Beyond Black History Month: Leveraging Its Success 24/7/365

It’s Black History Month for the US and Canada - but how can employers make the positive inclusion effects last all year round?

In this guest post, writer and EDI expert, Cheice Sorbie, explains how organisations can support Black employees 24/7, 365 days a year.

Happy Black History Month! February is an opportunity for employers to build a more inclusive workplace by recognizing the contributions of People of African Descent. Black History Month also creates an opportunity to build momentum into the future.

In my experience as a founder of a grassroots Black employee network and a policy professional, I have supported the development and implementation of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategies that work. As we drive toward a new normal, the workforce of tomorrow will accept nothing less than an inclusive workplace, and there are so many ways that organizations can support Black employees after Black History Month concludes.

In this blog post, I will share 7 obstacles to building an inclusive workplace and tips to overcome them. No matter where you are in your EDI journey, there’s always more to learn.

1. Unsupported Black Leaders

If Black employees are not front and center, leading the conversations of change, your inclusion efforts are not inclusive. Leadership is found at all levels of an organization and, more often than not, Black employees are leading the charge to make workplaces more inclusive. But without support and buy-in from the most senior leadership, inclusion initiatives are likely to fail.

Leadership needs to start or join the conversation as soon as possible to demonstrate their commitment to inclusion. Silence sends a strong message and the longer leadership waits, the more uncomfortable Black employees will become. For example, following George Floyd’s murder, Black employees wanted to hear something, anything, from leadership. In a crisis, the message does not have to be perfect, it needs to be timely.

Beyond conversation, Black employees need the tools and resources to help them succeed and maintain balance. For example, carving out dedicated time during their existing work schedules to do inclusion work or encouraging mental health days. If you’re not prepared to support and invest in Black employees, you’re not prepared to build an inclusive workplace. 

2. Unconscious Bias

Unconscious bias can influence perceptions, actions, and behaviors of everyone in the workplace. Unchecked unconscious bias in leadership can contaminate hiring decisions and demoralize Black employees.

For example, hiring Black employees in the least prestigious positions is commonplace in the United States. Unfortunately, overqualified Black employees can find themselves training their next boss without ever being considered for the job themselves. These decisions are based on perceived ability. 

Leaders need to demonstrate their commitment to addressing unconscious bias in the workplace by first acknowledging its existence. Observing the types of roles Black employees have in an organization is an eye-opening exercise that does not require much beyond looking around. Do your managers all look the same?

It is never a comfortable experience to recognize our unconscious biases but once we are aware of them, we can change them. Commit to ongoing learning, gather and share resources with your employees. While a delicate exercise, leaders need to publicly challenge their own unconscious biases. If leaders are not experienced in this field, hiring a Black anti-racism expert over an extended period of time is a great strategy. Unconscious biases are built over time, unlearning them will not happen in a one hour session.

Even further, inviting Black employees to participate in their leaders’ journeys can be a powerful culture shift. By being transparent and taking inclusive approaches, leaders send a strong signal that they are ready and willing to invest in a new normal. 

3. Lack Of Diversity

A homogeneous workforce can limit the creativity and ingenuity of any organization. Further, a homogeneous workforce can create a hostile environment for Black employees. Being the only Black employee in an organization can be an isolating experience. Building a diverse workforce can drive productivity and organizational outcomes by fostering open and authentic exchanges of ideas. Diversifying the recruitment pipeline is one of the most effective ways to build a diverse workplace.

Diversifying where recruits are found is a great start. Investing in relationships with Black student organizations helps target recruitment efforts. Leveraging remote opportunities is another great way to reach a broader, more diverse talent pool. Leaders need to be intentional and developing recruitment targets for qualified Black employees is a great way to do this. Having professional development plans in place and incentivizing senior-level sponsorship in place is a great way to attract Black talent. 

Tip: Taking a proactive approach to supporting Black employee development goes beyond mentorship. Sponsorship exposes Black employees to new opportunities, intentionally builds their skills, and puts them in a position to excel.

4. Resistance

There will always be employers and employees that are resistant, threatened, misinformed, or uninterested in attempts to build an inclusive workplace. Leaders will be asked why this matters amidst their day-to-day business, why they’re doing this at all, or told that focusing on inclusion builds greater divides. 

If leaders want to see success, resistors need to be consistently called into the conversation with a clear explanation about why being inclusive is important to the workplace. Offering learning and development opportunities can bring along the most skeptical and resistant. 
However, approaches should not be adjusted to suit the most resistant but adjusted for the most progressive. Just as Black folks led the Civil Rights Movement, Black employees will move the dial forward in the workplace for weeks, months, and years to come. If the resisters don’t get on board, don’t wait for them to catch up.

5. Limited Resources

Inclusion initiatives can cost time and money for leadership and employees. Beyond this, inclusion initiatives can take an emotional toll on Black employees, especially if they are leading them. Before moving forward with any inclusion initiative, culturally appropriate resources need to be put in place to support Black employees. Without this, leaders risk creating a psychologically unsafe workplace that can harm Black employees. 

If finances are the most significant barrier to getting started, plan ahead and reduce costs elsewhere to accommodate inclusion initiatives. As a start, leaders can encourage Black employees to lead discussions about inclusion and be the first to sign up and stay engaged! However, Black employees should not be pressured, under any circumstance, to take on this work. Black employees are not obligated to educate their colleagues.

6. Inadequate Policies and Procedures

Without clear inclusion policies and procedures in place, it will be difficult to move forward. Build policies and procedures based on data but do not discount the value of centering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color) employee experiences as the foundation of this work. Engaging all employees once a foundation is built will limit resistance and increase buy-in. Leaders will be pleased to find that there is no shortage of committed allies. Structuring policies and procedures around key principles such as recruitment, retention, professional development, education, engagement, and accountability will guide leaders in the right direction.

7. Lack Of Data

Measuring the impacts of any EDI initiative is challenging without data, but the absence of quantitative data is not necessarily a problem. Qualitative data is not only a reliable baseline, but highlighting Black experiences in the workplace is the most potent demonstration of what needs to change.

To better understand the experience of Black employees, it is beneficial to gather and analyze disaggregated data of all employees. Without disaggregated data, comparison is challenging but not impossible. As a start, leaders can conduct regular, short employee surveys analyze the data and compare the findings to national and regional data. Most importantly, once the issues are identified, it is vital to have a plan to address the challenges that are uncovered.