Corporate America’s Work in Fighting Racism is Just Beginning

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Welcome to the hbr ideacast from harvard business review. I'm alison beard. Over the past few weeks in the United States, massive protests over the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans at the hands of police have thrown a huge spotlight on an issue the country has been struggling with since its inception, systemic racism. Now, this is not a news show. We are apolitical. But Harvard Business Publishing's mission is to improve the practice of management in a changing world. And we think that these recent events do mark a shift in how companies are thinking or should think about diversity, inclusion and racial justice. As CEOs release statements disavowing bigotry, managers at every level are figuring out how to carry on and support their teams during this traumatic time. Our guest today wants to make sure that this momentum translates into meaningful change in corporate behavior and workplace culture. Ella Washington is an organizational psychologist, coach and consultant, and a professor at Georgetown University. She's the co author of the HBR article US Businesses Must Take Meaningful Action Against Racism. Ella, thank you so much for being on the show.

Hi, Alison. Thank you so much for having me.

So, first of all, I just want to ask, how are you doing?

You know, that is a loaded question these days. What I've noticed in the last few days, as the days go on, I find myself kind of slipping back into our normal retort of hi, how are you? And then saying, I'm fine. How are you? And particularly for those of us in the black community, we're used to code switching in the workplace, right? And so I've challenged myself in the last few days to stay in touch with my feelings and actually lean into them when someone asks me how I'm doing. This is the transparency we really need in both our work and our home communities right now. And so, quite frankly, I'm exhausted. I am exhausted from continuously, you know, doing this work and feeling like it has fallen on deaf ears. I've had lots of anxiety this week as I've heard sirens and helicopters for three nights in a row outside of my house in D.C. every time I try to unplug, I can't relax because of what's happening right outside my home. But for me, I'm also engaged. I feel like writing and connecting on various platforms, sharing my research, sharing my work is my version of activism. And so though I'm exhausted, I'm also Engaged and really grateful for the opportunity not only to be helping people, but it's also helping me feel like I can do something in a time where sometimes it can be stifling to feel like you can't do anything to make a real impact.

So you are someone who focuses on organizations. How are you seeing the reaction to these killings? Also the fact that the COVID crisis has been hitting minority communities hardest and these protests play out in the American workplace?

Well, COVID 19 was already a major disruptor of our way of life, particularly in how we work. Leaders were just beginning to consider, you know, the disparate impacts of communities of colors and what that meant for the workforce and how they were going to start to address things like performance management in the coming months. In the midst of all of this kind of uncertainty happening, there was yet another two examples of racial injustice that played out literally right before our eyes because of the video footage of both the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. So as a community already in pain, black people have had enough. You know, there was this kind of uprising of sentiment that things were no longer going to be business as usual. And because of this unapologetic and unwavering stance, I think organizations have been forced to pay attention and to get involved.

And normally, as you say, employees, managers, people of color would code switch and sort of turn it off at work, but that's not happening anymore.

Yeah, there's a few things, I think, that are contributing to that. I think because of COVID there is no longer this clear boundary between work and home. You log on to a zoom call, and your colleagues, who maybe you have never hung out with outside of work or certainly have never been in your home, are now having a front row seat to your most intimate spaces. It really is a call out to kind of the lack of separation that we have between our work life and home lives. And so because of that, I think employers are forced to resolve the fact that employees that come to work or log into work from their homes, they can't kind of check their race at the door. They can't check their pain at the door. They can't check at the door what's happening in our outside communities. And so there must be action now.

And what is your verdict on how corporate leaders, you know, big US Corporations have been responding to this moment?

