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Organizational inclusivity must go beyond the ‘chief diversity officer’

  • Writer: Nicole B.
    Nicole B.
  • Nov 24, 2020
  • 4 min read

Updated: Feb 23, 2024


Person writing on notepad

While it might sound like an excuse, the unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of black talent to recruit from..” – Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo CEO 

A broad spectrum of professionals expressed disgust after the revelation that Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf made these comments during a Zoom meeting with black employees in June. The fallout was immense – many of his peers publicly condemned him, a slew of black women resigned from the banking giant, and many Wells Fargo account holders declared they were closing their accounts.


But as the ramifications from Scharf’s comments reverberated, I found myself wondering: Could this ground swell of public condemnation actually lead to substantive conversation addressing the roots of racial inequity in corporate America?


After the seemingly short-lived embrace (and subsequent rejection by many) of the Black Lives Matter movement, asking this question feels more than necessary. The performative public support of black advancement and justice has at times seemed more like a marketing and public relations ploy rather than a call for actionable change.


One of the most visible actions that an organization can take to at least appear more equitable is hiring a person of color to take on a high-profile position in the realm of “diversity and inclusion.” In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, prominent companies like Zoom and the NFL hired their first chief diversity officers.


But what is the purpose of this role? And, historically, how does it factor into diversifying workplaces and cultivating equality of opportunity?


Pamela Newkirk, professor of journalism at New York University, told NPR in July that diversity officers are often “treated more like public relations people than they are as executives who are there to actually change the climate and to hire more people of color.”


This common strategy – or lack thereof – has led to high turnover for those in diversity officer positions.


What are meaningful acts of organizational inclusion? And how can organizations help produce environments that help promote success for diversity officers?


Whites have to participate, too


Hiring a chief diversity officer without a plan for true cultural change is like aiming for a participation grade: If an organization wants more than completion points, executives should prepare to go over and above the shallow matrixes that comprise “checkbox diversity.”


This means challenging employees, particularly white men who disproportionately hold senior leadership positions, to consider the importance of their role in creating a more inclusive workplace.

That many of the standard corporate diversity programs are optional for employees is a massive problem. This effectively handicaps any diversity officer’s goals for not only driving racial and cultural inclusivity, but also creating incentives for recruiting more people of color into the organization.

As Julia Taylor Kennedy and Pooja Jain-Link wrote in Fortune, “Corporate diversity and inclusion leaders need to speak directly to majority men by not only emphasizing but requiring that managers build diverse, inclusive teams.”

Dare to Lead by research professor and author Dr. Brené Brown lists ten behaviors that, according to Brown’s extensive research, prevent organizations from having effective leadership. Here is number 7:

“People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, saying something wrong, or being wrong. Choosing our own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and it corrodes trust and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change.”

It’s time for those who are in power or in close proximity to power to opt out of their privilege and opt in to having these tough but necessary conversations.


Go deeper than “diversity of thought”


Hearing modern-day corporate speak like “disrupt” and “lean in” doesn’t inspire a lot of motivation in me. Instead, my immediate reaction is, “When have these concepts ever applied to me as a black woman?”


Historically, disruption of professional norms has only been acceptable if driven by ambitious white men. And the idea of leaning in, promoted by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, does not incorporate the complexity and implications of being a black woman in the workplace. To her credit, Sandberg has since acknowledged this issue and is now leading important research on the topic.


The “diversity of thought” approach has gained steam in some corporate cultures. Proponents of this idea believe intellectual diversity should supersede racial and gender diversity as a priority in the workplace. Author Michelle Kim argues that this is a flawed concept. She writes:

“Diversity of thought should be achieved as a result of diverse representation. Our thoughts and perspectives aren’t developed in a vacuum. The way we think, problem-solve, communicate, lead, see the world… is largely shaped by our lived experiences, often rooted in our identities.”

In essence, how can we produce environments that allow for diversity of thought without diversity of identity? The two should work in tandem, not in competition.


Promote people of color to non-D&I leadership positions


It might be trendy right now to boost D&I efforts by hiring black and brown folks to lead them. But consider this – there are a record number of women leading Fortune 500 companies currently. However, of the 37 women who are in these positions, none are black or Latina.


Charlie Scharf’s comments struck the wrong chord because he implied that there aren’t enough qualified black people to promote – in reality, there are simply not enough opportunities for growth across the board.


Organizational leaders should consider a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach. That is to say, rather than hiring a chief diversity officer for a six-figure, PR-adjacent position, perhaps consider building an anti-racist culture by recruiting and promoting people of color into valuable, organizational roles outside of D&I.


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