving change, is in fact, the beginning of the long journey of reformation ahead of us.
This article was written by Mary Mosope Adeyemi, Founder of viSHEbility