There have been waves of responses since the murder of George Floyd. So in the first few days, what we saw was relative silence from companies. Maybe it was the shock that this was happening once again, but I really think that companies were unsure if this would be another issue. They would just shake their heads out behind closed doors, but actually stay relatively quiet and on the sidelines. Then around Friday, May 29, we started to see waves of a few companies that have already become pillars of support to causes like Black Lives Matter start to speak out first. So Nike, unsurprisingly, released a moving ad for once, don't do it. And it was in that first wave that said, let's stop and pay attention. No, this time is different. But then over the course of the weekend through May 31 and into Monday, June 1, we saw what I would say is the largest wave that we've ever seen of organizations making statements of support and acknowledging the need to fight for racial equality and fight against racial injustice. Now these statements are certainly a great first step. We have been seeing statements from companies that never before have taken any stance on anything happening outside of their consumer base. But what we have to be aware of is the potential for performative allyship that some companies are showing through these messages. Instead of actual commitment to action and change, they have these well crafted messages of marketing to appease their consumers and appease their employees, but not really making a commitment to change. I would say companies like Nickelodeon with their 8 minutes and 46 second blackout and Ben and Jerry's statement about white supremacy have actually set themselves apart and raised the bar by mirroring both statements with action. You know, black consumers and employees are also holding these companies accountable. For example, I have friends that, you know, by Sunday night they were writing on the companies that they frequently patron on their social media websites and asking them why they hadn't made a statement and what follow up action they were going to do. Some companies now are kind of getting on the final bandwagon, I think of messages of support, but I think even the narrative at this point has shifted because people of the black community and their allies globally are saying that okay, words are great, but they're no longer enough. This one meme that went viral has been circulating that says thank you for your message of support. Now let me see a picture of your executive leadership team and board of directors. So I think there's a clear call for action. So companies have been responsive, but their follow through I think is are what people are really paying attention to. I'm advising my CEO and board of director clients to have honest conversations with first themselves internally on where they actually stand on these issues. It's easy to jump on the social media bandwagon of sending messages of Support. But where do they truly stand and how committed will they be to action? I think after they figure out where they stand on these issues, they also have to be accountable for how they've contributed to inequalities within their own organization. And then lastly, they need to be prepared to follow through with both immediate and long term action. This should not be a conversation that expires when the news cycle expires. Organizations really need to be committed to long term change.

And what should managers be doing right now? Especially ones who have black employees on their team who no doubt feel much more traumatized by what's going on than everyone else.

So I read a piece on Slate.com in the last few days that blacks are stuck in a loop of trauma. And that image of a trauma loop, almost like from Jordan Peele's movie Get out, it really stuck with me. This week has happened before in our history. And as black Americans, we fear that it will happen again and will continue to happen. So the only way out is to demand more from our leaders and managers. Two weeks ago, conversations about race were avoided in the workplace, and now everyone wants to talk about it. Right. Everyone wants to be in support and kind of do the right thing in this moment. But that can be even further traumatic for black employees. And so we still need to figure out how we want to navigate this space. For some people, it's their ability to navigate this space through having these courageous conversations. But that should not be the expectation for every black employee. Being black does not mean that you have an expert opinion on how these issues need to be solved. And it's quite frankly unfair to assume that your black employees can solve your issues on racial injustice in the workplace? It really is the job of HR leaders.

As we move on from this moment, what are the key policies that you would like to see organizations pursue to really change things for the better in a meaningful way and not let this all be for naught as so many previous killings, protests over those killings have been.

Yeah. So organizations have to think both in their informal and their formal practices. So, you know, the common definition of culture is the way we do things around here or the way we get things done. And so it's important for them not only to look at their policies, but also to look at what their informal culture of their organization is and think about strategies for enacting change at both levels so that everyone understands and truly believes and supports action around eliminating inequalities.

And are there any organizations that you've seen already really fundamentally change the way they work, how they hire, how they promote, how they develop in a way that has supported people of color.

Well, I think many organizations are striving. I think the organizations in the tech space that have been transparent about their diversity numbers over the past four to five years, that was a huge shift in being transparent about the need to have a better pipeline for black employees and other people of color. But, you know, every organization is still struggling. I don't think any organization, you know, has perfectly figured it out. And further, what I always tell my clients is that inclusion is a journey. So I wouldn't give anyone a gold star and say, you're done with your. Your journey to inclusion. You're done with fighting against inequalities. Maybe you've done a really good job. And so hats off to you, Hats off to companies like Accenture that have been spreading messages around inclusion for many years and have been putting action behind those messages in terms of having support for and goals around hiring, gender equity and racial equity. However, even for companies that are at the forefront, they're still not done. We're not done until we have a systematic policies and a systematic ownership, not just within an individual company, but an ownership within industry, an ownership across both for profit and nonprofit organizations, that we will not allow the status quo to continue.

