Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health disorder that affects approximately 24 million people worldwide. There is an array of preconceptions around this disorder, particularly due to the nature in which it is presented in entertainment media, but a lot of these preconceived notions do not accurately reflect the experience of someone who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

It is therefore important for employers and HR to understand the reality of schizophrenia, and how with the right support and reasonable adjustments, those with this disorder can be capable, productive, and dedicated workers.

Schizophrenia is a disorder that is primarily marked by psychosis, which refers to a set of symptoms characterized by a loss of touch with reality due to a disruption in the way that the brain processes information. This can manifest thought hallucinations, delusions, reduced motivation, motor impairment, cognitive impairment, and difficulty with relationships. There is no definitive cause for the disorder, although it has been found that those with family members who suffer from schizophrenia have a higher chance of being diagnosed.

Despite schizophrenia being widely heard of, it is actually one of the more uncommon disorders – it is much more likely for a person to have a panic disorder, bipolar, or depression. Due to portrayals in popular culture, some employers may be hesitant to hire individuals affected, but the reality of this disorder is very different, so let’s challenge some of these notions:

• Violent Tendencies – multiple studies have shown that most people with this condition don’t exhibit violent behavior. In fact, one study found that 19 out of 20 people with schizophrenia had no incidence of violence over a two-year period.
• Episodes – schizophrenic episodes are unique to the individual and vary significantly from person to person. They will not always include delusions or hallucinations, but it’s important to be aware of the different ways that symptoms can manifest during an episode.
• Treatment – while medication can be essential for managing the disorder, it isn’t the only method of treatment. People with schizophrenia benefit from multiple support strategies, such as social support, engaging in meaningful work/activities, and having a routine – these can all help reduce the impact of the condition and improve wellbeing.
• Work – even though schizophrenia can be a disabling condition, it doesn’t mean that individuals affected by it can’t work, they just need to have the right support and accommodations in place. As mentioned above, meaningful work can be a crucial part of stabilizing symptoms.

It is estimated that about 10-15% of people with schizophrenia are in the workforce, but 70% would actively like to be working. The aforementioned misconceptions, and the lack of proper support and adjustments, can act as barriers for those with this disorder to find a job. If employers are able to offer reasonable adjustments – opportunities to work remotely, regular breaks, quiet workspaces, flexibility – this can lend towards the successful onboarding of an employee with schizophrenia. Along with this, there are a few essentials that employers and HR leaders need to know:

• Hiring – schizophrenia is protected under the Equality Act in the UK and the Americans with Disabilities Act in the US, so just like with any potential candidate, hiring managers will need to assess whether their qualifications, experience, and attitude are right for the job and will be able to do the job with the right accommodations. Individuals with schizophrenia can sometimes have difficulty engaging in teamwork, goal setting, and focusing, and these factors tend to act as barriers for those with the disorder from getting and maintaining a job. But having the right accommodations can help overcome this. For example, when someone with schizophrenia has an episode, they will not be functional, but to help remedy this in the future, employers can work with their treatment providers to help determine and mitigate potential triggers of an episode in the workplace.
• Talking About Schizophrenia – hiring someone with schizophrenia must remain confidential unless the employee opts to share their diagnosis with others. If they do, it can be useful to provide additional training/education about the condition to avoid the risk of employees believing the many misconceptions discussed above. This training could include highlighting the accommodations in place to help ensure workflow isn’t disrupted, and how to recognize a schizophrenic episode and what to do in that situation.
• Mental Health Support – many employers now offer mental health support as part of their benefit packages, most notable in the form on an employee assistance program. These can be a great way of ensuring that an employee with schizophrenia has access to therapy, and can help employers identify triggers for episodes which they can then work towards mitigating.

If you would like to discuss how we can help support and train you in the onboarding and inclusion of employees with schizophrenia, or any other mental health disorders, please get in touch with us.

This month, we have picked up a copy of Edwina Dunn’s latest book, When She’s in the Room: How Empowering Women Empowers the World.

Edwina is a pioneering and successful leader in the data industry – famed for co-founding dunnhumby, which revolutionized the retail and consumer goods industry through its role in creating the Tesco Clubcard and other global loyalty programs. Edwina now leads her campaign, The Female Lead, which focuses on celebrating the achievements and diversity of women who shape our world.

Edwina’s latest book captures her wealth of experience and transforms it into this data-driven guide to challenging the status quo and creating a roadmap for a more equitable world.

