Listen Up, White Men: Diversity, Inclusion Require Your Support, Too

If diversity, inclusion and gender equality efforts will be implemented at workplaces, it will take buy-in from the dominant social group: white males.

“Members of the dominant social group help to pull everyone else up,” Piper Jaffray Chief Human Capital Officer Christine Esckilsen said at an event hosted by Hines for International Women's Day. “We need the men to be here to understand it and push things along.”   

While pushing company-wide initiatives, videos and emails about inclusion can be effective, Hines Managing Director Laura Hines-Pierce has found organizing local events that include men and women can support the dialogue on diversity issues needed to promote change. It is important to have employees from all levels be part of the discussion, she said. 

An open forum is also an opportunity to share best practices and lay out concerns. Diversity and inclusivity training should be handled in line with other training such as sexual harassment, which would help with accountability, Kirkland & Ellis Senior Director Nina Dannenberg said. 

The One Hines Women's Network presented discussions at more than 40 offices around the U.S. last week about elevating equality in the workplace in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8. The Houston panel, at Hines’ 609 Main at Texas building, included three local human resource experts.   

“We feel the connection more when we are in person, gathering and talking about the issues,” Hines-Pierce said.

Why does this matter?

While there are a number of reasons to support diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the workplace, the No. 1 reason is that all human beings are inherently valuable, Esckilsen said.

“When you do that and you include them, you empower people,” she said. 

Diverse companies also perform better and bring more to the bottom line.

A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group found that companies that have above-average diversity on their leadership team have 19% higher revenue. The report attributes that boost to innovation from different points of view. The study looked at 1,700 companies across eight countries, in varying industries and with different company sizes. Three-quarters of respondents said diversity is gaining momentum in their organizations. 

The U.S. population is diversifying — by 2045, white people will become a minority, according to new census population projections analyzed by Brookings. That year, whites will make up 49.7% of the population compared to 24.6% for Hispanics, 13.1% for blacks, 7.9% for Asians and 3.8% for the multiracial population. 

“We need to better reflect the communities in which we live and work,” Esckilsen said.

Uncovering Unconscious Biases

To move toward a more inclusive and diverse workplace, the company must address unconscious biases, which can show up in the hiring process or daily interactions, Hines’ panelists said. 

Law firm Kirkland & Ellis has launched an inclusive leadership series, which is geared toward recognizing a person’s unconscious biases, Dannenberg said. The ongoing program aims to build an inclusive, welcoming culture and foster dialogue and connection among attorneys at all levels.

Building the diversity and inclusive mindset shows employees that this is a part of the culture and what the company represents, Dannenberg said. 

“It has to be a part of who you become or who you are,” she said. “If not it becomes a vacuum and doesn't go anywhere.”

This type of change must come from the top down. Piper Jaffray’s leadership team also went through unconscious biases training and plans to roll out the training company-wide. 

The panelists suggested the audience take Harvard’s Implicit Association Test, which measures the strength of associations between concepts (i.e. black people, gay people) and evaluations (i.e. good, bad) or stereotypes (i.e. athletic, clumsy). 

The goal is to determine attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report, the test's website said. It may reveal an implicit attitude a person may not even know she had. More than 15 tests are available to measure attitudes on a host of topics such as Muslims, age, skin tone, disability, gender, sexuality, religion, weight and race.

“It goes through to identify where you lean and when it comes to certain areas those are certainly influenced by implicit bias,” Dannenberg said. “The results can be very surprising. It is a good tool to try.”