D
Catalyst | Diversity
“One of the
problems with
selection at
senior levels in a
business is that
experience is
very much seen
as a proxy for
merit”
religious beliefs as requiring greater
acknowledgement and action.
Ultimately, there’s no such thing
as a bias-free process, admits work
psychologist Claire Barnes, a visiting
fellow at Birkbeck, University
of London.
“We’re all human beings and
deeply flawed; we like to have people
around us who are like us,” she says.
“It’s much easier to assess the calibre
of someone who is from a very similar
background to your own.
“One problem with selection at
senior levels in a business is that
experience is seen as a proxy for
merit. If somebody doesn’t have the
same kind of experience as most of
your candidates, it becomes much
harder to compare and assess.
“But you can go a long way to
making processes more rigorous,”
she adds. “We know that the more
formal and objective selection and
promotion processes are, the less
adverse impact they have.”
Addressing culture
Once diverse candidates have been
hired, onboarding must reflect
the values articulated during the
recruitment process.
As Dawas explains: “We try to
ensure the work we do to bring
people in is not undone the minute
they walk through the door and say,
‘this is nothing like what we talked
about’. We’re doing work around
mentoring for new joiners and we
have networks, for example, for the
BAME community, that we encourage
people to become part of.
“However, we know that diversity
is not a binary issue; it’s not about
saying ‘you’re this colour or you’re
from that background, so we’ll put
you in a box and treat you that way’.
It’s about instilling this broader
culture of diversity in the way that
we all think. When people join us, it’s
about ensuring they have mentors
and role models and personalising the
experience in a way that makes most
sense for them. Applying a broad-
brush to humans, who have their own
experiences and backgrounds, isn’t
going to take us much further.”
Gill makes the point that diverse
teams require different management.
“You have to be cognisant that people
with different cultural behaviours
may adopt or require different
communication styles,” she says. “To
get that boat rowing in unison, you
have to have the ability to motivate
every member individually.”
In organisational culture lies the
key to sustainable D&I, concludes
Modley – and that requires support
from the top. “Great work in
recruitment has to be mirrored
by work in achieving an inclusive
culture or you’ll see attrition really
early on,” he says. “That’s delivered
through leadership. If your leaders
are not on board, you’re not going
to move the dial. You have to make
changes to recruitment, but you’ve
got to make that culture change at
the same time.”
Issue 4 - 2020
63