Category: Workplace Culture

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Making Break Rooms Fit for Your Employees

If you Google pictures of the Chicago Cubs’ former locker room and its brand-new one, your eyes might bulge out.

The oldie was far from a goodie with a cramped, bland, blah appearance that might have served its purpose when Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett squatted behind the plate in the ’20s and ’30s, but not for the energized, hip culture the team is building with young stars like Kris Bryant. The new locker room looks like something out of a party planner’s dream with cool lighting and a spacious, futuristic feel. Not surprisingly, the players have expressed their approval in numerous interviews.

Most companies don’t have locker rooms for their workers, but most do have break rooms, which sometimes can resemble relics in today’s society. White walls, white goods, maybe a table and chairs and a bulletin board.

While work isn’t always fun and games, some companies are learning that a cool break room can be a tool for collaboration — and a differentiator in the recruiting process.

That was the case at Mesirow Financial, a Chicago-based financial services firm. According to Audrey Payne, facilities manager at the firm, the higher-ups made the decision to update the break room as a way to attract top talent in a competitive field.

“We initially decided to update our break room last winter to provide additional perks for today’s highly experienced and driven workforce at Mesirow Financial and since doing so have also seen a greater sense of community among our employees.,” Payne said. “The new lunch room attracts groups of people from different departments to mix and interact in a way they were unable to before.”

In an effort to support employees during their long workdays, Payne said the company focused on two factors: open space and healthy foods.

Clamoring for More

In a 2013 survey of 2,035 U.S. workers conducted by San Francisco design firm Gensler, only 25 percent of respondents said they believe they are working in an optimal workplace environment for productivity.

That means 3 out of 4 workers are struggling to work effectively, resulting in lost productivity, a lack of motivation to innovate and disengagement. This leads many companies to rethink the office environment.

In some cases, that means establishing quiet corners with high tables where people can meet. Other offices have a basketball court for pickup games.

But the goal is always the same: to stimulate interaction among co-workers and let the business profit from the creative flow of ideas and high morale, said Todd Heiser, a principal and design director in Gensler’s Chicago office.

“We have three goals when creating any workspace for an employer: collaboration, health and wellness,” Heiser said. “The end goal is to give employees everything they need, whether that is food, beverages or a comfortable space to take a break. We want the office to have everything employees need so they don’t have to leave as often.”

And a break room is a good place to start, said Doug Sitzes, senior workplace strategist at office furniture company Haworth Inc.

Listen to Employees Needs

Like establishing any successful employee policy, designing a great break room takes engaging your employees. In its 2013 workplace survey, Gensler found that providing employees with choices and a voice in company decisions drives their levels of happiness and leads to greater motivation and performance.

According to Sitzes, design firms can spend months talking with employees and observing their patterns in the office to get a sense of where they spend their time and how to maximize their interactions before ever drawing up a plan.

One of the most common complaints Daniel Stein hears is that break room layouts don’t permit social interaction. When preparing for the redesign of investment banking and wealth management firm William Blair & Co., Stein, the co-owner and vice president of vending machine company Mark Vend Co., took into account the long hours and need to get away from the workspace for a mental and physical break.

The open-air space the firm created for William Blair has prompted hundreds of employees to leave their desks each day.

“Before updating our break room, our cafe was rarely used,” said Trish Rothman, William Blair’s global travel manager. “Now 200 to 300 people use our grab-and-go fresh market along with our office favorite, the espresso machine, each day.”

Break rooms often also serve as an impromptu place for small groups of employees to meet instead of having to schedule conference rooms in advance, Heiser said. That was the case at electronic trading company Trading Technologies International Inc. The break room Gensler designed helped drive continued collaboration among employees.

The redesign included many cozy alcoves tucked in the sides of hallways, perfect for more informal meetings.

No Need to Spend an Arm and a Leg

Employers who don’t have the extra cash to knock down walls and put up big-screen televisions needn’t worry that they are doomed to have a disengaged workforce. There are simple steps employers can take to infuse the spirit of a great break room into the office space.

