The Hypocrisy of Diversity Hiring in Corporate America and Why It Is Not Enough
Speaking up about topics that aren’t necessarily related to me, understanding others’ needs and concerns and making sure I treat people with fairness and kindness has always been my number one mission in life. I understand I have the privilege to share my opinion on things I have experienced, while others don’t always have the ability to do so. The objective is to raise awareness on certain subjects that are still too often left in the dark. Having worked in the luxury industry I was able to pick up and notice certain things that captured my attention. Today, I have decided to share this article to help executives understand why diversity hiring is so important in order to remain successful; why diversity itself is not enough and how inclusivity is the key to a successful and motivated workforce.
It is important to distinct and understand both notions:
Diversity is about the ‘what’ — it focuses on the makeup of your workforce (race, gender, etc.) while inclusion on the other hand is about the how — the creation of a work environment and culture that enables all employees to participate and thrive to their full potential.
Where do we stand in terms of diversity hiring?
With the discovery of the coronavirus in early March, American companies reduced the number of hiring positions, mainly those related to diversity and inclusion. According to the careers site Glassdoor, those fell close to 60 percent — a more significant drop compared to other job openings overall, which fell 28 percent in June.
However, following the death of George Floyd back in May along with the outburst of the Black Lives Matter movement, the same category of job openings picked up, which seems to have been a recurring trend ever since in Corporate America, tech companies and luxury brands.
Diversity and inclusion company, Avtar Group published a recent report showing the rapid diversity hiring evolution in 2020: a 32 percent increase as opposed to 23 percent last year.
In September 2020, Cartier hires its first Diversity and Inclusion executive, Erica Lovett. That same month, Campbell Soup Co. hires a veteran of corporate diversity to fill the newly created position of chief culture officer. Positions that were too often neglected and rarely considered in most companies prior the protests.
In the past, companies would originally appoint someone as head of diversity in order to avoid facing a discrimination lawsuit without necessarily understanding the importance of doing so. However, it seems like this initial intention is now shifting towards a better understanding of having a diverse workforce.
But the question remains — Is having a person responsible for diversity & inclusion enough?
I have always supported the importance of diversity hiring. In my opinion, companies can only perform at their best if they represent a mix of people and beliefs or in other words are multicultural, multiracial and is equally distributed between all genders. I also believe the hiring process should be based on a person’s skillset and expertise first and foremost as opposed to their skin color, race, gender that help build a generic quota that needs to be filled.
Despite companies’ recent initiatives, it seems like they are still struggling to be credible towards their audience. Indeed, actions by those companies are still too often interpreted primarily as a PR strategy to show their involvement with diversity or simple tokenism.
What these corporations still fail to understand is that diversity does not necessarily represent inclusivity and as a result, the existence of diversity does not equal to fair treatment for the minority workforce. Companies have to do a lot more understanding on the consequences that come from bringing the people who are traditionally excluded into these new positions.
In the luxury industry, fashion brands are still too often being called out for their lack of diverse representation both externally — in advertising campaigns, runway shows or internally — with managerial positions. With the rapid evolution of social media, brands are being pointed out for their inclusivity fails making it even more important and pressuring to prove to their audience that they are committed to change.
Very few luxury corporations have instead realized that these matters need to be tackled at organizational level. When looking at the leadership of the luxury industry or big tech companies, we can see it is still majority Western, white and mostly male dominated. For example, when looking at the committee at LVMH, out of thirteen positions only two are held by women. The youngest person is 45 and all are of white European origin.
If we consider where luxury companies source their managerial talent from, we often find the same pattern: candidates from top schools and universities that often already benefit from a network of influential contracts, a good financial situation and a strong referral system.
It is not surprising that luxury companies still encounter diversity issues and what is becoming apparent is that many brands are surpassed with what is happening around them. The result of neglecting their social environment thus becomes apparent in the products that are being launched and/or advertising campaigns.
Prada, Moncler, and Burberry are just a few examples of the companies that have obliviously launched products without taking the socio-cultural environment into account. In 2019, Gucci was the result of widespread outrage for releasing their turtleneck that covered half the face and featured large red lips evoking ‘blackface’; Prada received same backlash when they introduced their monkey keychain with overly large red lips. And the list goes on.
Although these products had immediately been removed from the market, it is understandable that their audience still have difficulty trusting those brands — even after hiring a diversity expert. It is therefore imperative in the digital world that brands stay vigilant of the socio-cultural environment and understand that any errors will very rapidly be amplified.
Despite the fact that these new hires are definitely a step in the right direction, it looks like many companies still have a long way to go. It is still too often assumed that creating more diverse campaigns, including a diverse range of models on the catwalk or hiring a chief of diversity is enough. It is important to understand that without inclusivity, diversity can be perceived as tokenistic. What executives along with these new hires should focus on is creating a climate of inclusion, where employees of all types feel valued and comfortable.
Here are a few steps that can be considered to improve diversity & inclusion:
1. Take risks: taking risks when hiring by giving a chance to those who do not fit the traditional company stereotype/ ideal candidate.
2. Diversity is not enough. Making inclusivity a priority will be essential for the minority to feel just as comfortable as the rest of the company.
3. Changing the narrative: educating the workforce by holding conferences and open conversations on diversity and inclusivity. In order to make a difference, we have to be willing to do things that make us feel uncomfortable or are inconvenient.
4. Learn from past mistakes: It is our responsibility to learn from the past and improve to the best of our abilities. Staying hopeful is essential to create change and have a positive impact.
5. Letting go of stigma and stereotypes.
