Racial Equity Playbook 2.0

If you’re reviewing our Playbook 2.0, you will have already made a concentrated effort in diversity and inclusion. You have probably experienced some solid wins. However, you may now be realizing the level of effort needed to achieve real success. At this point, most organizations will likely bring in a well-informed and skilled resource (either an employee or a consultant) to lead this work. While each professional in this area will have a different perspective, they should still be addressing the key components we discuss: commitment, accountability and action towards diversity, inclusion and equity. Consider these tactics as guidance, not a prescription. 

Affirm Your Commitment - During 1.0, we recommended some reading to get you motivated. Now we are asking for stronger action. Most organizations find progress is very slow until there is diversity in leadership. If you do not already have diversity in your leadership, make progress by directly addressing leadership in one of the following ways:
  • Achieve at least 20% non-white male composition of the Board (including at least one Black board member). Expand the board if necessary. 
  • Achieve at least 20% non-white male composition of the Executive Team (including at least one Black member)
  • For bigger companies, hire a Chief DE&I officer who reports to the CEO. Give them both a budget and the authority to make organizational changes. 
Hold the Organization Accountable - During Playbook 1.0, we asked you to create metrics and add D&I to your strategic plan. For Playbook 2.0, we ask you the following:
  • Review diversity metrics, and include metrics on retention and promotion, if not already included. Also include interns and part time employees.
  • Use results in acheiving DE&I goals as a criteria for promotion
Take Action - There a number of tactics described below to improve outcomes. However, the implementation of these changes will likely rely on a number of different people throughout your organization. A good first step is to identify who is responsible for the different areas touched. If you are deep in the organization, we recommend that you review our Large Company Guide. ​
Diversity - bring diverse people into the organization at all levels
  • Evaluate Language in job descriptions. For example, superlatives like “killer” or “rock star” can be off putting to women. Keep the job description as factual as possible. Use a consultant or computer-based program to review your job descriptions and review forms to omit biased language. Learn more here. 
  • Demand more of your recruiting firms. Make sure the firms that you work with take Diversity, Equity and Inclusion seriously. Ask them what they do to ensure a diverse selection of candidates - are they depending on old networks of professionals, or do they seek out new sources of diverse talent.
  • Require a diverse candidate slate for every hire and promotion. A diverse slate should be less than half white male. Having only one candidate from an under-represented group comes across as "tokenism", and that candidate is statistically almost never hired. Per one HBR article, The odds of hiring a woman were 79 times greater if there were at least two women in the finalist pool; the odds of hiring a person of color were 194 times greater.
  • Hire diverse candidates at all levels, not just entry level, and including part-time and interns.
  • Require a diverse interview panel for all hires. 
  • Extend diversity efforts to consultants and external partners that you work with. Are marketing/accounting/legal staff diverse as well.
Inclusion - make the organization comfortable for different types of people, so they can thrive and you can retain them.
  • Survey your employees on inclusion and engagement metrics. This will allow you to measure inclusion over time. To measure inclusion, evaluate how different demographic groups respond to your surveys, particularly on questions addressing engagement. You are striving for your black female employees to have the same experience as your white male employees. Here are three survey options, 1, 2, 3.
  • Debias performance evaluations. 10 point scales tend to be biased. Make sure language and standards are consistent. Review personality-based feedback - this is not equally applied across racial and gender groups. Some tips are here.
Equity - Promote and pay all employees equally.
  • Debias the promotion process. As above, debias your job descriptions. Document career paths and set performance expectations at each level. This reduces bias in promotions and makes implicit information explicit. This is helpful to excluded groups as they typically have less access to mentors and informal networks of information. Allow internal candidates to move up in the organization, across departments. Here are some more ideas on Bias Interrupters.
  • Ensure that comparable employees have equal access to high profile assignments that will prepare them for promotions. Don’t make assumptions about which employees can travel or which want development opportunities. 
  • Work towards pay equity. When new hires are made, ensure pay and grading are applied consistently for current employees in similar or related roles. 
  • Measure promotions. Check that your measures evaluate promotions as well as numbers at a point in time. 
“Diversity and inclusion are essential to everything we do at Nielsen, not just our financial performance,” David Kenny, CEO and Chief Diversity Officer, Neilsen Holdings.  The Wall Street Journal - The Business Case for Diversity