I recently worked out that I have spent a grand total of 24 years and five months in what we now call Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. My first role was in race equity and community cohesion policy work, post my Masters’ degree in critical social theory – a mix of contemporary philosophy and social psychology.
It was an education that fundamentally changed how I viewed and experienced life. A big statement I know, but after ready thinkers like Professor Stuart Hall - widely regarded as the founder of modern cultural studies - on the social construction of race and identity and Judith Bulter on how gender is a social construct that lives in discourses of institutional power, one’s world view can only change.
These days, such ideas have become more mainstream. Almost 25 years ago, they were considered ‘radical’. But it all made sense to me. Growing up as a working-class gay kid on a multi-racial housing estate in 1980s Britain – a place governed by the Thatcherism of Section 28 and ideas of being ‘swamped’ by immigrants – I felt the impact of prejudice and hate. Intersectional discrimination was my everyday reality back then.
So, a passion to create change, together with what I would consider a professional understanding of social injustice and inequity were, and continue to be, the dual forces of what drives me to help organisations and leaders to create meaningful and lasting change.
Passion is often driven by a lived experience – but it doesn’t have to be – and it can act a motivator for change. But as a gay man, my experiences were both collective and individualist at the same time, and in the words of Paul Gilroy I can’t carry the ‘burden of representation’ for a vastly diverse community. How can I know how all gay men feel, think and experience life? How can any individual claim to stand for the interests and views of a community?
Thus, for anyone to be an effective ED&I professional we need to develop a set of professional skills that we can use if we are to be effective organisational and social change makers.
In my view, based on advising countless global businesses over the years, there are five core foundational skills that all ED&I professionals must develop to be able to become effective organisational change makers and credible trusted advisors on ED&I. These foundational skills are:
- A deep understanding of the workings of social structure
How can anyone work in the field of ‘equity management’, the desire to reduce social inequity, prejudice, bias and discrimination, if they have little insight into the unwritten structures that perpetuate the talent myth in which almost all contemporary socialites operate. My call to everyone seeking credibility in this space is the need to develop and demonstrate a thinking framework through critical analysis that examines intersectional data covering economic and power distributions that facilitate power and privilege for some, and yet material exclusion and psychological othering for other groups.
- Know the law
At a recent FAIRER Consulting conference, a speaker reminded the audience that as we navigate the current ED&I backlash, we always have the legal framework to fall back on as a driver for change. It astonishes me daily, perhaps due to my background in social policy. My first role included advising organisations on the introduction of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, where I learned how many ED&I professionals have little insight or working knowledge of the UK and other global legal frameworks. This is our tool for change. It helps us to be trusted partners to business leaders and other stakeholders. We can provide guidance on how they can challenge existing ways of working. Without such deep knowledge of the law, and policy frameworks, depending on work sector, we are simply playing at being expert.
- Understand data
Data – qualitative and quantitative – is one of the most critical tools we have to help us find existing trends and patterns of inclusion and exclusion. Data assists with discovering areas of good practice in diversity and inclusion. It helps us to present prioritised options to our business leaders within an evidenced based framework. It’s thus vital that all ED&I professionals have the skills required to collect, analyse and report data trends and patterns in ways that make sense to our various stakeholders.
- Knowing how to influence
There are ways to influence change, but having the skills to build trust with senior stakeholders and others is critical. This means flexing our style from influencer to ED&I activist. The quiet influencer is good at negotiating and compromise. But do they have strong perspective-taking skills? Activism leans into loudly calling out and campaigning. Somewhere in between is the ally, whose skills blend with mentoring, coaching, sponsorship and advocacy. Each of these roles and skills have a place and time – I can often be all three in the space of 24 hours, but the critical skill here is knowing which role to play when. The skill of authentic code-switching, not covering, is one that ED&I professionals need to develop.
- Understanding organisational processes and structures
A central part of our role as ED&I professionals is to guide, support and sometimes challenge organisational thinking and decision-making relating to the employee life cycle. To be able to do this we need a deep knowledge of the workings of HR processes and practices in general and specific policies within the organisations in which we work, if we are in-house. With integrated knowledge of the workings of, for instance, hiring practices or performance evaluation frameworks and promotions processes, we will gain credibility when offering critical advice on bias mitigation and inclusion management.
So, should ED&I be driven by passion, or should it be a skilled-based profession? The obvious answer is it clearly needs to be a mixture of the two. Decades after beginning my career in ED&I, I am equally passionate about reducing social inequity and promoting organisational inclusivity. But I also know that passion alone does not make for an effective and credible ED&I consultant or practitioner. To be credible as an individual or a collective we need to develop a research-based skills map. Only then can we claim the title of ‘professional’.
The five skills as set out above are a small offering into any ED&I skills map. But without these five foundational skills, individuals will struggle to gain credibility amongst the stakeholders they hope to influence. And without influence there is little power. And without power, there is little change.
Dan Robertson
Global MD
Fairer Consulting
Get in touch with Dan: Dan@fairerconsulting.com
info@fairerconsulting.com