Women have always been subject to being forgotten, unseen, overlooked, and under-appreciated, but Edwina has drawn upon her knowledge of research and data collection to present clear solutions, models, and simple actions that can have noticeable and positive impacts on the lives of women and men.

She outlines the changes that women want to see in themselves, in business, in education, and in government, and dares to wonder what the world might look like if it was okay for women to truly embrace their ambition and nurture their drive.

By acknowledging the inequality that exists, employers, educators, and policy makers will be able to start shaping society into a better and more equitable place, which will lead to a more fulfilling life and workplace for all. And the first step is realizing that women are not secondary characters by any means and should be empowered to find their potential in leadership and decision-making roles.

If you would like to discuss how we can help bolster your diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies to unlock the potential of all of your workforce, please get in touch with us.

In the meantime, make sure you grab a copy of When She’s in the Room; you can purchase it here in the US and here in the UK.

Taking inspiration from the International Women’s Day 2024 theme – #InspireInclusion – this webinar explores how organizations, leaders, and individuals can create inspiring, equitable workplaces.

For Autism Awareness Month, we have secured ourselves a copy of Untypical: How The World Isn’t Built for Autistic People and What We Should All Do About It by Pete Wharmby.

Pete was diagnosed with autism in his adulthood, and after spending the majority of his career as an English teacher, he is now a full-time author and speaker, advocating for autistic inclusion.

The crux of Untypical is all about remaking the world, and the target audience for this book is any neurotypical adult – whether that be an employer, a parent, a romantic partner…the list goes on! Told through the lens of Pete’s own experiences, and woven with various theories and studies surrounding autism, this book is a great way for those who think neurotypically to gain a deeper understanding of how the world can be fundamentally inaccessible for someone who is neurodivergent.

Pete uses his own experiences to bring the reader into the mind of an autistic person, helping them to understand what it means to be autistic, what to do to be supportive of this, and what to try and avoid doing. It’s a fantastic exploration in empathy, further strengthened by the inclusion of the experiences of a range of autistic people, shedding a light on the intersectionality of autism.

The book offers practical advice for how to better support autistic individuals in key areas of life including personal relationships, in the classroom, and in the workplace. So, for employers, they can expect to find both ‘easy fixes’ and longer-term solutions for making working life for autistic workers easier, in turn optimizing their capabilities, with many of these adjustments having been shown to make the employment experiences of neurotypical people better, too.

Overall, Pete captures the autistic experience expertly, and shines a light on the fact that the world is very much built for neurotypical people. By recognizing the everyday changes that can be made, life for autistic and neurodivergent individuals can become so much more accessible – you just have to know where to start.

If you would like to discuss how OrgShakers can help with optimizing neurodiversity in the workplace, please get in touch with us.

And to grab a copy of Pete’s book, head over here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the US.

Gen Z are flooding into the workplace, and with this assimilation they bring to light conversations around work-life balance, environmentalism, and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). And it is no wonder we’re seeing the latter take place; a recent study discovered that 36% of students and graduates identify as LGBTQ+.

And yet, a survey by the Williams Institute found that nearly half of LGBTQ+ workers (46%) have experienced unfair treatment at work at some point in their lives – and many reported engaging in ‘covering’ behaviors (that is, trying to conceal their sexual or gender identity to appear heteronormative) to avoid harassment and discrimination at work.

As someone who resides in a relatively ‘prideful’ London, it can be a shock to see that so many LGBTQ+ people are still subject to this discrimination in contemporary society.

With this being the most openly queer generation to date, it is no wonder that those companies who are on top of their inclusion initiatives around LGBTQ+ support are the most favorable workplaces. And with a third of the workforce predicted to be made up of Gen Z workers by 2030, it is so important for companies to ensure they are building a culture at work that is fostering feelings of safety and belonging.

So, what are the key ingredients for reinforcing LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace?

• DEI Programs – whether this be training programs, employee resource groups, or creating mentoring opportunities, it is important for employers to have one or more of these programs in place in order to continue driving their DEI agenda.
• Inclusive Policies – ensure that your policies are inclusive to all when designing them, taking into account specific policies you may need when addressing LGBTQ+ related issues (for example, same-sex parental leave policies, leave for reassignment surgery, bereavement leave for the loss of a child through surrogacy, etc.)
• Role Models – having diverse leaders can really help to highlight that opportunities in your company are available to all and attainable by all.
• Recruit for Culture-Add – hiring for ‘culture fit’ can sometimes feel like the comfortable option, but by hiring a diverse set of people who think differently and have differing life experiences, this can open up opportunities to break into new markets and consider new innovations. At the same time, it will also help to diversify your team and grow the culture of your company.
• LGBTQ+ Workshops – having regular LGBTQ+ workshops throughout the year can be so helpful to stay on top of the most up-to-date and inclusive terminology to be using. These will also promote the use of inclusive language in the workplace to help make everyone feel comfortable (for example, encouraging the use of the term ‘partner’ when discussing your significant other no matter your sexuality can be a signifier to queer people that they can comfortably share parts of their personal life at work).

