KO Coca Cola Company

By Pamela Newkirk 

When my book "Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business" was published a year ago, I couldn't have imagined how much events during the summer of 2020 could advance our national conversation on race. Where before the killing of George Floyd a large segment of white America believed that the nation had largely overcome racial barriers -- indeed, many insisted the nation was postrace -- there now is growing recognition of the extent to which race continues to pervert our national ideals. The kind of policing so graphically illustrated in Mr. Floyd's open-air killing has pried open the eyes of many to stark racial disparities that extend to health, housing, education and employment.

Not only are African-Americans far more likely than whites to be viewed as suspects, or contract and die of the coronavirus, they have just one-tenth of the wealth of white families. And they -- along with nonwhite Hispanics -- are also disproportionately underrepresented in every influential field, including law, fashion, film, publishing, college and university faculties, and corporate boards.

The question now is how to move forward to realize a more racially just society. How can we as a nation capitalize on this rare moment of racial reckoning, which comes in the wake of a contentious election and amid uncertainty about our economy, environment and public health?

In "Diversity, Inc." I question why, despite five decades of deliberations, hand-wringing and billions devoted each year to diversity initiatives, racial minorities remain disproportionately and acutely underrepresented in most influential fields. And why is the diversity business thriving -- fueled by the hiring of chief diversity officers and consultants and the implementation of antibias training and climate surveys -- while racial diversity is not? History, after all, can steer us away from decades of costly tried-and-failed practices.

In recent years, a number of extensive studies have shown that not only has diversity training failed to realize diversity, but in some instances can make matters worse. A 2016 study by sociology professors Frank Dobbin of Harvard University and Alexandra Kalev of Tel Aviv University found that mandatory antibias training not only stoked a backlash, particularly among white men, but five years after implementation, the number of Black female and Asian male and female managers, on average, decreased.

Yet many institutions continue pouring millions of dollars into a bloated and largely futile diversity apparatus, while bypassing far more efficient and efficacious models. Habit and protection from legal liability might help explain why. Research by University of California, Berkeley, Prof. Lauren B. Edelman, for example, found that in federal civil-rights cases, judges base company compliance on the mere presence of diversity policies, programs or officers, rather than on their efficacy.

To actually move the needle on diversity, institutions can begin by redirecting their efforts away from programs designed to change hearts and minds, and toward proactive interventions.

For starters, institutions need to expand their outreach beyond well-worn pipelines that perpetuate exclusionary hiring, to institutions and professional organizations of color that many of them habitually overlook. Because of the segregated nature of our society and the reality of homogenous professional workplaces, the grapevine -- intentionally or not -- often sustains homogeneity. Exclusion begets exclusion, and the cycle can only be broken by discarding dated arguments about a pipeline problem and tapping into unfamiliar networks. Only then will institutions discover the legions of professionals of color, including many who graduate from some of the nation's top schools. Companies can begin by forming bridges with graduate schools and professional organizations of color that could shore up diverse candidate pools.

Another often overlooked strategy is mentoring, which can do more to ensure the success of current employees and future prospective candidates of color than canned diversity programs have been shown to do. However, in talks at a number of companies, I've been struck by the unease many white professionals feel toward their colleagues of color. This discomfort, born of segregated neighborhoods and social spheres, along with prevailing stereotypes that taint their judgment of Black and brown people, is perhaps inevitable. But unless institutions build mentoring into the development of employees -- including those of color -- diversity is unlikely to flourish.

Large institutions also can adopt the kind of system of assessment and accountability that was instituted at Coca-Cola Co. following a landmark discrimination lawsuit settlement in 2000. Steve Bucherati, who had been working in global marketing when he was asked to oversee the company's diversity efforts, developed and oversaw a system to assess and disrupt patterns of racial disparities in pay, promotion and opportunity.

He began by assessing the status of candidate pools and employee positions, pay, bonuses, promotions and work evaluations along racial lines to detect and disrupt any patterns of bias. The system allowed the company to address, in real time, any instances of racial inequity before final decisions related to hiring, promotions, salaries, bonuses and the like were made. Transparent metrics, committed leadership and a system of accountability enabled the company to significantly increase its diversity, including in management, over a five-year period. Despite the progress made after the settlement, Coca-Cola acknowledged more recently that it still faces diversity challenges. Chief Executive James Quincy told employees in a June town hall that while African-Americans make up 19% of the company's U.S. workforce, they hold only 7% of senior leadership positions. "We need to be more effective in making progress," he said. The acknowledgment underscores the need for ongoing vigilance.

Not even the best efforts will succeed without buy-in from the board and CEO, and sufficient support of those entrusted to deploy a diversity strategy. Tellingly, a 2019 Russell Reynolds survey of Fortune 500 chief diversity officers showed that only 35% had access to the company metrics that would even allow them to assess the problems, and many said they didn't have the support or resources needed to succeed. So while in the wake of Mr. Floyd's killing many corporate CEOs have asserted that "Black Lives Matter," they can best demonstrate their commitment by taking the lead on one of the critical issues of our day.

Dr. Newkirk is a journalist, a professor at New York University and an author of several books, including "Diversity, Inc.: The Fight for Racial Equality in the Workplace." She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 14, 2020 11:14 ET (16:14 GMT)

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