First steps to take when building back a more diverse workforce

Utilize disruption for growth

There are a lot of metaphors turned cliches, and sometimes they are worth it.  This big city gal moved into Northern California more than a decade ago, but sheltering in place for the pandemic has taught me a lot about my surroundings that I wouldn’t have noticed before.  For example, Redwoods are flame retardant which is why they burn from the inside out – I learned this when actually reading my home insurance renewal paperwork instead of just writing a check because our fire coverage is lower due to our home being made of redwood.  Speaking of fire, pinecones are dependent on fire to release their seed and clean up underbrush in the forest leaving fertile ground for newly released pine seeds.  Sometimes what appears to be disruption isn’t at all and may even be fertile ground for growth.  Can you use this time of disruption for improvements with your workforce? Industry? Life?

Pre-Pandemic, also known as the era in which I wore hard pants every day, I partnered with the Packard Group and we developed the 6 components of culture to assist organizations in improving their workplace culture directly effecting their recruitment and retention efforts.  I am suggesting here that the past year has reminded us all that we never had control of certain elements of our lives to begin with and with the underbrush cleared away, fertile ground for growth is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.  Perhaps the disruption clears space for you to do a quick assessment of your organization and team members to intentionally choose a path forward!

Let’s take each component one at a time:

First, when defining culture, lots of metaphors are used again because it is often hard to describe, here goes nothing, the water in which a fish swims.  Let’s try anyway.  Culture is how people know what to do even when there isn’t anyone around telling them how to behave. It is our invisible guide, and it is ALWAYS reflective of an underlying value system.  If you are a Blake Shelton fan, it is who you are when no one is looking.  The past year has been a year of a lot of not looking.  Collectively, the world jumped with little to no information, and we still don’t have a timeline, but we jumped.  Some were homeschooling, working from home, unemployed, retired, ill, etc., already, and for others the past year enabled the ability to really reflect on “back to normal” and develop a “new normal.”  The old way or a new way can’t benefit from this disruption unless we intentionally build back towards something in mind.  Taking your organization, business, homelife, relationships, etc., one at a time follow me through the charred forest to encourage new growth.

First and foremost, What are the central Beliefs that hold the organization together?  Family members, roommates, work spouses, and teammates alike have navigated an unspoken belief system that may not be articulated. Now is your chance.  You may have or be a new hire during the disruption period and the newness during the past year may be a valuable tool in articulating the beliefs system of the organization.  Ideally, everyone in the organization will share a common set of beliefs, or they will find themselves to be a bad “fit” for the organization.  If they don’t find themselves to be a bad fit, but their co-workers do, this is a breeding ground for a toxic workplace.  Once you can identify the fundamental beliefs of an organization, and all players align and agree with these to the core (or at least in exchange for a paycheck), you can keep planting seeds for growth.

Distinct from beliefs, are organizational Norms, or the expectations, formal or informal, about how to behave.  Norms are often unwritten, unlike Customs, which we will review in a minute, elements of culture that define the “fit.”  I often reference Charlie Chaplin when I think about unspoken norms.  Several years ago, I was getting my hair done and a guy came in to get Charlie Chaplin make up done. (I should mention this was a Friday before Halloween, perhaps that makes this story less random?)  While he was getting his make-up done, he shared that almost a year ago he had started working as the Chief Financial Officer of one of the biggest employers in my hometown.  His first week on the job included Halloween, but no one told him that the office staff dress up and take Halloween very seriously.  For a year, he has been plotting his Halloween costume out of humiliation that he showed up in street clothes instead of an elaborate costume.  He didn’t know what he didn’t know, but more importantly, the co-workers didn’t either.  They didn’t realize how much Halloween has become a norm in the office, and they didn’t think to explain this unspoken expectation to a new hire.  The CFO’s attention for a year had been distracted to “make up” for the unknown norm for a year.  What are your unspoken elements or expectations? Why do they exist?  Do they correlate with the shared beliefs you identified earlier?

