Why is Diversity Training Not Working?

 By Colleen K. Durkin

I just returned from a short trip to Italy and as my plane bounced in for a landing at JFK airport in New York City, I whispered a few "Thank God," and promptly noticed that everyone else was probably just as thankful. The mad dash out of their seats ensued, anxious to be the first ones to get their luggage out of the overhead bins.

I couldn't blame any of the other passengers. A nine-hour bumpy ride was enough to make anyone want to tear the doors down to break out of confinement. Over the intercom, the voice of authority, the deep sound of the pilot, filled the aircraft. "Uh, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have not yet completed our voyage and until everyone is seated we will be unable to move this aircraft to the gate. I promise you that in all the history of TWA, not even once has a passenger arrived before the aircraft." Everyone laughed and most people, heeding his advice, sprinted to their seats. However, the aisles remained congested with passengers, busying themselves with collecting their overhead luggage, lined up in the aisles, ready for freedom.

One flight attendant quickly jumped out of her seat and screamed to the entire cabin, "Didn't you hear the captain? Get back to your seats!" I'm guessing that the tone of her voice, not the comprehension of the words, was what signaled to these 'obstinate' passengers that they needed to sit down. These particular passengers had been speaking Italian for the entire flight, so I am making an educated guess that they were Italian. I couldn't tell, but perhaps one of the passengers who remained standing was the deaf woman who boarded behind me.

While the American flight crew and passengers rolled their eyes and grew impatient, I thought about how only nine hours earlier we were the ones drawing negative attention to ourselves. Whether we realized it or not, I am sure that in the four days that we had spent navigating around the sleepy town of Rapallo, through Italy's public transportation system, eating in authentic restaurants, sleeping in domestic hotels, incapable of uttering more than a few words in the native tongue, we surely, positively could not have ever been the objects of a few snide remarks. Right? After all, doesn't everyone speak English anyway? How quickly we forget that feeling of discomfort, of being the ones who can't understand, the underdog.

All of the American passengers were now breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, their status had been elevated from the large uneducated, ethnocentric, simple-minded American classification they retained in Italy, back into the groups they were more familiar with in their normal lives. Maybe African-American investment banker with a Harvard degree from the Upper West Side group? Or perhaps single father of four, president of the Italo-American Community in Brooklyn, NY who was surprised at how little he had in common with the native Italians. In Italy we may be seen as one big group, the obnoxious American group. The rest of the world may perceive us as historically and geographically challenged, but when we are at home, we want to forget that inferiority - and quickly.

There are two distinct groups with regard to diversity. There are those who do not realize that we are being looked at strangely. We think that there is something wrong with THEM when they can't speak our language in their country, because they dress "funny" and stand too close to us when we don't even know them. These people lack AWARENESS. Without awareness, the problem is always THEM. Those who are different from us are obviously inferior.

The second group of people is those that enjoy other cultures, learning about differences. Maybe they are similar to myself who teaches diversity, communication skills, conflict management, and STILL has to remind myself when I am growing frustrated with all of the differences. I have to remind myself of what they are, differences. It is NOT that my way is the right way and then in the zero-sum game that means that your way must be wrong. Sometimes it is just easier to talk to someone who I know with great certainty will have no trouble understanding me.

For both of these groups, dealing with diversity is challenging. It is hard. It takes extra time in a world that never slows down to let us catch up. It is easier to assume that everyone thinks like us, and that if they don't, they will soon learn to. It is easier to see the world through our own lenses only, never trying to walk in the other person's shoes. As in everything in life, you have a choice. It is certain that the differences around us, in the U.S., in our organizations, in our homes, are growing. It is certain that we are faced with a pace of change that seems relentless. But everyone has a choice, as do the organizations that we represent. We can refuse to change, tell everyone that it is my way or the highway, or we can learn to be more comfortable seeing the world through multiple perspectives. The successful people, the leaders, will take the road less traveled, the road with more bumps along the way.

Organizational leaders must understand how stereotyping, a narrow view of the world, impacts people's perceptions of their own power in organizations and creates an oppressive environment for everyone. As HR professionals, responsible for workforce development, it is your responsibility to make sure that diversity is found up and down the corporate ladder.

This may not be what a lot of you want to hear. We've had diversity on our agendas since the '80s. We've done the training, but apart from being a good time, helping people feel good, nothing ever changed. When is it going to go away? I'm tired of our CEO talking about it when that's all it is - talk. Some of you are frustrated since diversity now translates into a call for talk and no action. Make it go away!!!