Start with comfortable seating, said Patricia Curran, a principal in the National Clinical Practice at Xerox HR Services.

“Getting employees out of their standard office chairs where they’re in a hunched-over position is an almost instant stress reliever,” Curran said. “From there consider painting walls to break away from the humdrum whitewash of most office spaces. These simple changes are inexpensive and can do a lot to alter an employee’s mindset.”

Of course, there is the possibility of going overboard, too. Some company break rooms can get pretty “wonky,” said William Kahn, Boston University professor and employee engagement expert. Pool tables, big screen televisions and comfortable couches seem like more of a distraction than a way to ultimately drive employee production.

But for those employers who don’t think adding amenities is a good use of space, Kahn has this response: “Sometimes distance from work can help trigger engagement. The opportunity to stop thinking for a few minutes and divert attention to something fun helps shake employees out of the pattern of only doing what needs to be done in a day. The break room helps them re-engage.”

To help ease employer anxiety, Kahn recommends establishing areas of measurable return before going through a redesign. Creating employee surveys that measure satisfaction and engagement and distributing them before and after the redesign for a set number of months can establish data for CEOs that proves that the money was well spent.

“It’s also important to look at turnover rates and absenteeism before and after the redesign,” he said.

In the end, the most important factor is that a company’s break room design choice reflects its culture.

“Each break room is unique, and what works for one company won’t necessarily work at another,” Stein said. “It’s about understanding your workforce and providing them the type of space that will allow them to decompress.”

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Business Case for Diversity, My Foot

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I’m feeling a little mean today. I’m facing some sweeping tech system changes at work, which always puts me in a bad mood. So I thought I’d take this time to kvetch about something that just gets on my nerves. I’m talking eye rolling, lip smacking, facial expressions — the works.

What is it that creates such a strong, negative reaction you ask? It’s when someone asks for the business case for diversity.

I usually think, really? Then I think, are you kidding? Would you like to clarify that question, maybe be more specific if you need hard data with which to persuade the budget keepers to fund a new program or initiative? That I get. But if someone asks that question expecting someone else to explain to them why an organization or a leader should care about diversity, I say, poo.

Let me repeat that — poo.

If you’re a business professional — especially at a more senior level — working in almost any capacity in the global or even local marketplace, diversity is all around you, and it should be apparent why it’s important. That is essentially what people are saying when they ask, “What is the business case for diversity?” They’re asking, why is this important? Why does this deserve my time and attention? Why should I care to take action?

These are valid questions — if it was 1960 or even 1970 or 1980. But today? When changes in global demographics are obvious in the workplace and everywhere, when trends in buying power and discretionary spending center firmly on minority groups, when the most promising talent pools to combat skills and other shortages are also targeting minorities, those questions aren’t valid; they’re long overdue.

If a senior leader asks their chief diversity officer for the business case for diversity, I would heartily encourage that CDO to look for a new gig. I’m sorry. But any business leader worth their salt should know almost instinctively why diversity is important — if they have both eyes open, are willing to embrace change and to do what is necessary to build a culture that encourages innovation and growth, and sustain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

It’s one thing to have questions about inclusion; that’s procedural, process-oriented. It requires changes in systems and infrastructure that take time, thought and concentrated, consistent effort to build and sustain. But to question the actual value of diversity — which is what the business case is — that’s unacceptable.

To make such a query smacks of heads in the sand, and a willful, almost criminal dismissal or ignorance of changing realities in the marketplace. That question should be a historical footnote at this point in the game. It should be a part of the foundation you started building some time ago. We should all be figuring out the nitty gritty behind strategic diversity and inclusion management in recruiting, retention, development, rewards and recognition, and performance management, among other things.

I’m sorry, leaders. Unless you come from a monolithic society where everyone buying, selling and working looks exactly the same, if you’re asking your diversity executive for the business case for diversity, you’re out of order.

