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Do You Give a Fig about Diversity?

Cricket is hitting the headlines at the moment. A woman turned down for a top job by Lancashire County Cricket Club won compensation following her successful sex discrimination case. In addition, Umpire Darrell Hair has confirmed he will begin legal proceedings against the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), alleging racial discrimination.

The Diversity Cricket

This reminded me of another type of cricket, known as the 17 year cicada, an American insect whose larvae live underground for 17 years before emerging to grow wings, fly, mate, lay eggs and die, all within the space of a few days. In order to ensure that they are likely to find a suitable mate in that short period of winged life, all the larvae emerge and transform at exactly the same time. Quite how they synchronise to appear within days of each other is unknown, but the result is literally billions of insects swarming together for just a few days. This totally overwhelms predators such as birds and terrapins who will gorge themselves on the cicadas until they can eat no more. Bloated terrapins simply watch as cicadas hop jauntily past, knowing that the reptiles are so stuffed that even the thought of another cicada makes them ill.

It is a wonderful sight and the only thing missing is the paper Christmas party hat sliding forwards over their sleepy eyes and a dismissive hand waving away the offer of 'just one more wafer-thin mint.' The overwhelming numbers ensure that once the predators have had their fill there are still sufficient cicadas left to mate and produce the next generation. After a few days, the adult cicadas are all dead; the new generation of larvae hatch from the eggs, but do not appear above ground for another 17 years.

Why Diversity Initiatives Fail

This put me in mind of diversity cultures. Too often organisations react to a new piece of legislation with programmes of staff training, a 'Diversity Celebration Week,' and a series of meetings to discuss diversity policies, all of which take place within a couple of months. The result is staff feeling overwhelmed with training, advice and guidance, their heads reeling with the amount of information being stuffed into them. Everyone is still trying to do their own jobs as well, and wondering how on earth they will be able to incorporate all these new diversity 'requirements.' They struggle to absorb everything, feeling gorged and bloated, and then as suddenly as it began, it all stops. People are left wondering if that was just 'the next big thing' and as the activity recedes into the past, much of what was imparted is forgotten.

Information in our short-term memory needs to be reinforced, reminded and contextualised if it is to transfer to our long-term memory and become part of what we do. So bombarding staff with the Diversity Cicada is unhelpful simply from the practical standpoint of knowledge retention, but there is another long-term, more detrimental effect.

Some time later, another article will appear in the news, or a piece of legislation will be revised, and suddenly the Diversity Cicada explodes above ground again. But the training, the meetings and celebratory events will be less effective this time. People recall the previous experience and wonder if there is any point paying much attention, or taking any action. “It'll all blow over; there'll be something else next month. Nobody followed up the last lot of training did they? All those posters were taken down. Waste of money if you ask me.”

How Diversity Initiatives Can Succeed

If a long-lasting culture that embraces and harnesses diversity is to be created and sustained I would recommend the following:

• Underpin every single action you take around diversity with the principle of 'Telling people why we are doing this.' Every message you send to your staff, and every activity you announce, will be better received and understood if you have included the reasoning behind it. Consequently they will be far more likely to be acted upon.
• Ensure that any form of diversity intervention and training is contextualised. If people can see how it has a bearing on the work they do, they will not only take more interest in it, but it is more likely to be recalled and acted upon. If they can see how it builds upon the previous training interventions, it will be received far more positively.
• Emphasise and value the diversity that already exists within your organisation. Celebrate the range of knowledge, the different skills and abilities that individual members of staff possess. If your organisation has a long-standing culture of valuing and utilising difference, then the concept of learning about and acting upon specific differences is far more likely to be regarded as simply an extension of the usual way of doing things.
• Highlight the external business case for diversity. Show your employees how a proactive understanding of diversity makes organisations more customer-focussed and able to penetrate new markets.
• Highlight the internal case for diversity. If you previously had a policy of rigid working hours that impacted on people with caring responsibilities, and you have revised the policy to introduce flexible working hours, and you found that the new policy also benefited people who felt unsafe travelling to work during hours of darkness, let everyone know. Inform your workforce that recognising the needs of a particular sector of your employees can benefit others.
• Make diversity part of the daily life of the organisation. Feed in regular items of news. Asking one of the internet search engines to send you free daily news snippets relating to 'diversity' and/or 'equality' is very simple, and will give you a regular supply of upbeat news items to send to staff or discuss in regular team meetings.

The Diversity Fig

There is a Fig tree in the tropical rainforests that continuously flowers and fruits throughout the year, providing a regular but moderate amount of food. A troupe of monkeys and a flock of birds will inhabit a few trees in one area and make them their own. The birds and monkeys have a regular supply of food so have no need to gorge themselves. They nibble just enough to keep themselves fit and healthy. Overloading on food can make them sluggish and an easy target for predators.

Instead of the feast and famine cycle of the Diversity Cicada, organisations would do better to continuously offer their employees the bite-size Diversity Fig. The ideal Diversity Fig not only contains just enough knowledge to enhance performance, but is wrapped in informative packaging that lets the eater know how nutritious the contents are.

An effective diversity culture is one that is not only driven from the top, but by everybody who works there. When an employee can see the relevance of doing something differently, and knows that any suggestion of difference will be listened to and discussed constructively, they are more likely to offer those suggestions to their colleagues and senior management. So when one of your employees comes and offers you a Diversity Fig, you will know then that you have banished the Diversity Cricket and are on your way to winning the Ashes.

About the author

David Deegan is a consultant with over 12 years experience in the design and delivery of learning and development, and an expert in the field of diversity and inclusion. David welcomes your views on this article and can be contacted at david.deegan@academee.com.