Break the Inequity Cycle with a “Development” Culture
Robin Ely, the Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, recently worked with a business firm to help them retain a diverse workforce. The firm did a great job of recruiting a diverse workforce but found that many of them did not stay and that talent was walking out the door.
She did a study of the company’s internal culture. She found that white male managers were more likely to see the talents of other white men and give them the stretch assignments that helped them learn new skills and become more promotable. But she also found that the firm had an “assessment” culture in which supervisors believed that a person’s talent was fixed rather than developed, so managers were making snap judgments about who had talent…often people who looked like them.
“Assessment-oriented cultures are difficult for everyone, since people in these settings feel compelled to prove their worth, hide failures and mistakes, and avoid taking risks. But they are especially challenging for white women and people of color, whose talents are often overlooked or underestimated because they are less likely to fit the firm’s image of a star performer.”*
She worked with the firm to change the culture to a “development” mind-set where it was held that all employees had the potential to grow their talents. “Breaking the inequity cycle requires leaders to see talent as something that’s cultivated through hard work, stretch assignments, and investing in each employee’s success, Ely says. These organizations are structured so that all employees get the opportunities they need to grow and advance.”*
Everyday workplace structures and mind-sets make a difference in the internal culture of an organization which in turn can undermine or reward workers. Ely says “What people really want is to be given the chance to grow and have an impact and to have that impact recognized and rewarded.” She has found that cultivating a development culture helps firms achieve greater equity and a competitive advantage.
*“Who Has Potential? For Many White Men, It’s Often Other White Men.” HBS Working Knowledge, 10 May 2021, hbswk.hbs.edu/item/who-has-potential-for-white-men-its-usually-other-white-men.
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