Opinion |

Workplaces set sights on building culture of belonging

Thirty years ago, the Ms. Foundation launched Take Our Daughters to Work Day to shine a light on career possibilities for young girls. Before long, it was decided that boys would benefit, too.

Now, Take Our Children to Work Day happens once a year, on the fourth Thursday in April.

There’s another movement afoot in workplaces across the country: Take yourself to work — your whole self — every day. It’s rooted in the idea of belonging.

The thinking goes, according to a recent article in The New York Times, that if you have the flexibility to choose where you work and the freedom to speak your mind on social and political issues, you shouldn’t have to check yourself at the door — you belong.

Belonging is the latest addition to the human resources toolkit. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, consciousness about systemic racism was (re)awakened in our country. Many companies responded by implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and programs. Some established dedicated DEI teams as part of their HR function and hired their first-ever diversity leader.

One idea that took hold was Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which bring together traditionally underrepresented segments of workers to help boost feelings of connection. The first official ERG in the U.S. actually dates back to 1970 — created by Xerox as a forum for Black employees to advocate for inclusion and change within the company. Today, 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have ERGs.

Research has shown that DEI efforts matter to the majority of workers, regardless of age. A company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion influences workers’ decision to take a new job — or to stay in one.

But corporate commitment to DEI appears to be stalling. Research by Glassdoor found that in 2021, 43 percent of employees had access to DEI initiatives, a 14-point jump from 2019. The number dipped last year to 41 percent.

That may not sound like a big shift. But several major companies parted ways with their heads of DEI and never replaced them. Sixty percent of chief diversity officers at S&P 500 companies left their positions between 2018 and 2021. Their average tenure is just 1.8 years.

On Tuesday, the National Conflict Resolution Center hosted a conversation about the current state of DEI efforts with Alicia Moore, senior program manager for DEI at Columbia Sportswear.

It was part of our “Uncharted Workplace” webinar series.

Moore shared her thoughts about DEI “backtracking.” It’s happening, she said, because companies don’t really understand how to develop and run a successful DEI program. There’s a lack of support from company leaders. Some are blaming the economic downturn (but, as Moore noted, they would find the dollars if DEI really mattered).

The bigger problem is that empathy has been politicized and is now considered woke. There is a growing concern that DEI pays too much attention to “othering” — how populations like employees of color or women or women of color are being treated in the workplace, and how it makes them feel. To some, ideas like ERGs exacerbate divides.

Karith Foster is chief executive of Inversity Solutions, a diversity consultancy. Foster told the Times that as a practical matter, there will be no equity if the people in power (straight, White males) feel excluded from the conversation. Foster said, “The people traditional DEI practitioners most want to enroll are the people they’re isolating and honestly ostracizing.”

It’s the precise reason that belonging has landed in the HR toolkit. While DEI has become divisive, everyone needs to belong.

That was the message delivered at a recent talk I attended, sponsored by The Conrad Prebys Foundation. The speaker was john a. powell, director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. He told the audience, “We need each other. That’s not a bad thing.”

A Black man, powell talked about an idea he calls “targeted universalism.” In our efforts to achieve equity, we oftentimes focus on disparities, paying most attention to traditionally excluded groups. We forget about the group at the top — which has the potential to make them opponents, rather than supporters.

But not everyone is situated the same, powell suggested, so we have to be targeted, if the goal is to achieve a universal outcome.

He calls this the “belonging frame” — an imagined future where we move together, care about each other, and see each other without becoming each other.

It’s a future where I belong.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com