The future of the workforce is set to be bright (and colorful!), and so fostering an inclusive workplace environment is key to creating a sustainable business. If you would like guidance on creating this inclusion roadmap and implementing this at the core of your company, please get in touch with us.                             

In a move that underscores the evolving landscape of workplace benefits, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has recently unveiled a groundbreaking parental leave policy. Effective from 1 July 2024, this policy not only represents a significant step forward in the realm of employee benefits, but also marks an important shift in the paradigm for Human Resources (HR) management worldwide. Understanding this shift is crucial for firms aiming to stay ahead in the competitive global market.

LSEG’s new policy offers an impressive 26 weeks of fully paid leave to all employees with more than 12 months’ service who are welcoming a child into their family. This is irrespective of the parent’s gender, how they become a parent, or their location, ensuring equal opportunity for all LSEG parents to engage in child caregiving. This initiative is a substantial leap towards achieving true Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, setting a global benchmark that other organizations are likely to follow.

Why does this matter for HR?

            1.         Attracting and Retaining Talent: In today’s job market, where competition for top talent is fiercer than ever, benefits like LSEG’s parental leave policy can be a significant differentiator. By offering such forward-thinking benefits, companies can attract a more diverse talent pool and retain employees who value family-friendly workplace policies.

            2.         Promoting Gender Equality: Traditional parental leave policies often reinforce gender stereotypes by assuming primary caregiving roles for one gender over the other. LSEG’s gender-neutral policy challenges these norms, promoting a more inclusive environment that supports and encourages shared parental responsibilities.

            3.         Supporting Work-Life Balance: The addition of an eight-week phased return to work, with employees working 80% of their normal hours at full pay, acknowledges the challenges of balancing professional and personal responsibilities. This approach can lead to healthier, more productive employees.

            4.         Enhanced Support for Neonatal Care: Recognizing the additional challenges faced by families with children requiring neonatal care, LSEG’s enhanced leave policy provides critical support during difficult times. This consideration reflects a deeper understanding of employee needs and a commitment to supporting them through life’s challenges.

LSEG’s policy is more than just a generous employee benefit; it is a statement on the importance of nurturing an inclusive, supportive, and equitable workplace culture. For HR professionals, it serves as a clear indicator of the shifting expectations towards employee welfare and the role of organizations in facilitating this. As firms navigate the complexities of the modern workforce, adapting to these shifts is not just beneficial but essential for sustainable growth and success.

For HR professionals and firms worldwide, this new global parental leave policy highlights the importance of re-evaluating traditional policies and practices to align with the evolving expectations of the workforce. As we move forward, embracing such paradigm shifts in HR will be pivotal in building more resilient, inclusive, and competitive organizations. If you would like to discuss how we can help you with your policy creation, please get in touch with us.

With International Women’s Day on the horizon, and Women’s History Month now in full swing, we have been reading The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It by Mary Ann Sieghart.

Sieghart spent 20 years as Assistant Editor of The Times and is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Guardian Media Group, Senior Independent Director of Pantheon International, Non-Executive Director of The Merchants Trust, Senior Independent Trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust, and Trustee of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation – in addition to extensive TV and radio experience. And she has channelled this lifetime of experience into an explosive and important book.

The ‘Authority Gap’ of the title is evidenced in the way women are continually undermined, belittled, and talked over in both their professional and personal lives. However, unlike the gender pay gap, it is harder to measure the authority gap as it is perpetuated by systemic unconscious biases.

Sieghart begins her examination of these biases by exploring whether there is any truth to the idea that women are ‘naturally’ less well suited to leadership in certain traditionally ‘male’ careers, and this is quickly disproven. She has pulled on a wealth of research throughout the book to highlight the hypocrisies women face in the workplace and the wider world, using a mix of academic studies, polling data, and dozens of interviews with pioneering women such as Baroness Hale, Dame Mary Beard, and Bernadine Evaristo.