And diversity equity and inclusion initiatives have been around for a while and companies have been investing in them, but it seems as if progress has stalled in some way, especially for black Americans. So what exactly needs to change? Is it more funding? Is it more staffing? Is it bringing it out of HR and into the mainstream of the organization? What do you recommend?

Well, I think one critical thing is that organizations have to be clear and firm on their values. They have to stand by them in both public and private moments. So I think a great example is, you know, Franklin Templeton in the past weeks, firing Amy Cooper. That's great. However, I often wonder in those moments that aren't being recorded or don't catch the media's attention, what happens. And I've seen how many of those issues get swept under the rug if it's not in the public eye. And that's not courageous leadership. Courageous leadership is being clear on your values and standing firm with them when no one is watching.

The other challenge we have right now is that there are just so many crises that we're facing. We have a pandemic. We have recession, climate change. How do leaders prioritize racial equity in the face of all of that? Or are they all linked?

They are all linked. I Mean, you can't think about the impact of COVID without thinking about its desperate impact on the black community and how this moment in time is connected with the frustrations and pain that the black community is feeling. Right. And so these issues are certainly all interconnected. The truth is that employees and companies that are focused on doing the right thing, no matter what the business outcome is, usually have better business outcomes. Right. And so it's not a matter of, you know, picking which point of pain to focus on. It's how do we really consider what's best for our organization, what's best for the employees that work in our organization in addressing the challenges that they face. And so it might be a triage for a while, because as we know, this year has been, you know, one challenging event after another. And then the reality also is that organizations are being asked to do more with less. I know we always say that, but truly, in 2020, organizations, HR leaders are going to be feeling the impact of doing more with less. However, I would put a note that organizations that really do care about their workforce and do want to see change, they have to start with internally, the.

Economic crisis really does create a problem because we think of, well, how do I get a more diverse workforce? How do I bring in more people of color, more black people? And many companies will just simply not be hiring for the next couple months, if not years. How do we get around that?

Yeah. So though companies may not be hiring, they will hire again in the future. We know that the economy at some point will turn around. They can certainly evaluate their policies and procedures around hiring and promotion so that when they can expand again and hire, they're going at it with a new strategy, a new perspective that is in support of equality and equity as opposed to continuing on as business as usual when they're able to pick up their hiring again.

What can the corporate world and the investment community do to support historically black communities and black owned businesses going forward?

Yeah, so there's more than 2.6 million black owned businesses in the United States. And where you spend your dollars makes a real difference. You know, black owned businesses often face limited startup capital and challenges receiving loans from financial institutions. You know, even in their first year of business, black owned businesses are less likely to survive than non black businesses. And so they don't even survive long enough to flourish. You know, one thing corporations can do are specifically think about supplier diversity. You know, spending your money in a black owned business has a doubling effect because it not only adds capital to that business, but it gives Them the support they need to operate and grow. Additionally, we have to think of black owned and organizations that were created to support the black community, like historically black colleges and universities. There's been debate, particularly in this current administration, of whether or not we still need hbcus. And I would challenge. We certainly do. Those institutions have been pillars of change in our community since their inception, and they continue to be safe spaces not only for the students and faculty and staff that are employed there or receive their education there, but also for the communities around them. And so it's really important that we continue to support our hbcu so that they can thrive and continue to serve us in the way they have been since their inception.

The other issue I'd like to address, you know, we're talking about supporting people of color as leaders, Promoting black managers and executives, Getting them into the sort of white collar management, corporate environment. But we know that so many of the essential workers, blue collar workers, who are getting this through the pandemic are people of color. You know, they're typically overworked and under paid. What sort of policy changes, corporate or government, Would you like to see on that front? Supporting people on the front lines?