Many haven’t left the workplace over the past year, while others may feel the need to pack food for 20 as they begin to hyperflex between home and the office.  Use this as an opportunity to review the workplace Artifacts, or the physical elements your organization produces that represent your shared values.  If you have been working from home, even if in a corner behind the couch and laundry piles, what artifacts have you collected to make your workplace yours? Productive? Personal? What about the elements you have acquired or repurposed to feel Professional?  These items may correlate with the undocumented norms and beliefs that make you fit or not fit in with the others in the workforce.  As odd as it may seem, my hair has become an artifact of my personality, brand, business, and even serves as an ice breaker when meeting new clients.  Yes, there may be some overlap here with other components, but work with me here.  I now have “nice” sweatpants and “good” sweatshirts.  I have a friend that uses her company’s coffee mug to drink her WhiteClaws from during late afternoon zoom meetings.  This month, my hair is blue, it is always dealer’s choice when I have a hair appointment.  My clients, new and returning, look forward to “What color is it going to be?” when I showed up in person, and now in virtual meetings.  I am not the only person that uses hair dye, but I may be the only person on a call that has the vibrant colors.  I use this to break the ice, and while on brand, it is also fundamental to who I am as a person and the work that I do, by inviting others to engage across difference and get comfortable.  What about you?  Look around your workspaces and keep what you need to keep, question everything, and utilize the artifacts that make a workspace yours while allowing others to do the same.  If there is push back, ask if there is an unspoken norm or belief at play and adjust accordingly.

One of the first areas that will need adjustment is the actual Language used within our organization or workforce.  Language structures our thoughts including the opportunities we perceive and the threats we feel.  I am seeing this pop up as folks are working in hybrid situations.  Be mindful that members of your workforce may have asked for flexibility due to family care needs, personal preferences, disability accommodations, on-going education, or the like prior to the pandemic, and often turned down.  You may remember last spring there was a wave of articles that questioned productivity at home or the stratification of micromanagement while working from home.  Subordinates were asked to report hourly accomplishments because management didn’t trust people were working on the company dime.  Now, I hear people are gaining weight because they aren’t exercising as much as when they were home.  This makes me ask how that company wellness program is doing when we realize that we may have been more productive at multiple full-time responsibilities when left up to our own devices.  Others may have a completely different experience.  This is an excellent time to take note of the language we are using to describe our own workflow and that of others.  Does the language used align with the beliefs? Norms? Artifacts? Spoiler alert – probably not!  Did they when working from home?  Can lessons from home shift the language used in the office?

If you are shifting language soon, you will (re)discover the sacred cows or Customs of your organization.  Every organization has traditions, standard operating procedures, and best practices that become sedimented in to written policies, rules, expectations, and they seem immutable.  Some you will want to keep for sure but ask yourself why.  Just because XXX is part of training, or the promotion process, etc., doesn’t mean it can’t change.  If it is fundamental to the organization, then these customs may help you articulate some of the other elements of culture.  When I do consulting work for clients, one of the first places I like to start is By Laws and Policy/Procedure Manuals.  (I know this is why no one invites me to parties.)  Inevitably, I am the first person to really read these documents since, the average is probably 1982.  Other than converting the scanned copies into editable PDFs, I also check for federal law compliance, grammar, spelling, and shoulder pads.  You read that right.  Published dress code policies are often very gendered, stratified by organizational style (more on that in just a second), and rest on an outdated definition of “professionalism” that is rooted in assumptions of race, class, education, ability, size, and culture.  This is my quickest window into the culture of a client I am just getting to know.  Perhaps you can use this disruption period to get to know your own organization as a clean slate.  Keep what aligns with the other component – plant seeds for something new if it doesn’t.  Does the literal language used internally match what your marketing states?  Words matter and should be aspirational at first glance.  This element of aspiration is your best recruitment and retention tool regarding your workforce talent.

Lastly, but oddly where most leadership’s think is the starting place, is your Organizational Style – The way you are organized not only communicates what your organization cares about but determines what your people are allowed to do.  How do you share your culture outside of your organization?  Who is permitted to share? Is what is allowed to be shared tightly control for uniformity?  If all were in alignment, what else within your organization would you be able to control?  Flash back to our Charlie Chaplin CFO.  He described being humiliated at work when it seems that his co-workers were in the wrong, and he is in management!  Is your workforce empowered to solve problems or do they have to get approval first?  How does the structure encourage creativity? Problem solving?  I once received a letter of reprimand for having lunch with a Director (above my pay grade).  I was punished for communicating “up the chain of command” without my supervisor’s approval or presence.  It didn’t matter that she and I had worked together in a previous position, where we both utilized each other for support and developed a friendship.  Years had passed, and we both got hired in the same month at our respective new jobs.  Based on the supervision style, I hadn’t followed the stated policies (customs) which was formally documented (language), in a working environment that espoused cross-collaboration with different offices (beliefs) and regularly used the on-campus coffee shop (artifacts) for casual coffee talks (norms).

It’s been a year.  Use it wisely to plant seeds.

Jessica Pettitt has been stirring up DEI Conversations for almost two decades with her concept of Good Enough Now – how doing the best you can with what you have some of the time is better than nothing never.  For more information visit www.JessPettitt.com.