It’s no secret that Human Resources departments are critical for the wellbeing of an organization and the people in it.
Dr. Florida Starks has been in the world of HR for more than 20 years, and has seen many of those changes at first hand, working on learning and development, organizational development and strategy, and talent acquisition. However, her main focus is now diversity, equity and inclusion, and at the beginning of 2021 she was appointed as Pearson’s Chief Diversity Officer.
Why is diversity important?
DEI
Starks points out that diversity is not about polarizing or grouping people, it isn’t something we should embrace because we are trying to be fairer or more representative (although they are worthy aims). We should embrace it simply because we are all better for it.
Obviously, simply having conversations about diversity does not change anything directly. But Starks talks about the reinforcing effect those conversations can have, and by changing perceptions and improving people, it effects real change.
Topics like race spent a long time being taboo in the workplace and wider society. So, Starks believes it’s important not to start by trying to change people’s perspectives, but to widen their awareness. “Through that awareness, you have greater knowledge. And when you have greater knowledge, when you know better, you do better,” she explains. “It becomes the responsibility each of us have as we learn throughout this inclusive journey to then pass that learning on and share with others so that we're erasing those stereotypes.”
It’s not political
The world often seems to be increasingly polarized. As Starks suggests, sometimes it seems even the smallest things can create a divide, “we see a question in social media, ‘Do you put sugar in your grits? Do you add honey mustard to your potato salad? Do you do the hustle at the line dance?” It is important, when thinking about diversity, to be careful it is not approached in a polarizing way.
“It’s about having a conversation to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate differences,” Stark says. “In doing so, we’re learning something about individuals and populations.”
In other words, it’s about awareness. Rather than approaching diversity as something that an organization — or individual — must ‘do’, it’s just something they acknowledge. This avoids creating situations where people feel they have to change opinions or practice, which in turn creates resistance. Instead, it raises awareness, and it is this that generates the improvements. As Starks points out, “there are many paths that people can take to inclusion, we have to agree on that destination, but let’s find the best way we can, conversationally, bring people along.”
The blocks to diversity
Ultimately, successful diversity is down to the individual. A corporate policy can only go so far if individual staff make their own choices when they are hiring, or who they socialize with. But assuming individuals are not resistant, it becomes much like any negotiation. Each party must acknowledge the other, and agree on that common ground.
But Starks also highlights how important it is to acknowledge the effect that such conversations can have on those that need to change. She refers to the Kübler-Ross model to illustrate how people react. Often known as the ‘five stages of grief’ the model actually describes how people can react to sudden change.
For someone who had never felt the knot of anxiety that comes when they see a flashing light in the rearview mirror, and has been raised with a deference to law enforcement, it’s easy to see how the Kübler-Ross reactions can happen. They might deny it’s a problem, for example, or be angry that the police’s motives are challenged. But these can be reactions on the way to understanding and acceptance.
It’s important that these conversations are approached carefully. “How do we start to have these negotiations when the first process that happens is shock?” Starks asks, “I think it’s a matter of being vulnerable to saying, ‘this isn't about me trying to change your mind. It is about me expressing to you what I feel?’ Then the response can use the same degree of vulnerability and empathy.”
…and what to avoid
For Starks, the most important thing is an open mind. If anyone, no matter what their position, enters the dialogue with fixed opinions, then the process won’t work. And that’s why it’s doubly important to approach it being ready to understand and empathize because if we don’t, and people put their defenses up, nothing will ever change.
“A lot of this goes to social conditioning,” explains Starks. “But believing what we believe, just because we’ve always believed it, is very dangerous.”