It would be like me asking our copy editor why do we have to deal with changes in AP Style? Language, like the marketplace, like the workforce, evolves. You either move along with the changes happening around you, or they move along without you. Diversity and inclusion is such a change. At this point, you can’t get on board. The train left the station awhile ago. Just be ready and willing to jump on the next one.

Kellye Whitney is Workforce’s associate editorial director. Comment below, or email editors@workforce.com.

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Internet of Things: The Next Talent Management Thing?

Internet of Things

The internet of things is going to change the way you manage your workforce — and the revolution has already begun.

IoT involves connecting people, sensors, machines and devices over a single network to automatically transfer data without manual interference. It is often thought of as an efficiency tool used in manufacturing and logistics environments to track equipment performance and monitor the supply chain. But it can be just as beneficial in managing people, said Kevin Cornelius mobility services leader at EY. “It can help the HR function adopt smarter systems to drive operations and innovate the way they deliver training, learning and people development.”

Wellness Initiatives and IoT

Companies that adopt wearables for wellness initiatives are already participating in IoT for workforce management. When HR gives employees sensor-driven devices to track the number of steps they take, their heart rate or other health data, they are harnessing the power of IoT to reduce health care costs and improve productivity, said Debbie Krupitzer, the IoT practice lead for consulting and technology company Capgemini. “By implementing a program whereby employees wear activity trackers and are rewarded for their activity and movements, HR executives not only promote and incentivize healthy lifestyles among employees, but also can leverage the program to negotiate prices with their health care insurers to reduce premiums.”

It is a gateway use of IoT for HR, but there are many other potential applications. IoT connectivity could be used to track the productivity of workers in the field, to assign tasks based on the nearest expert or service rep to a job, to improve site scheduling based on customer flow, and to push out real-time training based on an employees’ time or performance on a task. Activity trackers can also provide HR professionals with a new way to promote training and educational experiences among employees, Krupitzer said. “If an employee is working on a particular machine for the first time, the worker could get an alert with a tutorial on how to use the equipment and perform the task most effectively.”

Companies can also harness IoT to capture a real-time picture of where their people are and where they are needed and to support a more flexible workforce management approach, Cornelius said. “Any business with a footprint in more than one place will need to innovate their mobility strategies and approaches, not only to drive efficiencies but also to help create tomorrow’s leaders,” he said.

Don’t Be Creepy

That doesn’t mean HR leaders should attach sensors to all of their workers and start tracking their every move. First of all, there is a fine line between performance enhancement and stalking, Krupitzer said. But more importantly, you need a business case for using IoT that aligns with specific business goals if you want it to be effective. As with all technology-driven initiatives, having a purpose and clear metrics will improve your outcomes and make it possible to demonstrate the value of these technologies to the business.

Once you have your business case, then you can think about the technology. It may be as simple as buying Fitbits to support wellness goals or using GPS apps to track workers, or it may require the help of an IoT consultant to establish a network of custom-coded sensors to capture more specific data.

HR leaders interested in testing IoT concepts should also consider what information they already have access to from employees’ connected devices, suggested David Ludlow, group vice president of solutions management for SAP. “That data can help you understand who your workforce is, what they are doing, and what they need,” he said. “A lot of that data is already being collected, the question now is what are you going to do with it to improve the workforce process.”

Sarah Fister Gale is a writer based in the Chicago area. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.

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Certified Self-Employed: The Certification That Would Unleash Entrepreneurship

The independent workforce is growing quickly, but not as quickly as it should be.

While America is seeing a record number of people seeking the freedom of self-employment through contract work, overly complex worker classification regulations and a tax collection system designed for the 20th century economy are hampering growth.

These systems and regulations place unnecessary burdens on both Americans that want to take control of their career as well as the companies wanting to do business with them. If America doesn’t streamline the system governing independent professionals, the country will miss out on millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity over the coming years.

