Bitter Gertrude: This is a question I’ve been asked often both as a consultant and as a professional colleague.
I know that some people want to hear concrete, easy-to-implement answers, like “Use this program designed by someone who’s never set foot in your organization,” “Advertise here,” or “Do these three harm-reduction protocols that assume to know what harm you’re causing and assume anything they haven’t foreseen is irrelevant,” but, until you know why you’re having trouble attracting diverse applicants and retaining the diverse staff you hire, it’s all guesswork.
1 comment:
This is an article that I think everyone should read. It really addresses the work that is necessary to have an equitable and safe workplace. It parallels the difference between not being racist and being anti-racist. The section where it mentions compliance as a baseline and not to reason to celebrate really resonated with me. We expect BIPOC, disable, LGBT+, and female individuals to be appreciative when companies don’t break the law as if they’re trailblazers for such behavior. If companies want to attract a diverse staff, they need to go above and beyond following the law. Similar to how companies shouldn’t hide the wages, but instead use them as a point of attraction, and show how they stand out from the crowd as employers and as great workplaces. Another section that I found important is the part where it mentions how companies are beholden to the industry that they are a part of. Even if they wouldn’t retaliate or blackball someone, the fear is there and its very rational, so companies that truly want to attract diverse staff need to overcome those barriers and prove that they mean what they say.
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