At the end of a workshop on discrimination and inclusion, a conversation with a recently hired Managing Director in Brussels, reflecting on the make-up of their team, clients-base, change management and channel, the following came out:
“Our team is all White. Our customers are all Whites. We value pluralism but seem to struggle to attract non-white candidates to apply to our vacancies. And we struggle to attract non-white customers to our stores. We know they are interested in similar products / services.”
“We struggle to attract them to our stores“
Does the following sound familiar?
- “We don’t receive CVs from the so-called ethnic minorities?”
- “We don’t know where to find them?”
And how is this hurting your business?
African proverb by https://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernews/african-proverbs/#.jzggvzwr6
Available for brainstorming.
Best,
G.
#EmployerBrand – #TalentManagement – #DiversityRecruitment – #Sales
The author
Grégory Luaba Déome
Contributing to more inclusive workplaces
Follow: Twitter @cvs_congo | Blogs: LinkedIn and Talent Has No Race
More from me on Ethnostratification and Talent Advancement:
People Analytics when the N is too small
Multiculturalism in Europe failed?
What makes a great team?
Delivering through diversity
Born in Congo, I am committed to developing more inclusive workplaces. My passion is to enable others to achieve their potential and to advance equity in corporate Brussels.
About eight years ago, a friend told me something like “in my company, they consider me as a high potential. I participated to the annual event of our industry, 500 people – la crème de la crème – and I was the only non-white in the room. A journalist even came to me and discreetly asked “what about upward mobility”? The problem is that in our industry, the majority of the workers at the bottom of the pyramid are non-whites. The higher you go in the hierarchy, the whiter it becomes.”
How to increase racial diversity at the top of corporate Brussels?
What is the diverse makeup or diversity demographics of your team overall? And of your management and board teams?