The root of the problem is that it is too difficult for independent workers, who elect to be freed from employee entitlements, to be recognized by government regulators as self-employed. These entrepreneurial Americans, operating as independent businesses, are also difficult to distinguish under the current system from those who are providing commodity services using mobile app platforms (e.g., Uber or TaskRabbit). Current legislation has been largely categorizing these commodity service workers as employees because they are mostly working under the control of the platform providers and expect employee protections and entitlements.

At the same time, there are many other types of entrepreneurial independents who deliver highly differentiated services as independent workers and do not expect — nor want to be — anyone’s employee or receive such entitlements. They want control of their businesses, and are equipped and capable of providing their own entitlements and protections via safety nets. The current system, however, does not differentiate between these varying types of independents and is instead a “one size fits all” approach.    

This creates significant burdens on those entrepreneurial independent workers. Their customers are discouraged from buying their services because of the heavy risks, costs and penalties associated with the ambiguous worker classification laws that companies are subjected to. All of this causes economic friction that encourages U.S. businesses to seek independent talent outside of the country, which contributes to outsourcing valuable jobs.

The system is so complicated, in fact, that the U.S. Labor Department can’t accurately count America’s self-employed. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is currently reinstating a survey last issued in 2005 that attempted to capture these numbers, but only accounted for a small portion of the independent workforce, even before the past few years of the evolution in how Americans work.

It is time to streamline the system with a federally recognized “Certified Self-Employed,” or CSE, designation that would allow solo entrepreneurs to declare their independence from traditional employment. By doing so, they would voluntarily waive traditional employment protections in exchange for the ability to operate unambiguously as one-person independent businesses, with all of the advantages that independence entails. The system would remove roadblocks to smooth and risk-free engagement between independent contractor and client, while differentiating between the truly independent and on-demand workers — like Uber drivers — who are currently treated as employees but exist in legal limbo.

The outsized attention currently paid to commodity service platforms like Uber and Handy, a house cleaning website, because of recent legal disputes has contributed to a widespread misunderstanding of the independent workforce in America. These on-demand workers represent a small fraction of the gig economy at large, and the mounting rulings governing them risk sweeping up the entire independent workforce. Treating all independent workers as the same will exacerbate the problem instead of solving it.

The CSE solution is flexible because it is voluntary. Most independent workers are professional career independents engaging with client enterprises to offer highly skilled work on a contract basis. These entrepreneurs need to be able to build their businesses, access benefits, file their taxes, process transactions and engage with their clients safely. The federally recognized safe harbor CSE classification would accomplish these things by creating a safe environment for private industry to work with the self-employed.

The demand for this system already exists. The independent workforce currently stands 42.1 million people strong and is expected to grow 28 percent to 54 million by 2020. With $1.15 trillion in revenue in 2015 alone — a figure roughly equal to Mexico’s gross domestic product — the economic importance of this population cannot be ignored.

The CSE certification would be governed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, but would rely on private service providers to administer a certification test and provide correct tax submission by CSEs as W-2-based single-employee businesses. Harnessing private innovation to build the support structure would minimize the cost of implementing the CSE system compared with other potential solutions.

There has been much hand-wringing over the future of work, with some people expressing fear that a new era of contract work threatens the traditional employment model. These concerns are misguided. America’s need for traditional employees is not going away; there are many jobs for which the time-tested conventional corporate structure is the best way to organize work, and these jobs will always exist. However, the U.S. independent workforce, made up of entrepreneurs who want to control their own hours and use their ingenuity to build successful businesses, is growing too. Giving independent workers the freedom to innovate benefits everyone.

American entrepreneurship is the key to its competitive edge and has been the envy of the world throughout the history of the United States. If we are to compete for 21st century business in the global marketplace, America needs to remove barriers to innovation. The CSE system gives entrepreneurs the choice to declare independence and provides them with the control they need to succeed. By freeing up U.S. innovators to do business as they see fit, America will define the future of work instead of allowing it to be defined for us.

Gene Zaino is the founder and CEO of MBO Partners. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.

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NLRB Positively Botches Decision Over ‘Positive Workplace’ Policy

Do you have a “positivity policy” like the following in your employee handbook?

