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Now that we've talked about setting diversity goals,
let's look at some of the things that can undermine them.
Reward systems in the workplace, like performance reviews, bonuses, and
promotions are powerful ways to shape culture and
create an atmosphere of inclusion.
But they can also be a source of implicit bias,
disadvantaging certain groups of people, even if they appear to be totally neutral.
If you're serious about boosting diversity on your team, you have to think
about the unintentional forms of bias that could be hiding in your reward systems.
Consider the example of one particular type of team, symphony orchestras.
These are important cultural icons,
but actually few of them reflect the population of the cities they represent.
Data from the League of American Orchestras shows that just over 10% of
orchestra musicians are people of color.
And that figure has not change all that much in the last 20 years.
According to Stanford Thompson,
much of this has to do with unequal access to music education.
And hidden biases in systems of reward and advancement from an early age.
Stan is the founder of Play On, Philly!
It's an organization that gives under-represented kids opportunities to
grow and develop through studying music.
He, himself, is also a professional musician and
educator who works with orchestras to promote diversity.
Through Stan's outreach work, he has seen how one of the main reasons minorities
are under-represented in orchestras has to do with the audition and tenure system.
This is where orchestra musicians and conductors decide
which of the new musicians are going to permanently join their ensembles.
People of color are tenured at a rate of about 30%,
which is way lower than their white colleagues.
Oftentimes, this is because their peers nitpick small imperfections in their
performances and character that they would normally let slide with white musicians.
This can happen totally unconsciously and in small ways.
Maybe because one of their friends got passed over for
the spot or they just aren't as close with the musician personally.
But those small, unintentional forms of bias lead to fewer opportunities for
people of color at a large scale.
The same effect can happen with informal reward systems.
Such as praise from supervisors, recognition for
team members' achievements, or even just who we listen to at meetings.
We often favor the people who are most like us, and that works against diversity.
So what can you do to combat these biases?
Well, in his work with orchestras and
other organizations, Stan recommends measuring outcomes.
When you set specific targets for diversity, and measure progress towards
achieving them, you can uncover unintentional bias in an objective way.
And that leads to better accountability.
That's also the finding of MIT professor Emilio Castilla,
who conducted a study on pay disparity in a large company.
He found that when the company started measuring the ratings and pay decisions
for employees of different races, it became clear that people of color were
getting rewarded less for the same performance as their white colleagues.
When the results were posted publicly, the departments with
the worst disparity started fixing the problem and closing the gap.
Now for informal systems of reward, the key to addressing these biases is to
identify the hidden rules your team follows and change them.
Think back to Glen Mazzara's experience with his writing team on The Shield.
After his female writers complained, he realized that the unspoken
rule on the team was men direct the conversation at meetings.
Mazzara created a new rule for the team.
He told them that no one should be interrupted when they were
pitching an idea.
The simple no-interruptions rule gave the women on the team more opportunities to
contribute.
And the quality of the show benefited as a result.
For your own team, focus on measuring diversity outcomes and
uncovering the hidden cultural rules that might hold certain types of people back.
If you can root out these biases in your reward systems,
you'll go a long way toward making sure diverse perspectives are heard and
encouraged in your workplace.
Derek Newberry, Ph.D.Lecturer
Dr. Aviva LegattAffiliated Faculty
