Important Steps to Achieving a Diverse Workplace

Sponsored by West Monroe Partners

Workplace diversity is certainly not a new concern for businesses, but it is one that continues to hover near the top of many organizations agendas. Beyond just being the right thing to do, various studies have shown that paying attention to diversity makes good business sense. For example, companies that exhibit gender and ethnic diversity are, respectively, 15 percent and 35 percent more likely to outperform those that dont. They bring in more sales revenue, more customers, and higher profits.

Another reason it remains a top strategic priority: It is far from an easy fix. This is clear from my own experience, and also from many conversations Ive had with clients and peers in other organizations.

My profession consulting is well known for significant work-life integration issues due to extensive travel and intense project pressures. Typically, this is associated with the challenge of retaining women as they advance in their careers but balance is a concern for everyone, and particularly important to younger generations in todays workforce.

Diversity is about more than addressing work-life integration. For us, it is about having the diverse experience and perspective necessary to challenge the status quo, think through issues in different ways, and solve tough business problems. About 18 months ago, we started to look more closely at the diversity of our organization. Our self-examination became a tipping point for doing something meaningful to address the challenges we faced with diversity and inclusion. But the more we looked at the issue, the more we recognized that it is hard to have diversity without a strong sense of inclusionthat is, not only having diverse perspectives at the table but ensuring those perspectives are encouraged and embraced. To quote diversity expert Verna Myers, Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.

Indeed, a study by Shell and the Human Capital Institute found that having diverse teams alone is not enough to drive business value. For example, diverse teams without strong leaders who can ensure the right culture were not as inclusive. Rather, diverse teams drive business performance when certain conditions such as the presence of inclusive behaviors and balanced diversity (members do not group themselves into diversity sub-groups) are present. Other research by the Center for Talent Innovation backs up that finding, suggesting that without inclusion, there is often a diversity backlash.

I chose to take on a national leadership role in helping West Monroe strengthen its foundation of inclusion, for several reasons. First, I think having a man in this role sends a strong signal that diversity and inclusion is not just a gender issue, and that it is everyones responsibility to contribute to a culture of inclusion especially those who make up the majority. Second, as someone who has spent a number of years as a leader in consulting organizations, these are issues I have long thought about. I have listened to clients talk about wanting more diversity on their delivery teams and getting the diverse thoughts that those bring. I have also seen the best and brightest talent leave organizations simply because, for one reason or another, they didnt see a home for themselves. And finally, I see a lot of individuals caring genuinely about inclusion and diversity and I want to find ways to have a broader impact across the firm.

We are now 18 months into this journey, and I want to share a few principles and lessons learned that I think will be beneficial to others in the Seattle-area business community in any industry who may be navigating the same challenges.

Seek independent and expert perspectives. We enlisted Catalyst, a specialist in accelerating progress through workplace inclusion, to help us gather and assess feedback from many angles employees, leaders, clients, people who had left our firm, competitors. Catalyst was able to filter and prioritize the feedback for us, based on its experience in the area, and help us figure out the next steps. If we had done this on our own, we may not have received honest feedback or gone down the right paths.

Make all leaders accountable. An Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) leadership role can help organize activity, but it accomplishes nothing if business leaders do not set the right tone from the top. We started by challenging all our directors (more than 80 people) to take ownership for an inclusive workforce. Led by an outside expert, our directors talked about unconscious bias and inadvertent workplace actions, and each one drafted a personal list of actions for making the people around them feel more included.

Form a council of volunteers. With the right level of support from leadership, a council of interested employees will innovate and take responsibility for developing initiatives, communicating, and gathering and analyzing feedback from the organization. At West Monroe, we made sure this was a diverse group of employees who shared their own experiences and perspectives, ensuring our path forward was inclusive and initiatives are people-driven. This can also provide opportunities for employees to take a leadership role, as well as a bridge toward eventually establishing a formal I&D function.

Encourage grassroots initiative. Tackling inclusion and diversity requires both top-down leadership and bottom-up initiative. I see a lot of this, but one of the best examples was when one of our consultants, concerned about the perception and impact of fasting during Ramadan, invited her colleagues to participate with her with very positive results.

Target operations, not just policies. It might seem instinctive to start with policies and values statements, and those are important. But words on paper dont always translate to desired actions. We have acquired several firms over the past five years (which is how I joined West Monroe in 2014). In our analysis, we heard from some people who had joined through acquisition that we arent always open to new ideas and ways of working, and that made them feel like outsiders. This feedback prompted us to look at how we welcome and integrate new people into our organization.

Broaden networking and mentoring opportunities. In an organization striving to be more diverse, it may be harder for people to find mentors with whom they are comfortable. One way we address this is to encourage mentoring and networking both inside and outside the organization. For example, we are now in the second year of a national partnership with Ellevate Network, which provides a forum for our women to connect with a much broader group of female executives, with a range of backgrounds and career journeys. Some women have found mentors through Ellevate, while others have found opportunities to collaborate both personally and professionally.

Measure the right things. It is easier to measure diversity than inclusion. While we are tracking certain metrics, we have not set specific goals in terms of employee demographics. We have chosen to take the approach of ensuring we make progress through communicating transparently, fostering honest dialog, and reviewing and updating our policies and procedures, rather than focusing on specific targets. Also, setting finite goals implies that there is an end to this journey, which there is not. Rather, if we strive to do the right things, then the right outcomes will happen.

Most importantly, be open to talking about tough topics. We wont make progress if we are afraid to talk about it. One of the ways we have tackled this is by stimulating regular dialogue sometimes on topics that arent easy to discuss. For example, I recently wrote about how it can be uncomfortable for men and women to network out of the office, which leads to perceptions of unequal mentoring opportunities and lack of inclusion. Its an uncomfortable topic, but we need to put it on the table before we can do something about it.

This is a journey of many and small steps, but it is gratifying and energizing to make a difference in our industry and in the Seattle community. I hope these ideas motivate other area businesses and leaders to look in the mirror and join us in this necessary conversation about inclusion and diversity.

About the author:

Brian Paulen is a managing director with West Monroe Partners and leads the firms Seattle office. Contact Brian at [email protected].

West Monroe is a progressive business and technology consulting firm that partners with dynamic organizations to re-imagine, build, and operate their businesses at peak performance.