The Company expects all employees to behave in a professional manner that promotes efficiency, productivity, and cooperation. Employees are expected to maintain a positive work environment by communicating in a manner that is conducive to effective working relationships with internal and external customers, clients, co-workers, and management.

What could be wrong with a workplace policy that tells employees to “maintain a positive work environment”? Everyone loves positivity, right?
 


Everyone, that is, except the NLRB.

In T-Mobile USA [pdf], the NLRB struck down that innocuous, neutral handbook policy as a violation of employees’ section 7 rights.

The rule at issue here more broadly restricts employee communications and is not limited to conduct that would objectively be viewed as unprotected. Rather, we find that employees would reasonably understand the rule’s requirement that they communicate “in a manner that is conducive to effective working relationships” with coworkers and management as prohibiting disagreements or conflicts, including protected discussions, that the Respondent subjectively deems to not be conducive to “a positive work environment.”

Translation? Good luck writing a handbook policy that even touches employee communications that will pass muster with the NLRB. On this issue, I, and employers everywhere, are positively glum.

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When Schoolyard Bullies Become Workplace Bullies

This is Donovan.
 


He’s 7 years old. And he has Noonan syndrome. Noonan syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by one of several genetic mutations. Donovan’s is of the PTPN11 gene. It is a multisystem disorder with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 1,000 to 2,500 births. In Donovan’s case, he has a bleeding (platelet function) disorder, a congenital heart defect (pulmonary valve stenosis), feeding and gastrointestinal issues (Celiac disease), ptosis of his right eye, small stature (for which he takes daily injections of growth hormones), and low-set ears.

By all accounts, he’s a pretty confident kid. He’s smart, funny, comfortable in groups of all ages, and overly sweet and affectionate. 

And, while he’s conscious of his differences, he’s never let them get him down. He embraces his daily growth-hormone injections because he knows they are helping him grow. He loves his glasses because everyone tells him how cool they look. He’s always quick with a Donovan-ism to break up a room. And he doesn’t mind his current toothless state, because missing teeth brings the Tooth Fairy, who brings money and future Lego Dimensions purchases.

That is, he never let them get him down until last week.

At school, a fourth grader made fun of his ears. And it really bothered him. It’s the first time I’ve seen him down in the dumps about who he is, or, more accurately, what it is about his syndrome that sets him apart.

As a parent, I had three reactions. In order:

     1. That %&?*! little punk. I’m gonna kick his ass. Truth is, the kid is a %&?*! punk. Lots of kids have issues with him, and will continue to have issues with him. 
 
     2. “Donovan, you need a hug. Sorry you had to hear that. We love you. Lots of people love lots of things about you. I can’t tell you not to let it bother you, because I can’t tell you how to feel. And I can’t tell you it won’t ever happen again. The fact is, I’m pretty confident it will. What I can tell you is that you will meet lots of people in life, and some will say mean things to you. Those who love you for who you are will far outnumber the meanies, trust me.”
 
     3. I’m not one of those parents who feels that I need to fix everything for my kids. I want my kids to grow up capable of handling their own problems. If I try to fix everything, they will never learn to be self-reliant. Instead they will learn to be dependent on others every time something goes wrong. The rest of today’s kids might grow up coddled, but mine won’t. My job as a parent is to provide my kids the tools to cope with adversity, not to shield them from adversity or to fix their problems for them.
 
Today’s schoolyard bully is tomorrow’s workplace bully. The question, however, is whether Gen Z (and whatever the generation after that will be called — Generation Alpha?) is prepared to handle the workplace bully. My fear is that we are raising a generation that is so prepared in relying on their parents that they will run to HR the first time someone offends their sense of anything at work.
 
Employees, your employer is not your parent. Employees need to take responsibility for their own problems and not burden HR with every petty workplace slight and insult. It’s when the self-help doesn’t work, or when the offense is so bad that self-help is not possible that employee issues need to become employer issues. An employer’s job is not to adjust every petty grievance between employees.
 
