Diversity and inclusion (D&I) might have become a particularly powerful buzz term over the past couple years, but for businesses seeking to stay ahead of the competition it has always been a priority. In fact, companies for which D&I hasn’t become a firmly entrenched pillar of doing business might already find themselves behind the eight ball.
According to an article published on Forbes.com at this time last year, there’s ample evidence that if your company isn’t taking this topic seriously, it should be:
- McKinsey’s research shows that gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their peers and ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to do the same.
- Catalyst research shows that companies with more women on the board statistically outperform their peers over a long period of time.
- Deloitte Australia research shows that inclusive teams outperform their peers by 80% in team-based assessments.
However, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel if your company is late to the party adopting D&I practices, or just struggling to implement what you’ve already come up with. There are a number of good examples to draw from for best practices right here in Madison, starting with the local office of Perkins Coie, an international law firm that provides corporate, commercial litigation, and intellectual property legal services to a broad range of clients, from FORTUNE 50 corporations to emerging growth startups, as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.
Perkins Coie LLP was recently recognized by Microsoft Corporation as one of the top three achieving law firms in Microsoft’s Fiscal Year 2016 Law Firm Diversity Program (LFDP). Launched in 2008, Microsoft’s LFDP focuses on increasing diversity among the partner and leadership ranks of the law firms in its premier provider network.
Michelle Umberger, managing partner of the Madison office of Perkins Coie, says the firm made diversity an important goal as early as 2005 when it decided to professionalize the diversity position and invest in retreats for affinity groups.
The first woman’s retreat was in 2006, and the first lawyers of color retreat was in 2007, notes Umberger. Also in 2007, Perkins Coie hired a diversity professional and established diversity as a firm priority and a strategic goal.
“The firm leaders appreciated that diversity is a critical element in delivering excellent service to clients, but it is also critical to developing a representative and inclusive community in the law firm,” Umberger explains. “Firm leaders knew that success in diversity requires a long-term investment of time and resources from the top. Simply put, an investment in diversity is an investment in the success and future of the firm.”
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Among other initiatives, the Madison office of Perkins Coie is an active participant in the firm’s “Building Bridges” mentoring program, which, among other things, encourages frequent personal mentor-mentee meetings, according to Umberger. “This is not a diversity program per se, but it helps focus attention on the professional growth of diverse attorneys and early intervention in any issues that might arise in the workplace.”
D&I done right
Umberger offers the following D&I best practices learned firsthand by the professionals at Perkins Coie:
- Diversity requires time and attention. It must be a priority with metrics and evaluations. Specifically, it requires strong mentoring programs, as mentioned above. A formal program in which mentor and mentee commit to meetings, business plans, etc. is key, and the individuals involved — mentor and mentee — need to take accountability for making the relationship succeed. If a pairing isn’t working, there should be a way to identify this and implement a prompt reassignment.
- Listen to your diverse employees. “We often implement programs or take actions that seem like a good idea, and are perhaps hesitant to raise these questions directly, but no business wants their time and effort spent on something that has no impact or, worse, has a negative impact,” notes Umberger.
- Recognize the diversity you already have. Look at the diverse talent that is right in front of you, and do what you can to foster and reward that talent, Umberger states. Retention must include understanding onboarding, evaluations, and real-time feedback. Development and promotion involve real mentorship and sponsorship.
According to Umberger, there are also several pitfalls that could setback D&I initiatives at even the most well-meaning companies if not taken into consideration. Those include:
- Ignoring or not engaging in an honest assessment of diversity in your workplace. “There is work to do in every workplace. Your company will be successful in diversity if you are honest about the challenges and the opportunities,” Umberger explains. “Diversity is hard work, [so] start with easy wins. Find what is organically bubbling up — it is usually an affinity group that wants to be formed. Give them resources, and listen with an open mind and heart. Share with an open mind and heart. There is a lot of listening and learning that must happen before you begin the journey.”
- Impatience. Unsuccessful diversity efforts do not mean that diversity cannot work at your company,” Umberger explains. It just means it is harder than you thought and, just like any other company challenge, it will require an investment of time, energy, resources, optimism, patience, creative thought, and leadership.
- Focusing too much on D&I in hiring and not enough on D&I in retention. Getting diverse candidates in the door is important, but keeping those candidates is more important — and often more difficult. Well-thought out and deliberate mentoring programs are critical to this effort, as is personal investment. If a senior attorney takes ownership of the success of a junior diverse attorney, and makes it his or her business to look for opportunities for professional advancement and community networking, the mentee is likely to be satisfied in their work and stay with the firm, notes Umberger. “And when that mentee encounters bumps in the road, as we all do, they will have a trusted advisor to whom to turn.”
- Overburdening your diverse people. In terms of well-meaning attempts that don’t always have their intended effect, often times diverse employees are tapped for committees and other working groups in an attempt to be inclusive in those areas, says Umberger. But this may result in a disproportionate administrative burden on those persons and actually interfere with opportunities in their core practice areas. Companies must pay attention to the progress of diverse colleagues and make sure efforts to be inclusive benefit not only the company but the individual, as well. One way to do this is to focus more on D&I in impact committees and key leadership roles and less on committees that are primarily administrative in nature.
Finally, says Umberger, this isn’t a pitfall, but an essential tip: Companies should invest in a professional to give diversity full time and attention. However, diversity should not be a silo in the company. “Diversity must be embraced by company leaders, whose leadership in diversity should set the example and the tone. A fundamental beginning is listening and understanding the opportunities and challenges of diversity in your company. Then it is essential to develop a common understanding and language. This is usually accomplished through sophisticated diversity training that goes beyond an hour-long, “check the box”-type of training.”
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