I have the great pleasure of working with a terrific UK manufacturing brand at the moment, it's roots literally sunk deep into the industrial revolution. The organisation's demographics are still dominated by "hoary handed sons of toil" and they have recently reinvented themselves as a business, re-branded, re-launched and revolutionised their working practices and transformed their business performance.
I've enjoyed a close coaching relationship with more than a handful of their senior executive team and, they aren't politically correct androids, their personalities and perspectives reflect many of the stereotypes one would expect. But there's one substantial difference. Without exception, they now accept ongoing transformation as a norm and remain open minded about the sources of competitive advantage.
This organisation has a diversity policy, recognising, as they do, that there is a clear business case, that it at the core of adapting to changing customers' needs and is the route to day-to-day innovation. Most importantly, however, I can say with complete assurance that when it comes to embracing diversity as a core element of their business strategy, their behaviours strive to match the fine words in the glossy brochures. In short, when it comes to actual decisions about core personnel in key jobs, while performance track record is and will always be the first factor, potential and points of differentiation carry significant weight when making final decisions. They actively search for candidates who represent a broad demographic and, for example, when several candidates rise to the top, they actively choose the applicant representative of an under-represented group, whether gender, race or otherwise. I've seen several examples of this, not just PR platitudes and that's the only evidence I need.
Disappointingly, however, in the wider market, I'm still more accustomed to witnessing the reverse, namely lots of very expensive PR and glossy brochures, costly meetings and get-togethers to bang the diversity drum but precious little change within the staff supply chain, especially at the leadership level. With these organisations it's as if they believe that by ticking the policy and communication box, the balance will evolve through some sort of seeping osmosis. Well, it doesn't.
Change happens on the back of day to day examples that become patterns of behaviour that then become a cultural norm.Unfortunately, I have to look no further than the Financial Services sector for a live example of the opposite at play.
If you bother to pay attention, you will notice the PR department of a very high profile FS brand currently flooding the airwaves with talk of diversity conferences, client events, women in banking training, networking and a circus of what must be very expensive "attractions". They are designed to distract stakeholders from the nasty facts, namely that, despite overwhelming stakeholder feedback, government targets et al, their business, which has remained in crisis for over a decade, is still dominated by pale males in their late 50s.
Meanwhile, several of my close female business contacts happen to work within the high profile divisions of this organisation. At least two of them have a long track record of exceptional performance on the front line. Yet while this PR circus has been taking place, there have been at least 3 examples of senior leadership roles within their regions that have been given to pale males in their 50s, in two cases replacing the only senior women in the region and in each case the feedback they have been given is that it was a "marginal call".
Quite frankly, the words and the figures simply don't add up. I have little doubt that the women in question were transformation minded leaders who were unquestionably placed to take the businesses in question into a new age. What the business has conspired to do, however, is preserve a steady state on a sinking ship. When faced with actually changing, they reverted to type and bottled it. It stinks.
I am not a fan of political correctness for the sake of it, nor am I a fan of quotas or discrimination against better placed candidates regardless of gender, race etc. But I abhor hypocrisy and can't stand the stupidity of structuring expectations one way using expensive smoke, mirrors, PR and other trappings of corporate catharsis, while failing to invest anything on systems, procedures and culture development to ensure that fine words have some substance.
Saying one thing and doing another rots great brands from within.
So tear down your diversity posters, burn your health and safety folders and throw those printed values in the corporate waste if you've blown the budget on the design but have no intention of following through with game-changing action.
Treat your people like idiots and they will turn your brand into a laughing stock at a pace relative to the time and money you invest in the campaign of platitudes.
Invest wisely, however, ensure quick wins and cultivate real culture change a best practice case at a time and the returns will soon be obvious.