I felt (and still feel) horrible that Donovan’s feelings were hurt. It was his first experience in which someone treated him poorly because of his differences. And it won’t be the last. The question for him is how he reacts when it happens again, and what these experiences teach him about how to react if it happens in the decades to come at work.
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To Assimilate, or Not to Assimilate

WF_WebSite_BlogHeaders-12I recently had lunch with a dear friend and colleague who used to be my mentee in a former role.  We celebrated his recent professional success, caught him up on mine, and explored next steps after he completes his master’s in public health. The topic of race came up a few times — he is a Canadian-born, African American of Nigerian parents — and turned to the matter of “acting white.” My friend, whom I’ll call Nick, decried the number of times he’s been told by other people of color he’s “acting white” for speaking the way he does. He expressed his offense at the bigoted notion that speaking in such an “intelligent, articulate, educated” way is viewed as exclusively white, and not a feature of black culture as well.

At the same time, Nick described his experience living in a majority Hispanic state where not only is he a part of a racial group that is 2 percent of the population but also as a dark-skinned man, he stands out even among “his people.” He’s been called the N-word more than a few times, and he often senses pressure in professional meeting — where he’s often an “only” — to act “less black.”

It’s a classic damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t scenario for up-and-coming leaders of color. If Nick “acts black,” he maintains solidarity with allies that look like him and avoids being viewed as a sell-out but is taken less seriously in his career. If he “acts white,” he advances professionally but at the cost of hurting his identity and relationships with his community. He even wonders if he’s imagining it all.

Despite the fact that no one would ever mistake me for African American, Nick asked me for advice. I’ve never had to face such a dilemma personally when it comes to race, but as a cisgender woman, I have had to face choosing when and how to “act like a man” at work, and I’ve heard the struggles of dozens of friends and colleagues of color over the years. Here’s what I told Nick:

1.     Know you’re not imagining it.  Even though it’s very subtle and usually entirely unconscious, that pressure to “act white” to get ahead in a white-dominant (either numerically or powerwise) environment is real. Don’t think you’re crazy for believing this.

2.     Know you have an advantage for being forced to be multilingual and multicultural.  White and white-looking people don’t have to develop code-and style-switching skills to succeed in life like you do. Expanding and using your already large toolbox of communication and relationship behaviors makes you a more flexible, resourceful leader, better adapted to thrive in a diverse, global work environment.

3.     Consciously choose different behaviors and ways of “acting” to meet your goals.  The problem comes when we believe we must choose one identity over the other, or we find ourselves adapting mindlessly to our environment. Try different ways of communicating and showing up in meetings and one-on-one conversations. Notice how your choices affect others and get you what you want, or not.

4.     Try pushing the envelope. If “we” just assimilate to the way “they” speak and act, then things will never change for those coming after us. Maybe it’s making a subtle wardrobe choice, deciding to laugh a little louder, or saying a certain word or phrase. Maybe it’s a bolder statement. In my most recent internal leadership role, I chose — for reasons that included my professional integrity, personal job satisfaction, and solidarity with the community — to get a small nose piercing in an organization where this was against the human resources policy but still tolerated in many areas. The response to my choice was revealing in terms of the organization’s true commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and my place in it.

5.     Know that your choices may change as you age and advance in your career. I find myself more willing to be bold and more comfortable taking risks now in my 40s than I did in my 20s. My life priorities and professional goals have changed, and now that I wield more power through experience and credibility, I can get away with showing more of myself and pushing the envelope harder.

6.     Maintain relationships, mentorships and open dialogue with professionals and friends who look like you. They will check you, hold you accountable, and remind you you’re not crazy for thinking that “acting _____” or “acting white” exists, with real consequences.

The answer to the “assimilate or not?” question is both-and, not either-or. Sometimes assimilate, sometimes not, but always be aware of what you’re choosing, notice the effects on your goals, and own your power to make this decision.

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Should White People Do Diversity Work?