All of this is combined to unearth the deep-rooted social conditioning that women are subject to from as young as elementary school age – one study cited discovered that elementary and middle-school boys were given eight times more attention by teachers than girls in this age group. Sieghart then opens up her field of enquiry as the book goes on, delving into the rise of online abuse as a way of silencing women, the double-standards of beauty and aging, and the multiple ways that bias against women intersects with other factors such as race, class, and disability.

After bringing all of these issues to light, Sieghart closes the book with her final chapter – aptly titled ‘No Need to Despair’ – where she highlights the changes that need to be made at individual, organizational, and legislative levels in order to close this gap. And the author even goes on to explain how closing this gap is beneficial not just for women, but for all; men in more gender-equal societies report higher levels of happiness and satisfaction in home and work life, and gender-diverse companies are more profitable!

This is an important book for all employers to read, as it expertly uncovers the unconscious bias and microaggressions that women still face at work – and sets out a roadmap for how to ensure this behavior is challenged and changed for the better.

If you would like to discuss how we can help support the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies in your organization, please get in touch with us here.

And to grab a copy of The Authority Gap, head over here for the US and here for the UK.  

37% of people in their 50s and 60s in the UK have experienced age discrimination in the past year, most commonly in the workplace. And in the US around two-thirds of over-50 adults believe older workers are facing age discrimination at work.

Ageism has always been something that seemingly slips through the cracks. Throwaway comments and outdated assumptions continue to allow this discrimination to be perpetuated, but with a third of the UK workforce being over 50, and nearly a quarter of the US workforce being over 55, employers have a responsibility to be clamping down on ageism at work if they want to unlock the full potential of their midlife workers.

But in order to do this, employers first need to know what to be looking for. Our friends at Rest Less have identified seven common examples of ageism that happen in the workplace:

1. Stereotyping – this can affect both older and younger workers and is where assumptions or judgements are made about people based on their age.
2. Marginalisation – usually the result of stereotyping, and happens when someone is made to feel  less important than others in society. They’re essentially sidelined and made to feel small.
3. Microaggressions – theseare subtle, often unintentional, comments or behaviours that convey discriminatory messages. Both stereotyping and marginalisation can be examples of microaggressions.
4. Bias in Hiring Process – many over 50s looking to transition into roles that don’t directly align with their experience and skill level may also be branded by employers as ‘overqualified’ – and overlooked as a result.
5. Rebranding Roles – role rebranding isn’t unusual and is an example of ageism that sees older employees being informed that their role is being phased out because it’s no longer needed at the company…a company will then advertise the same role under a different title and hire a younger candidate.
6. Redundancy Selection – in situations where companies are making redundancies, some companies will make voluntary redundancy offers to older employees based on assumptions that “they will be retiring soon anyway”.
7. Harassment – age harassment can take various forms, including all of the examples listed above. But, in extreme cases, it may escalate to explicit bullying.

Employers that are well-versed in how ageism presents in the workplace are going to be the ones who are most prepared to challenge it. And by doing so, they will be creating a work environment where everyone feels like they are welcome and that they belong, and this is the type of culture where employees thrive.

This is all without mentioning the many positives that having an age-diverse workforce can bring to a company – midlife workers will have a lot of experience under their belt, as well as age-inclusive perspectives that will help expand their employer’s marketing horizons. This is why it is so important for older workers to also be offered opportunities to learn and develop, as they have so much talent to offer, it may just need to be re-contextualized!

If you would like to discuss how we can help eradicate age discrimination from your workplace and unlock all the potential of a diversely-aged team, please get in touch with us.

The résumé can be traced all the way back to the late 15^th century, when Leonardo Da Vinci sent a letter to the regent of Milan seeking a job and outlining his relevant work experience. It was then a few centuries later that this concept gained real traction, and by the early 19^th century, having a piece of paper that highlighted your experience, skills, and qualifications started to become a prerequisite to getting a job.

But are we seeing the era of the résumé starting to come to a close?

Maybe, but not immediately. Our latest LinkedIn poll highlighted that the first thing the majority of employers considered when hiring someone new was their experience (51%), followed by their qualifications (19%) and then finally their skills (14%). Now, this isn’t to say that all three of these things are not considered, but it was interesting to see that experience outranked all other factors. While this suggests that there is still a place for the résumé, with the working world going through exponential changes – catalysed by the pandemic and its fallout – is it time for employers to consider evolving their hiring strategy to remain in step with the accelerated pace of change?

