Julian Obubo, Partner and Direct of DE&I at Manifest Group on why we need to overhaul the way we think about diversity, equity and inclusion
It’s been almost three years since the summer of 2020 which we’ll all remember as a turning point in the global conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s a sad state of affairs to admit that it took the brutal murder of George Floyd for governments, businesses and individuals to take a sober and critical look at their conduct. In the ensuing scramble of accountability, we saw apologies, mea culpas, promises to do better, resignations, black squares and more. Books on anti-racism flew off the shelves, and unconscious bias became the ‘training du jour’.
Corporations began long overdue assessments of their own company culture, with many finding that they had created a workplace that is at best unwelcoming and at times, hostile to non-white staff.
Yet, despite the conversations and promises to do better in 2020, how much has changed materially in the business landscape in the UK? There is generally a better awareness that DEI is important and needs to be taken seriously, but, three years on we still do not have mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting in the UK.
The reason for this intransigence in robustly addressing DEI stems from the fact that we have been trying to tackle the issue as though the need for a change isn’t a direct result of racism in our culture.
“Tackling diversity without addressing racism is like mopping and drying a floor without fixing the source of the leak.“
Many people in business seem to view racism as such a heavy and serious word that should not be brought into the workplace. Even called the ‘R Word’. The common view is that racism is what white nationalists and neo-Nazis do and that it simply isn’t a major problem in the urbane quarters of the business world. Raising the topic, or simply mentioning the word is sometimes perceived as more offensive than the possibility of racist sentiments existing within an organisation.
We have viewed addressing DEI in the corporate world as largely a short-term problem that could be fixed with a few novel HR initiatives and a lot of goodwill.
“To truly face the issues head-on, we need to start asking tougher and more nuanced questions about the status quo, such as “Why aren’t there many Black people choosing to join our organisation or enter our industry?””
Asking these questions will peel off the thin veneer of progress and reveal the many barriers and obstacles faced by people of colour in choosing a career path or deciding to join a company.
We need to acknowledge that the lack of diversity in certain industries is a manifestation of a host of systemic issues that cannot be fixed in isolation, or by the private sector alone.
We cannot fix the lack of diversity without a broad understanding of the insidious racism that usually comes out as “I’m not sure they will be the right fit” when interviewing a potential candidate.
We cannot make progress if alcohol consumption is the only way an organisation socialises- excluding Muslims who don’t drink for religious reasons.
And we will never make meaningful progress if we continue to ignore the fact that a society that hums and haws over whether to take down statues of slaveowners who owned the forebears of fellow citizens might not be as welcoming as we’d like to think.
Fixing diversity means fixing the stories we tell ourselves of how modern Britain came to be. Fixing diversity means actually listening to non-white employees when they point to instances of racism they have faced, or when they identify a cultural blind spot in the workplace. It means being willing to be uncomfortable and vulnerable, it means challenging management and peers, and sometimes it will require turning down commercial opportunities or initiating disciplinary action.
Fixing diversity will require sacrifice. It will demand a mindset and behaviour shift that goes well beyond the office. Fixing diversity is not a workplace problem, it’s a societal problem that workplaces can and should have a role in fixing, but it cannot be left to them alone.
In fixing diversity, the work will never feel like it’s done. It will be an ongoing struggle. Meaningful progress will only be truly judged when non-white staff can honestly say they believe their white colleagues will stand up to racism outside the workplace and within their own family or friendship circles.
Change happens when diversity and anti-racism are valued outside as well as inside the workplace. Change happens when we acknowledge our complicity in maintaining the status quo by not speaking up against or challenging institutions that are resistant to change.
Change happens when businesses stop thinking about diversity and inclusion as a human resources issue, but as a human relations issue.
CTA: For more information, visit: manifest.group
To view Manifest’s DE&I commitment statement, visit: manifest.group/diversity-inclusion-commitment-statement
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About Manifest Group:
We are an award-winning unified agency on a mission to build brands that change the world. With studios in London, New York, Stockholm, Manchester, Melbourne and Los Angeles, Manifest Group is born of the belief that great marketing is no longer about selling products but starting movements. It is our unwavering belief that brands and organisations have a capacity to change the world for the better. To elicit a positive impact on the lives of their audiences. And for their marketing campaigns to not only raise awareness of these impacts, but to amplify them.
We manifest this potential as a commercial advantage — driving both the success and the significance of the brands we build. We provide a catalyst for a different approach to business; whereby growth is not measured solely in financial terms, but through positive impacts on people and the planet they live on.
For more information or further comment please contact: hello@manifest.group
