Developing a Diversity Management Capability

If the time for developing alternatives to affirmative action is now, what is our next step? What must leaders do to help their organizations move more broadly toward diversity so that the Band Aid is no longer needed? In broad strokes, these action steps must be taken:

Affirm your organization’s commitment to racial and ethnic representation. This means working proactively to create and maintain a representative workforce. Without firm evidence of your trustworthy commitment to representation, any effort to exit affirmative action will provoke a defensive reaction to cling to the status quo.

Work to depoliticize affirmative action within your organization. If you don’t, any serious discussion of affirmative action will continue to take place in the context of political contests. This win-lose environment will hinder progress with any complementary and alternative approaches to affirmative action.

Secure commitment to developing an exit strategy from affirmative action. The purpose isn’t to abandon or oppose affirmative action, but rather to prepare for an orderly transition when the time comes. Affirmative action proponents will accept the concept of an exit strategy only if they are convinced the organization will maintain its will and ability to achieve a representative workforce at all levels.

Legitimize the dialogue. Developing an effective exit strategy takes creativity and innovation, and those two qualities occur only in an atmosphere of honest debate. As a leader, you must create an environment of trust, openness and candor.

Develop race-neutral, gender-neutral, and ethnic-neutral people processes for attracting, selecting, and retaining a representative workforce. Apply a common set of process criteria and performance standards to all. Do whatever you must to ensure that each criterion and standard is based on absolute requirements and not on personal references, conveniences or traditions.

Build a collective and individual diversity management capability. Collectively and individually, organizational participants should work to acquire diversity skills and to attain diversity maturity.