If you are one of these people, do not fear. Believe it or not, you are in the majority. You most likely work for one of the 99.9% of organizations who still are not fully getting it.

We've been making the business case for diversity for over 20 years. First there was niche marketing, whose concept is fundamentally good. Tap new markets, produce new product lines by hiring minorities to sell to them and tell us what they want. Sure, get an African-American or Hispanic sales force to sell a product when our customers are predominantly from these groups. If they can speak Spanish, then there is a greater chance of making a sale, right? Well, not necessarily. We need to move past this primitive good idea so that we are careful not to "ghettoize" people into niche departments where they are seen solely as niche contributors. The problem is that not ALL Hispanics speak Spanish and certainly there are MANY different needs that new homebuyers may have that were not seen as typical for a Hispanic. Don't ghettoize your customers because you won't see them for who they really are. You'll be too fixated on who you THINK they are. "Yeah, yeah, I know you, Gonzalez, you want these features." As for the workers hired to relate to the Hispanic customer, they are often short-term employees because their advancement is non-existent. They can't cross into mainstream, out of the niche market, where the opportunities lie. Diversity does increase access to new markets and helps us understand the needs of those markets. And understand that minorities are more than ever aware of gender and racial make-up of the companies from which they buy.

Niche marketing has increased our profits. Another business case for diversity that we cannot lose sight of these days with 2% unemployment is the great race for good talent. The front cover of Newsweek last year was titled "Redefining Race in America." In 2005 85% of new workers entering the labor force will be minorities and women. Companies already attractive to these groups will have the recruiting edge. If you don't want to make the move to diversity you'll find yourself looking for a new job quickly and the organization will find itself high and dry in the race for good employees.

And I am not talking about recruitment only. Retention is the more difficult part. The best diversity programs succeed when it is part of a good workforce management plan and effective workforce management leads to bottom line results. How do you know if you have a good diversity program? Look at how diverse the company leadership is.

Diverse leadership shows the company has drawn a wide pool of talent up through its ranks and is opening itself up to a variety of differing views and ideas. A diversity program that doesn't move talented people-minorities, females, and people with disabilities-to the top is NOT working.

We can spend time developing a diversity program for a company that has the right idea. Yet, when they have not laid the groundwork, nor spent enough time with their diversity strategy, it is evident to the workers. No matter how good the training is, we will hear the same thing over and over, "Diversity doesn't really matter to the CEO. Look at his management team. They all look, think, and act like him. If that is the case I don't have a future here."

Successful diversity programs can boost morale, giving people the feeling that they are doing the right thing and enhancing a culture where merit is rewarded regardless of race and gender. The best job candidates, regardless of race, shop around for companies that have plenty of opportunities for career advancement.

To complete the diversity equation, I told you to look at the top of the organization to see if diversity is working. Companies who are diverse at the highest ranks are making better decisions regarding diversity and workforce management because they are channeling diverse people to the top of the organization. This is because diverse groups are creative problem solvers when their differences are in the background and all perspectives are brought to bear. Diverse companies then have the potential to be more innovative.

In addition to these compelling bottom line reasons to embrace diversity-not because it is the right thing to do, but because of higher profits-the statistics also point right to diversity as a critical success quotient. Standard & Poor's 500 found the average returns were 18.3% for companies with the best track record in hiring minorities and women, as opposed to the lowest average returns of 7.9% belonging to, guess who, those with the lowest track records in diversity recruitment and retention. Companies with above average returns are led by CEOs who loudly and proactively championed diversity. Companies with increased diversity on their boards had 21% better stock returns, at less risk, than companies with less diverse boards. Diversity is the CAUSE not outcome of higher stock returns.

Why, then is the word proactive seldom heard in conjunction with diversity? Why are most companies failing with diversity programs? Why are most of the organizations that hire us still not getting it?

The corporate world has put millions into diversity efforts over the years. What do they have to show for it? Well, for one thing, if you take the simple pass/fail diversity test and look at the top executive rungs, they have not changed. Women comprise one-half of the population, but only 3.8% of executive positions, 1% of CEOs, COOs, or VP positions, and 10% of board members. These organizations that don't "get it" may have some diversity within their workforce, but looking at the top, nothing has changed, which means that retention has most likely not improved. And this translates into a lot of money wasted.

