It seems like a regular part of the news. Some organization in the media spotlight confronting the embarrassment, financial and marketplace vulnerability of a “diversity emergency”.
A major corporation is sued by its African American and female employees, creating a divided culture, and eventually, a $40 million settlement.
Don Imus puts his foot in his mouth by unleashing a stream of stereotypes and racial insults on a widely read radio show, leaving his employer in turmoil, his listeners enraged, and the entertainment world embarrassed.
A national retail clothing giant is investigated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for allegedly discriminating against a 17-year-old Muslim by refusing to hire her because she wore a hijab, or head scarf, in observance of her sincerely held religious beliefs.
A large insurance company is accused of denying its services to certain communities, resulting in NAACP picketing, angry employees and public embarrassment.
The situations listed above are few that our clients have faced, but the list is almost endless: Sportscasters fired. Restaurants accused of racism. Tape recording of executives purportedly using racial epithets, etc., etc. These kinds of situations are among the most feared in American business today because the costs associated with them are astronomical.
Lawsuits like the $85 million paid by Publix Supermarkets, or the over $300 million paid by Mitsubishi. Stock losses like those suffered by Texaco and how many people will never eat at a Denny’s again?
The reality is that how organizations deal with these emergency situations is far more critical than the emergency itself. Sure, the embarrassment and public vulnerability is inescapable, but the reaction of many organizations makes these situations even worse than they have to be.
It is not surprising that we react the way we do. It is natural to feel victimized and defensive because in an overwhelmingly large percentage of cases these incidents do not reflect the malevolent intent of the company in question. They reflect the negative behavior of certain employees; or the overall ignorance about these issues on the part of the organization; or, even more often, an organization that has not taken its vulnerability seriously enough and not been proactive on this very critical issue.
So, the pattern is all too familiar. The news hits the stands, or the lawsuit is filed, and the company reacts. Lawyers give formal statements. Leaders cite how appalled they are. In some circumstances, attempts are made to cover up, butter up, or put in spin control….but little is done to use the situation as a springboard for creating a stronger organization.
In our experience, there are a number of ways to handle a “diversity emergency” that can help your organization in the long run.
1. Deal with the short term realities, but take the long view.
It is important to react quickly and do “damage control” in a situation like those mentioned about, but it is more important to begin developing a long-term recovery strategy. Some people may never forget the headlines they read, but in the same sense that some consumer product companies (e.g. Perrier, or Tylenol) have managed to recover nicely from contaminated products, it is possible to develop a long-term strategy for recovery from a diversity emergency. The long-term view also can remove some of the anxiety and panic and give people within the organization a sense that there is something they can do about the situation.
2. Find out what really happened. Is it a special case or common case circumstance?
In our haste to cover our organizational tails, we sometimes can rush to assume that the situation, even if it is proven true, is a unique, special case, reflective of a specific employee or employees. In our experience this is rarely the case. Usually, for a situation to reach these kinds of proportions it is reflective of a culture within the organization that has tolerated this behavior for a long time, or minimized it and not acted on it. The notion that employees are waiting to take advantage of the cash cow of a discrimination or sexual harassment lawsuit is simply not upheld by organizational studies. In fact, studies show that there are many times more cases that go unreported because the process of filing a suit is a rigorous and dangerous one for employees. They can easily find themselves up against a company with far more resources to defend itself than they have to pursue the case, and also find themselves ostracized by fellow workers, even friends, who are afraid of being tainted in the eyes of their employer by associating with the complaining employee. It takes a comprehensive study of the organization to find out how much of the behavior in question is really going on.
3. Use the incident as a springboard for organizational transformation.
Take the incident as a sign that you need to address diversity as an issue within your organization. Take a comprehensive system-based approach, not just a quick fix. One of our clients, a public power utility, reviewed and reworked their hiring, interviewing and promotion processes after settling a lawsuit. They became a leader in making their organization a demonstration of an equitable workplace.
4. Communicate with and listen to your employees.
Public incidents involving a company can have a dramatic impact on its employees. They can react defensively, or with embarrassment, or it can cause sympathetic employees to rise up with their own issues. Make it clear that you understand and care about the impact it has had on them and let them give you suggestions as to how you can make the company a better place for them to work.
5. Communicate with and listen to the community.
Community members are likely to experience reactions ranging from disappointment to rage. Get out and talk to them, but don’t try to convince them how great you really are. Listen to their concerns. Listen to their upset. Ask for their ideas. Whenever possible get them involved in your recovery process.
6. Make yourself available.
Don’t go into hiding. Talk to reporters, to customers, and to employees. Let people know that you consider it your responsibility to deal with this issue…even when it gets uncomfortable!
7. Show that you take the incident seriously.
Don’t downplay the situation. If anything, by embracing it fully, people will have less of a need to hammer you with how significant it really is. Take it seriously and let people know that you do.
8. Train your employees not to make the same mistake again.
Don’t assume that the incident will only happen to the particular employees involved. Help others understand that they can easily make the same mistake if they’re not careful. The Atlanta Braves asked us to provide training for all of their major league and minor league players, as well as their managers, coaches, and front office personnel. They didn’t think that they were all like the infamous John Rocker …far from it. But they decided to use the Rocker incident as a learning opportunity for the entire organization.
9. Create organizational structures that ensure it won’t happen again.
Put structures in places that employees can come to when they have concerns: corporate justice offices, strengthened EEO offices, or human resources counselors can all provide a place where concerned employees can come. In addition, managers and supervisors can be trained to know what to look for and listen to and intervene in ways that prevent situations from getting out of hand. An employee who feels like their complaints are taken seriously within the organization is less likely to run to a lawyer or the newspapers.
10. Don’t assume that it’s just “their” problem. Take on your own learning about diversity.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do as a leader is to take your diversity emergency situation as an opportunity to do your own learning. Show people within and outside of your organization that you want to know more. Model diversity, inclusion and cultural competency learning behavior for everybody around you.
Remember, diversity emergencies can be embarrassing, costly, and upsetting, but they do not have to be permanent. Turn your emergency into an opportunity for learning and you will be surprised how you can turn your organization around and even demonstrate proactive behaviors for other organizations.
Victim or leader, which will you be?
Cook Ross specializes in helping organizations prepare for Diversity Emergencies. We have led many executive seminars on Dealing with Diversity Emergencies and developing Diversity Communications Plans. We also provide management and executive trainingon cultural competency, unconscious bias, talent management, organizational change, and ReInventing Diversity for the 21st Century©. For more information, call 301.565.4035 or write to us at lookingforanswers@cookross.com.