To Build Inclusive Teams, Start With Managers

With growing pressures for organizations to increase diversity,  it has become more common to put strategic planning into measurable efforts that focus on recruiting and hiring underrepresented candidates—often women and people of color. For companies where increasing representation is a key objective, it is also expected that there will be systems in place to support “diverse hires” once they enter the organization, such as employee resource groups and mentorship programs. 

On the surface, putting these efforts into hiring and retaining diverse employees is a positive thing – after all, we know that diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones. Diverse teams excel at launching new products, troubleshooting existing processes, planning for the future, and responding to crises. 

We believe that all organizations should be focusing on increasing diversity in their hiring funnels, and also on supporting them with company-wide culture initiatives. However, most companies are still missing the mark in a big way when it comes to fostering inclusion and belonging in their underrepresented hires, and are therefore only solving a “surface problem” with their diversity efforts.

The Surface Problem

Have you ever worked tirelessly to solve a problem, only to realize that an even bigger one existed below it? If so, congratulations: you’re human! And you have fallen into the trap of solving a “surface problem.” “Surfaces” can be anything, from a literal physical barrier like a wall in your home or the hood of your car, to figurative distraction covering up deeper issues. 

Companies focusing only on increasing representation with numbers and public initiatives are solving a surface problem. Without pulling back the figurative hood and fixing broken systems, an organization cannot expect to reap the benefits of a diverse team. No individual can truly thrive if they are not being supported. 

We can’t just put together a diverse group of individuals and hope for the best. In order to yield the benefits of diversity, the environment must be inclusive—one in which all members feel valued and as if they have a voice. 

Diversity without inclusion only creates a revolving door of talent. So, what can organizations do?

The Core Problem: Lack of Manager Training

The 2022 Women in the Workplace Report shined light on the essential role that managers play in shaping underrepresented employees’ work experiences – when managers invest in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)  and people management, employees are less likely to think about leaving their companies, happier, and less burned out. 

It makes perfect sense, then, that companies would want their managers to support their employees in these ways that retain them and keep them engaged with their organizations. More than ever, companies are expecting their managers to help employees develop their careers, support their employees’ well being, and promote inclusion on their teams in order to keep up with their public DEI initiatives. After all, if companies promote a culture of inclusion when hiring and recruiting, that individual will expect an inclusive workplace when they arrive. Managers are often the strongest touchpoint an individual has to understanding company culture and values.

Even with these expectations on managers, the Women in the Workplace 2022 report shows that employees don’t report that their managers are showing up consistently for them on development and inclusion issues. But why not?

Despite being expected to be able to promote equity and inclusion on their teams, many managers are not receiving adequate (or any) proper training to build the skills necessary to do so. 

Therein lies the core problem – the problem below the surface that needs to be addressed in order for any DEI practice to be successful: Managers are not getting the training they need. Managers are the primary touchpoint for any employee to truly connect to a company’s culture and values. If a company values diversity, equity, and inclusion, but is not providing managers with intentional education on how to promote those values on their teams, those values will never reach the individuals who need them most.

In order to set managers up for success so they can create and promote inclusion and belonging on their teams, we must first teach them how. 

The Solution: A Roadmap for Leading Diverse Teams

It should be said that progressing toward a “new normal” where recruiting and hiring diverse teams is the expectation is a cause for celebration. It absolutely is. However, we believe that the true foundation of building inclusive teams (and organizations) lies in the call to action and preparation that comes with the celebration. 

The data shows us that the call to action should be one of preparing managers to be stewards of equitable practices that foster inclusion and belonging for their reports. There is no campaign or employee resource group that can replace the role of a manager in setting the tone of an organization with a new employee. There is no substitute for a manager who understands how to provide equitable resources to employees who need them. 

The skills required for managers to authentically foster inclusion require education, practice, and support. Gild Collective’s Leading Diverse Teams training program focuses on mastering three key concepts:

  • Ensuring managers have foundational understanding of unconscious bias, both interpersonally and in business systems, and the impact it has on underrepresented groups. 

  • Focusing on equity, not equality – on giving individuals the support that they need, and intentionally distributing equitable resources to employees that need them. 

  • Appreciating the impact of privilege and the role that it plays in career development, especially for those who have less access to privilege than others.

With these three core competencies as the foundation to build on, managers can utilize the concrete steps given in this program to act as allies to underrepresented individuals in the workplace and beyond.

Through teaching these concepts and providing managers with the time and space to practice them in daily life, organizations can more effectively and more efficiently reach their goals to increase diversity and inclusion. 

Efforts to build diverse teams cannot stop at hiring and recruiting. When an individual enters the workplace, the real (and most valuable) work begins.