Well, according to TestGorilla’s The State of Skills-Based Hiring 2023 report, the answer may indeed be yes. Of the 1500 employers and 1500 employees surveyed, 70% agreed that all forms of skills-based hiring are more effective than a résumé. 87% of employers said that they experience problems with résumés, most notably determining whether it is accurate, determining a candidate’s skills, and the struggle to easily rank potential hires to identify the strongest talent.

What we are starting to see is that employers are beginning to adopt a skills-based approach when it comes to identifying the best talent during their recruitment. This would see hiring managers doing away with résumés, and instead employing skills-based assessments to determine which candidates are best suited to the role. These assessments would include cognitive ability tests, role-specific skills tests and assignment or work samples – all of which were viewed as being more effective measures for identifying talented candidates over résumés.

And it is no wonder that employers are thinking this – moving away from the résumé and the ‘degree-inflation mindset’ allows organizations to gain access to a wider, more diverse talent pool, inviting in more opportunities for innovation. There is also a much lower chance of hiring the wrong person as employers would have seen their abilities in action, which helps to avoid the estimated cost of a bad hire (which ranges from five to twenty-seven times the amount of the person’s annual salary).

Experience and qualifications are still notable considerations when it comes to selecting a candidate, but employers who are expanding their horizons to skills-based hiring practices may yield the best – and most economically friendly – results in the years to come.

If you would like to discuss how we can help evolve your recruitment process by infusing skills-based assessments into it, then please get in touch with me at andy@orgshakers.com

Pancake Day has become wildly popular in British culture over the years. What was once solely a religious celebration for indulging in something sweet before the beginning of Lent has now evolved into a fun and cultural staple that many Britons take part in.

When we think about pancakes, our minds tend to go one of two places – the thin, sugary lemon crepes of France, or the thick, maple-soaked stacks of North America. But what is so interesting to note is that the pancake – something that seems relatively simple in its creation – takes on so many different forms, flavours, and styles across the world. The Japanese have their savoury pancake, called okonomiyaki, the Swedes have grated potato pancakes called raggmunk, and in South India they have thin, savoury delicacies called dosas.

To me, this highlights the power of diverse perspectives. The pancake has been reimagined, reshaped, and reborn in so many different ways across the globe, and now there are so many innovative approaches to one dish. Now imagine applying this mindset to the working world – if employers foster and encourage diverse thinking, what are the benefits that they might be able to cook up?

Well, for one thing, a study published by Harvard Business Review discovered that teams solve problems faster when they are more cognitively diverse. Having a varied set of employees who have been enriched by different experiences in life will invite new ways of thinking and looking at something into workplace discussions. This paves the path for innovation and creativity, as well as being able to expand their customer base into new market territories that were potentially being missed previously.

But it is not as simple as hiring diversly – employers must also strive to foster a culture of inclusion so that each employee feels that they belong. This means encouraging open communication, embracing ‘taboos’, and challenging potential microaggressions that may hinder the assimilation of a diverse workforce. By creating this culture, employers will be able to unlock all of the opportunities that a diverse workforce has to offer, and there are many! In a recent McKinsey report, it was found that successful diverse companies outperform less varied organizations.

So this pancake day, opt to adopt the pancake mindset, and embrace the power of diversity and new perspectives by taking something and seeing its potential to be so much more.

If you would like to discuss how we can help your company diversify its hiring practices and foster an inclusive culture, please get in touch with us.

Inspired by Black History Month, we have chosen to read The Business of Race: How to Create and Sustain an Antiracist Workplace and Why It’s Actually Good for Business by Gina Greenlee and Margaret H. Greenberg.

Gina is a Black business leader with more than thirty years of experience in organizational development, project management, communications, and training. Margaret is a White executive coach and president of The Greenberg Group, a consulting firm that coaches executives and their teams to lead large-scale organizational change. Together, they have pooled their vast amount of knowledge of business and psychology to create a practical guide for employers and employees about how to address race in the workplace.

The core message of this book is that you can’t solve what you can’t talk about, and there is a power in the fact that the book is able to examine the delicate nature of talking about race from both a Black and a White person’s perspective, resulting in an honest and necessary read that really digs deep into the topic.

There has long been a taboo around talking about race at work, and in their book, Gina and Margaret highlight that organizations must be readying themselves on an individual and enterprise level before diving headfirst into such an important conversation. The individual work includes raising our awareness and creating new ways of being, and the enterprise work focuses on how employers must develop and implement strategies, policies, and initiatives to reimagine a racially equitable workplace. But these things are not ‘programs’ that can just be completed swiftly … they are journeys.