When it comes to measurement of diversity training results, we just don't know how effective training is in dealing with race or any aspect of diversity. The major emphasis in training classrooms has been with raising awareness. Awareness is a critical element in diversity so that we stop blaming others and start seeing the world through a different set of lenses.

Do employers really want the truth? Sadly, most organizations offer training to gain legal protection and make a symbolic gesture. Diversity usually comes up only when problems arise. The underlying problem is usually there for years, but it is easy to blame on other things. Surface problems, such as lawsuits, are what most often prompt immediate attention.

Ignorance is bliss when it comes to shielding yourself against potential lawsuits. The Band-Aid approach shows that you are addressing the problem and you don't really care if you are solving it. The fact is organizations, reflective of human behavior, don't want to correct their behavior. Most people are spending their energy avoiding getting into trouble. In this fashion, most efforts continue to fail. We'll continue to throw money into looking good instead of doing good. Only when executives are held accountable for how they are making an impact, when the head honcho is committed are they going to work. This can't be emphasized enough.

Am I trying to sabotage our company, since we surely could not survive if we turned away the 99% who are not ready-whose success will be stifled by diving right into the Band-Aid of diversity training? All the arguments in the world cannot deter many organizations to adopt a proactive approach and see diversity as a long-term change process.

A proactive, comprehensive approach is going to cost more, spread out over many years. If they are convinced that they must do training NOW because of imminent lawsuits or their intense desire to punch their cards saying they've had training and let's get back to business as usual, then they will find someone else who may cause even more harm if we turn them away. Hopefully we can continue to make the case for follow-up, accountability, and tie it to compensation. We'll make the case for management support even if everyone in that training room knows that there is not buy-in, no follow-up, and they are there to punch their cards.

My advice will always be the same, no matter what stage of the initiative we are at. Focus less on diversity training programs and more on developing practices linking managers' compensation and advancement to their success at recruiting and retaining minority employees. An integrated approach. Integrated with other aspects of leadership training. They should be folded into the portfolio of the person in charge of leadership and staff development, the HR chief, whose job is to build an effective workforce. And this is why HR is the catalyst for this change effort.

So now that I have disillusioned those of you who weren't wanting this whole diversity thing to go away in the beginning, I wouldn't be in my field if I didn't believe it can work, even if you have to start from the bottom up instead of from the top down. I've seen it work. And lawsuits may provide a much-needed wake up call. So if that is the only time you have seen any action, don't despair. Eventually it will hurt stock prices and profits enough to raise a call to action.

Who are some good companies to model your program after? Fannie Mae has been asked so many times for information about their program that they have produced a video and starter packet to help others launch their initiatives. It does not look like a program at all at Avon. There its not treated as a separate program or department or initiative at all. Diversity is not seen as a thing to be managed; instead it is a reflection of different experiences and viewpoints that every individual brings to Avon. They encourage everyone to voice ideas about how to better reach clients in their market. From that meaningful invitation, came a catalogue in Spanish, and different color foundations to match a myriad of skin colors.

Most importantly, their approach is INTEGRATED. Individuals make contributions that reflect unique viewpoints while still fitting into the larger culture of the company. They all have the same target, to sell more products to more women.

Here's a big surprise. Companies that don't know where they are headed will not go any faster with diversity initiatives. Once business goals are established, HR can start asking how diversity will help achieve those goals.

Is it the cure-all? Not even close. Everyone in the company must be committed and open to change. Since humans resist change, strive for homeostasis, this makes constant adaptation required by diversity difficult for people already overwhelmed by transitions in today's organizations. Humans also strive for respect. They want to work and live in a climate where they feel as though they are being heard. To be heard. To be understood. To be listened to. These are basic human needs.

There is no one right path. Each organization must find its own path, consistent with its unique business goals and culture. No two clients' initiatives have looked the same, nor generated identical results.

On your own path with diversity, strive to be comfortable feeling uncomfortable. Uncertainty is guaranteed to rise as the pace of change and continuously evolving face of America. Being comfortable feeling uncomfortable is learning to know yourself so that you can better learn about other people. At IBM, their message is "None of us is as strong as all of us." Remember, you have the choice of being one, rejecting the change around you, but without change you cannot grow.

Daimler-Chrysler has a great ad that states, "Diversity is just a noun unless you do something about it." The thought of a more diverse tomorrow is just that unless it is put into action. Many talk the talk, but few back it up. I hope you individually and organizationally accept the challenge to continuously strive to respect the individual differences of others.

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