WF_WebSite_BlogHeaders-12As a multilingual, culturally and racially ambiguous woman who’s been doing some form of diversity work for almost 25 years, I occasionally find myself having awkward conversations with potential clients about my identity. These conversations involve questions like, “Are you diverse?” or “Wait, you’re white?” or statements like “Thank you, but we’re looking for a ‘diverse’ person.” Given the growing attention that race is getting in the broader media, it’s time to frankly discuss an underlying question that often plagues the diversity and inclusion field: Should white people do diversity work?

I say yes. Here’s why:

  • When only people of color do diversity work, this gives the false impression that diversity is only about, and for, people of color.D&I is about, and for, everyone, without exception. Multiple studies have shown that diversity, plus inclusiveness, is essential to excellence, innovation and high performance — including one demonstrating that the mere presence of people of color improves group results.
  • White people are the ones that most need diversity work, and we tend to most trust and believe other white people.Whites are still the numerical majority in the U.S., and we’re the disproportionate majority holding power positions in government, business, education, health care and media. We are the ones that need to change the way we do things, and because humans evolved over millennia to function in small groups of similar people, our brains — like it or not — lend more credibility to people who look like us.

Beyond the question of whether white people should do diversity work is an even more provocative question — can we? I’ve heard about, and witnessed, situations where diversity work conducted by white people went wrong in ways that were ineffective at best, and horribly damaging at worst. To this question, I say it depends on the following:

  • What brings the white person to diversity work?For people of color, diversity work is usually intensely personal. If a white person comes to D&I with a purely intellectual mindset or a goal to change or help someone else, they might miss the mark. If they jumped on the bandwagon a couple years ago when unconscious bias training became chic, they might not have the commitment or broad knowledge necessary to be effective. Like many white allies, I come to the work from a decades-long commitment to dismantling racism because of painful childhood incidents I both experienced and witnessed. While my pain doesn’t equal that of a person of color’s daily experience, and I acknowledge I have the white privilege of walking away any time I want, I’m dedicated to doing my part to prevent more people from having their humanity denied and gifts crushed just because of the bodies they inhabit.
  • How much does the white person know, own and use their various identities?Every human being has multiple identities that situate them both inside, and outside, power structures. Straight black men face racism, but enjoy male and heteronormative privilege. I enjoy white privilege, but have faced sexism and classism. Some of my white colleagues face homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia or ableism. White people doing effective diversity work own, check and use their white privilege for positive change. They step into and out of their various identities to connect with diverse people, or to make powerful points during effective diversity training.
  • How much personal work has the white person done?The most effective D&I professionals of any race or ethnicity do ongoing personal work. They build awareness of their biases and privilege and actively mitigate their harmful effects. They strive to know their personal and cultural history, strengths and weaknesses. They constantly seek and incorporate feedback, even if they don’t like how it’s offered. They build their emotional resilience, emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills. They strive to be in integrity with the work, even when they’re not working. They are curious, good humored and nimble with people. They take care of themselves and have healthy boundaries. This is a tall order for anyone, but especially for white people because doing personal work also requires unlearning what we’ve been taught: that we know everything, that we have a right to always speak and take up space, and that others must cater to our feelings. White people doing effective D&I work aren’t perfect, but embody the changes most want to see in our workforce and leadership.
  • What will best meet the needs or goals of your organization or team? I speak Spanish better than most U.S.-born Latinos and pass for Hispanic all the time. I’ve lived, worked and traveled extensively abroad, including in developing nations. I’ve experienced many challenges because of my nondominant identities, many of which are invisible. I can present D&I concepts in an engaging way that creates lasting breakthroughs. Yet, none of that matters if what will best serve an organization is a person with a brown or black face, or the lived experience of a person of color in the U.S. Part of being a white person doing diversity work is to acknowledge that much of the time, no matter what qualifications or street cred we bring, we’re not always the right person for the job, and we’re not entitled to dominate the D&I field. If indeed we’re here to co-create a world that works for everyone, the least we can do when we hear “no” is to move on and be grateful yet another person of color is hearing “yes.”