You know, it's a. It's a huge socioeconomic injustice issue that you're. You're really seeing. Those disparities didn't just happen overnight. It's so interesting how when there is a trauma or there's something that goes wrong, we start to pay attention to and take note of the things that have existed for centuries. Right. Our workers at the grocery store didn't just become black and brown overnight when Covid hit. Right. It has been that way. While there are certain parts of our society that are flourishing, There are continued to be parts of our society, particularly in the black community, of people struggling to even make ends meet. So it's challenging all of that going back to kind of that ecosystem of change, not just coming at it from one perspective, but really thinking critically about how every entity in our community can play its part.

Yeah. And also looking into the future. What can white bosses, white colleagues do to keep this momentum going, Keep supporting their black employees and colleagues?

Well, I think the most important thing to remember is that you need to be authentic to who you are and the relationship you have with your black peers or bosses. It's not a matter of always saying the right things or putting the right words together. It's a matter of just being genuine in your support and saying, you know, I might not know the right thing to say, but I stand with you. And if there's anything that I can do to support you or that I'm not doing right now that I should be doing, please let me know. I mean, this is your opportunity to use your white privilege for good. The truth is, whether you are an employee with, you know, organizational status and power or not, if you are a white employee, you have kind of legitimate power based on your status of white privilege and citizen society, you're often having conversations with other people of note in the organization that black people are not able to have. You know, the back office conversations, the conversations on the golf course, etc. That we know make a difference in the trajectory of careers. So, you know, using your voice and using your privilege for good, it can be as simple as, you know, checking bias when you're having a conversation that might show up. Right. And so being courageous enough to say, well, wait, what did you really mean by that microaggression that you may have heard right. Or asking, you know, are we sure that we have everyone in the room that, you know, would be helpful to make this conversation? Maybe, you know, we should invite our colleague such and such to join this conversation so that we have a more diverse perspective. You know, it's really about helping to amplify black voices and putting us, putting us in positions to speak for ourselves. And you don't have to be a manager to do that. You know, you can do that by using your white privilege for good. Yeah.

Your co author on the recent HBR article made the point that, you know, no one gets a boost from advocating for diversity, but white men at least don't get penalized for it. So I think it's important to recognize how important it is to be an ally in that way. So we do seem to be at this point where everyone is getting political and that is bleeding into the workplace. What can and should employees be doing to hold their organizations accountable for the kind of progress that we're talking about without getting themselves fired?

What I would question, you know, why is the assumption that they would do speaking up will get them fired? I think we have to challenge even those norms and those kind of cultural assumptions that we've been making. You know, employees that want to create change. The organization's most valuable asset we know from an organizational behavior standpoint is its employee as its. Its most valuable human capital. So it is incumbent on the organization to listen to their employees, particularly as they band together as allies for these needs of change. And so I would even challenge that notion that an employee, what can they do and not be afraid to get fired. Maybe sometimes that's what it takes, right? Maybe it takes kind of backing the organization into a corner. But I guarantee you, if enough employees are speaking out against the organization being silent or not taking enough action, it won't be the employees that are faced with the change. It will be the organization that's forced to change.

So I want to end hopefully on a positive note. As you mentioned, this has happened before so many times in the United States. Racism has been around since the country began. Racist incidents continue to play out in the news. Why is this moment different?

The whole world is paying attention in this moment. Nothing in this moment is business as usual. And COVID 19 has slowed us down to a halt almost in many cases. And so people are paying attention in a way that they weren't before. It's like a collective watchful eye on what's happening. And maybe for the first time as a nation, we are understanding that racism and inequality against black Americans are not a black problem. It's everyone's problem. And so because of that, I think this moment is different. And I hope that it will create change that's lasting for generations to come. I mean, I'm so encouraged as I hear from my students that are even pushing back on some of the stronger company messages and saying, well, they're not strong enough and their action is not enough. And so when I hear those things from the next generation of the workforce and the next generation of leaders, I'm very encouraged that this moment will not go unnoticed in history.

I hope so, too. That's Ella Washington, professor at Georgetown University. Her coaching and consulting practice is elevate and you can find her article US businesses must take meaningful action against racism on hbr.org this episode was produced by Mary Dew. We get technical help from Rob Eckart. Adam Buchholz is our audio product manager. Thanks for listening to the HBR IdeaCast. I'm Alison Beard. Sam.