More Diverse Diversity

Written by Denise Ryan, MBA, CSP FireStar Speaking

Featured in the Spring 2019 Edition of HRmatters

Human Resource Professionals already have to manage an incredibly complex array of issues.  And in many organizations, if an issue comes up and there’s no clear department to address it, the solution just might be, “Let’s give that to HR.”  So the last thing I want to do is make life even more complicated for my friends in HR.  Just consider this article food for thought rather than an immediate call to action.

Diversity is an important issue with many organizations trying to recruit, retain and grow employees with different ethnicities, ages, and genders.  We work hard not to discriminate against people who look different than we do.  But there’s another way we are diverse that has nothing to do with exterior appearances.   We are diverse in our behavioral patterns.

I’m thinking of DiSC styles, but any assessment that is scientifically valid could be used as an example.  A team that looks quite different – a mix of genders, ages, and so forth might meet your current definition of diversity.  But if they all have the same behavioral pattern, the group isn’t as diverse as you think.

Let’s say they all are the D style – a behavioral style that tends to push for results.  Their lack of diversity might mean they neglect details or overlook the needs of employees.  They will have blind spots a more behaviorally diverse team might not. 

These blind spots can cause us to hire people that are the same style as we are (they have the same preferences as we do – yay!) and to manage people as if they were us.  I have a dear friend who is a C style (he’s a deep thinker, an analyzer of details).  His immediate supervisor is an I style (very enthusiastic, enjoys people and gatherings).   She came to him one day and said “Hey, it’s time for the holiday luncheon; let’s go!”  He responded, “Can I just stay here and work?”  She later wrote him up for not being a team player. 

The supervisor viewed the luncheon as a reward and a team building activity.  My friend viewed it as a punishment and a waste of time.  He wanted to stay and work – perhaps helping the team more in the long run.  But the I style felt being together as a group was more important.  (We could dig deeper and suggest that our I style could have better communicated her expectations, but that’s another article.)

I have heard dozens of examples of people feeling left out or misunderstood or frustrated because of these behavioral patterns.  The direct communicators think if people have a question or concern, they will state it.  The indirect communicators often feel unheard or steamrolled.  What is an HR professional to do?

1.)    Consider how your organization defines diversity and be aware of other ways a lack of it might negatively impact your mission.  Another example might be – if you are a group that needs cooperation from members of all political parties, but all your employees are members of the same party, would this negatively impact you?  A Chamber of Commerce that has only large corporations represented on the board but serves thousands of small businesses might not be as strategically diverse as it should be. 

2.)   Be open to the use of DiSC (or another assessment) to examine a different aspect of diversity.  DiSC scores don’t correlate to gender or race – the results are gender and color-blind.

3.)   Be careful of diversity for diversity’s sake.  Let’s say the Chamber in the above example puts a small business person on its board.  If they haven’t told this person they are expected to represent the voice of small business, they may just feel intimated by all the big companies and not participate.  Or they may just represent their own views.  Or the others may not understand why they are even at the table.  You can’t just dump someone different in a homogeneous group and “voila!” have peace, love and diversity.

4.)   Too much diversity will drive you insane.  In my Chamber example, things could get crazy.  We might add a small business, then decide that restaurants need to be represented.  Then ice cream shops, then food trucks…you see where I’m going with this.  Have a method behind your diversity.  Maybe you want to mirror the population.  Maybe you want to represent your customers.  Maybe you realize you have way too many I-styles, and someone needs to balance the books!

If diversity is an important topic (which we all agree it is), it merits strategic and expanded thinking.  It shouldn’t just be a tally of external characteristics.  Our vital human resources deserve better than that.