WEBVTT

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Organizations have been relying
on the same tired diversity

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programs since the 1960s.

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But a study of 829
large and midsize firms

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by Alexandra Kalev
and Frank Dobbin

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revealed that many
of these efforts

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make matters worse, not better.

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Here, for each program, we
can see the percent change

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in the share of men,
women, and minorities

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in management over five years.

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The three most popular
interventions actually

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made firms less diverse.

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Mandatory Diversity
Training for managers

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led to significant decreases
for Asian-Americans

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and black women, and had
no positive effects at all.

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These programs put
managers on the defensive

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by requiring their attendance.

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Results are especially
negative when

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they lean on lawsuits and
other negative messages.

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Testing job applicants was
meant to ensure that people

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were hired for their skills.

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But people aren't being
tested consistently,

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so it tends to hurt women and
minorities' chances of being

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hired - even when
they perform well

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- because white male applicants
are often not tested at all.

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Grievance Systems also
reduced diversity pretty much

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across the board.

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They often lead to retaliation
from the accused managers,

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rather than reform.

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Companies do a better job
of increasing diversity

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when they forgo
the control tactics

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and frame their efforts
more positively.

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Voluntary Training programs
reap better results

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because managers think,
"I chose to show up,

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so I must be pro-diversity."

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Hiring a Diversity Manager also
has a positive impact overall.

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This is partly because it
draws on people's strong desire

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to look good to
others: when managers

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know someone might ask questions
about their hiring or firing

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decisions, they are compelled to
double check their own choices.

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Diversity Task Forces probably
have the greatest impact

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on diversity.

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These teams of volunteers
promote social accountability

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because members bring
tailored solutions back

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to their departments
- and notice when

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their colleagues adopt them.

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They create buy-in for the
idea of diversity and increase

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contact among women, minorities,
and whites on the task force.

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Strangely enough, some of
the most successful programs

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are those that don't
brand themselves

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as diversity initiatives.

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For instance,
Self-managed Teams aren't

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designed to improve
diversity, but they

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tend to have a positive effect
because they increase contact

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between demographic
groups, which often

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work in separate functions.

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Likewise,
Cross-training managers

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is a way to increase
their exposure to people

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from different
groups, which helps

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to disprove a lot of biases.

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College recruitment
programs also

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have a huge impact on
diversity, especially

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those that target women.

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Recruiting managers
see themselves

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as diversity
champions, which has

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a domino effect in boosting
the numbers for minority men

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as well.

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College programs specifically
targeting minorities

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tend to focus on historically
black schools, which

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helps increase the numbers of
African-American men and women.

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While some studies found that
mentoring is not effective,

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Kalev and Dobbin's
research contradicts that.

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They found that mentoring has
an especially positive impact,

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but it's difficult to initiate
because many white men are

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uncomfortable reaching
out informally to mentor

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young women and minority men.

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But with a formal
program in place,

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women and minorities are
among the first to sign up,

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and even managers
with biases come

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to believe that their
proteges deserve

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the training and opportunities
they've received.

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Finally, a cautionary note.

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Even when diversity
initiatives DO succeed,

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some companies undo
their hard work

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when they're forced
to do layoffs.

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In an attempt to make
downsizing less personal,

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companies choose to blindly
cut the most recent hires,

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or marginal, support positions.

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The people in those
roles are often

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the women and
minorities the company

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made an effort to recruit.

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By looking at individual
performance, rather than roles

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or date of hire,
managers are actually

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more likely to retain
a diverse team.

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