This book acts as a guide for starting this journey. It offers a number of practical ways that businesses – regardless of their size – can make positive, sustainable changes that will help to bring more racial diversity, inclusion, and equity into the workplace.

The reader is offered a range of tools to help them start these conversations, comprising a mix of new learning tools such as fostering a growth mindset, with more familiar tools such as strategic planning and project management. Woven amongst these are interviews from more than two-dozen business professionals across diverse industries, fields and organizational levels that bring voices to the challenges and opportunities businesses face every day.

And while this book offers accessible routes into discussing racial inequity at work, it is also honest about the fact that accessibility should not be confused with ease … this is hard work. But with the right set of tools, alongside strategic support from your HR team, employers can start having important conversations about race in the workplace.

If you would like to discuss the services that OrgShakers can offer with helping fuel your diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, please get in touch with us here.

And to get your hands on a copy of The Business of Race, head over here for the US and here for the UK.

Black History Month creates space for all to reflect on the struggle of Black Americans and Black people across the world to get to where they are today. Battling through constant, overt oppression to be able to have the same rights that were automatically extended to their white counterparts has made it possible for Black people to gain access to many more opportunities than were previously within their reach.

However, racism runs deep; while activists such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks paved a path for a better future, there is still work to be done now to continue to eradicate the oppression that black people face across the globe.

Just as the world has modernized, so has racism. What was once brashly overt has now evolved into more subtle, micro-aggressive tendencies.  The disconnect occurs because these microaggressions are broadly considered ‘less racist’ than things were fifty years ago, so it’s not seen as racism at all – which gives these behaviors the power to continue.

The workplace is a prime example. Many companies are more intentional about creating hiring targets to diversify their workforces – and this is great – but we’re also seeing that they are significantly pulling funding on their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. It seems that just as the workplace begins to take a step forward, it takes two steps back. Without a comprehensive DEI change initiative and commitment to link the initiative to the mission, vision, and values of the company, this creates an environment where microaggressions will emerge and those employees of color will not truly feel that they are valued members of the team.  

Microaggressions are indirect, subtle, or unintentional discriminatory actions against members of a marginalized group. Some examples of these behaviors are not introducing specific people in a meeting, praising an idea from one person and ignoring the same idea when presented by another, speaking with a condescending tone, consistently mispronouncing someone’s name, confusing a person of a certain ethnicity with another person of that same ethnicity…the list goes on. A recent study even discovered that 25% of black women have been sent home from work because of their hair. These actions may seem small if you do not regularly experience them yourself, but the racial undertones that they hold are problematic and create a tense and unproductive culture.

For example, Dr. Claudine Gay was the first black woman to be selected the president of Harvard University by the Harvard Corporation – comprised of 12 board members responsible for university affairs and three members of the second-highest governing Board of Overseers –  and yet not even a year later and she has been forced to resign due to incessant plagiarism claims from her academic dissertation from 1997. Upon further exploration, most of the “errors” that have been identified are pedantic. Additionally, the few that have been raised as cause for concerns were not only deemed understandable by those she quoted, they were also completely missed by the institution under which she wrote it, along with the Harvard PhD committee who failed to highlight these when awarding her the Toppan prize for the best political science dissertation in 1998. Regardless, Dr. Gay has come under fire, and the microaggressions in this situation are rampant; after all, we haven’t seen any other Harvard presidents be picked apart for their academic writings from two decades ago.

If this situation was copy and pasted onto a white man, it is very likely that the outcome would be entirely different, and it’s these systemic barriers that employers need to recognize and challenge to truly further the progress of the many Black transformational leaders who fought for civil rights and equality for all Americans. 

The first step to challenging these inequities is acknowledging that they exist in the first place. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of Black employees experienced racism in 2021, and this number is only going to begin to decrease if companies can successfully identify these microaggressions and uproot them. We know that diverse companies are more profitable, but in order for employers to unlock these benefits they have to successfully foster a safe and inclusive environment. This starts by acknowledging that racism is still an open wound in the world of work, and that putting a band aid on it doesn’t help it heal. They must clean it out, and slowly begin to sew it up – which requires organizations to break the habit of assuming that the wound has already healed.

If you would like to discuss how we can help further your DEI strategy and help foster a culture that unlocks the best out of all your people, please get in touch with me at marty@orgshakers.com