What’s your Plan?
As Arielle Patrick, the Chief Communications Officer at Ariel Investments, the oldest minority-owned investment firm in the United States stated in Sunday’s New York Times:
“At my old job, we would develop playbooks for companies to have on the shelf in case of a data breach, a #MeToo incident, diversity and inclusion issues, or anything else. Companies that don’t do this are, frankly, delusional…..No matter how great your company is, humans make mistakes, and all you can do is be ready, stand on the right side of history, and take action immediately.”
DIVERSITY CRISIS MANAGEMENT: Of course, with a world gone mad – as seems to have happened this past year – crises seem to be continual. Yet I like how Patrick discusses the issue as “delusional” if you do not have a plan for issues such harassment, diversity, and inclusion. When most organizations think of “crisis management”, however, they frequently assume that would mean a fire, a tainted product, or a PR nightmare about a fraudulent stock deal. Most seem to assume that public exposure involving race, harassment or discrimination will not pop up, yet they are far more common.
HUMAN ERROR: In my experience with these issues, many – if not most – of diversity and inclusion issues do involve human error, rather than intentional discrimination or harassment. Of course, there are evil actors, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Mistakes will happen in these ever-changing areas and we all need to be prepared for them.
What Should You Do?
 DON’T ASSUME: Just because you have policies and training on harassment and discrimination issues does not mean you will not face a public upset. Be ready for the inevitable problems with a communication plan (both internal and external) and a competent legal counsel.
EDUCATE LEADERS: Make sure that your leaders understand that these errors around these issues may be more a matter of the number of your employees than anything else. Also, emphasis in your training with managers that you realize they may make diversity mistakes so that they do not hide errors. Almost anything can be fixed if you call an expert soon enough.
For more information on effective diversity, equity and inclusion workshops go to www.workplacesthatwork.com.
These and other meeting ideas are addressed in all our leadership and management workshops – live and online.
Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
Coaching and webinars on these and other management and leadership topics can all be delivered virtually.
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Read Lynne’s books on sexual harassment and affirmative action.
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January 18, 2020
