Is a company virtue signaling or actually inclusive?
Term clarifications before we get going….
Virtue Signaling: the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.
Inclusive: aiming to provide equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or mental disabilities or belonging to other minority groups.
The market trends toward inclusive organizations
Over the last year I’ve noticed an up-tick in individual stories being shared via various channels reflecting inclusive behaviors at companies. Specifically, examples of individuals being hired when they were pregnant. Or stories of people being supported through difficult times. This is awesome.
I’ve also noticed (and the market data reflects this) a spike in targeted programs and roles signaling increased investment in diversity efforts. This is also awesome.
Why is this all awesome? It’s beginning to normalize via public discourse and tangible investment that you can hire people and invest in programs that have a ‘non-standard’ or ‘unconventional’ profiles and see results. That it matters to business and impacts an organization’s ability to grow. Businesses are generally risk-averse and not inclined to be the first mover on something that is not yet proven. The more examples out there the harder it will be to ignore (and the more positive data points there will be) and this will create pressure for those apprehensive businesses to get on board. While this is awesome it’s also not evidence that a specific organization is in fact inclusive.
At the same time there is increasing regulatory pressure for companies to begin reporting on their employee or ‘social’ efforts via the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. However, this is nascent and very inconsistent globally. With most companies not yet complying and very limited to non-existent consistent in what’s reported by those that have attempted such a practice. The legal complexities of reporting on employee demographics and internal practices have not been navigated nor has a standard been set. However, just like climate reporting started to emerge in the early ’00s and took time to mature I expect the social impacts of business to only trend in a more transparent direction beyond supply chain into the how employees are treated and what social good organizations do for the places in which they operate. This requirements won’t impact all employers, but it certainly impacts the big ones that set the tone and market trends.
If you future-cast you can imagine a world where societal pressure + institutional investor/regulatory pressure = better conditions for employees (at least I hope so).
Until it’s a common practice how do employees (current or potential) know if an organization is just giving the topic lip service or really committed to being inclusive?
As a people-centric business leader I have nearly 15 years of experience assessing organizations of all sizes throughout the world. Big, small, functional, dysfunctional, antiquated, progressive, pro-active, reactive , product focus, customer obsessed, operationally excellent— you name it I’ve seen it. Through structured diligence I’ve grown adept at looking at data (both qualitative and quantitative) to understand a system. So — I thought- I should create a model to help figure out if an organization is just virtue signaling OR actually acting in a way that is inclusive.
Here’s a simple chart I put together to help illustrate the model. Read on to get some more detail. (This chart is inspired by my all time favorite chart by HBR on whether or not a meeting is really needed)
Virtue Signaling or Truly Inclusive
First step is to verify whether or not the company in question has a public statement committing to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. These in themselves are problematic, but it was the best place I could think to start based on what is publicly available. If you have other ideas I’d love to hear them!
Depending on the size and location of an organization a statement like this may or may not be legally required. However, take a look — does it read as though a lawyer wrote it? Are there any accompanying materials on the website that reinforce that this may or may not be core to the organizations mode of operation?
Next up, depending on the first step, go deeper — look at external sources of data that give you information (glassdoor, comparably, linkedin, twitter feeds, even check out their annual report etc.). What does that data say about their commitment? Is it positively expanding of inclusive behavior or does not show up anywhere else? Yes, folks who post reviews on public sites may be disgruntled so you can create a weighting system for that. However, if you extract the data in whole — are the sum of the parts neutral to positive or neutral to negative? What about sales / marketing videos — do they talk about their commitment there are solely focus on ‘business critical’ topics?
You can also confirm if the organization is listed as a best places to work anywhere in the world. To qualify for such awards there is a standard survey they must populate and contribute supporting data like engagement surveys, demographic data and policies. Again, this is imperfect because an organization has to have sufficient resources to invest in this process that can take weeks. However, if they are seemingly big enough in size and success and have not been ranked that would raise a flag for me.
Note: I strongly encourage you create a five point scale rubric to tag your findings. This will help you manage your own bias in assessment and produce a maturity index. Want help — I’d love to discuss (hello@mirrorleadership.com)
Next, look at representation on the board, leadership team, and across employee base and best as you can. Quick internet searches can give you directional data on the mix of individuals. Don’t just look for readily apparent identifiers — explore the background of these folks. Did they all go to the same school? Have they traveled? Moved? Multi-lingual? How varied are their experiences? Did they career switch at some point? What did they study? These are all windows into the information that shaped their personal computer [brain]. Those things dictate what they value and how they will make decisions. The more homogenous the set of experiences, locations, etc. the more likely variety is not sought after and integrating varied perspectives will be harder as that is not the historical pattern presented either in that individual OR in that organization. It doesn’t mean it’s not possible — people and systems are dynamic and unpredictable. However, it does indicate the level of effort it will take to drive change as it won’t come naturally as there is no historical pattern of such behavior.
If there was no public statement around DEI that might be because they are too small, they may be too nascent or just out of touch, but well intended. This isn’t a dead end immediately, but depending on the output of your external review move forward with awareness that they may or may not be open to profiles other than their dominant (or in group) profile.
What now? If you are able and at a point where you are talking to individuals on the inside ask for not publicly discoverable information. For example:
- From a business process perspective ask how they gather divergent opinions and how decisions are made. Do they lead with confirmation bias OR are they genuinely interested in challenging their thinking?
- Ask how they support people in difficult moments, not just positive ones. For example — so much emphasis is placed on rewarding performance and outputs which is important. However, to get to the cultural fiber of an organization understanding what they do when things are tough — at an individual, team or organizational level — says a lot about how they think about and treat employees. An easy one at this point is ask how they supported working parents during the pandemic? are they still supporting them? how do they ensure equitable support of employees — is it via policies? something else?
- Ask about their approach to hiring and career progression — is it structured and designed to minimize bias? If you are having these conversations in an interview context tread with caution — they may think you are looking for some legal action/process. However, I would preface the questions with ‘hey I’m trying to get a sense for how inclusive the company is can you tell me about XYZ?’
- Do they have employee resource groups? If yes, are the individuals tapped to lead those compensated and rewarded for their time? If no, red flag. This is a great article on why this matters I recommend you check out.
Compare what you hear in your interview or from leadership and cross reference against earlier data. Is it consistent? Are there gaps? Is there any data available to explain those gaps?
When you ask about a topic and they don’t have an answer. How do they respond? Do they want to know more? learn? Or do they become defensive or double down on their own approach? If they answer a question about inclusive practices with a ‘it’s required by law so we do it’ — that’s a red flag. That likely means they are doing it because they are being told to, not because they believe it’s important or critical to business success.
I have all this information so now what do I do?
If you have been documenting your findings by now you have a sense for the level of maturity of the organization vis-a-vis DEI efforts and a window into what it’s like to work there. As mentioned previously humans and organizations are dynamic so what you learn today could completely change by tomorrow with a leadership change and/or major market disruption. However, being thorough in your assessment helps you know what you are dealing with and how to make a decision, set your own expectations and potential approach if you choose to engage.
it is impossible to know all the things there are to know about humans and how to be most inclusive. Don’t expect that of any one person or organization. HOWEVER, it is not impossible to remain curious and keen to learn.
Curious to discuss further? Have ideas / feedback? Want to test my hypothesis? I’d love to connect.
Beth Trakimas, Founder and Principal People Whisperer @ mirror
