The Voice. Where the interviewers are choosing their candidates based on the skills needed for the job and not the image.

Diversity starts with leadership

Every company says they promote diversity and that employees are their most important assets. 

I just went through the job search process and wanted to share my recent diversity experiences. Diversity doesn’t always come across the way you think. I was pleasantly surprised in my recent search. What I encountered as it relates to diversity was a first. 

As reported in the last post, I recently joined a mid-sized technology company, leading an HR department. 

My initial contact with the company was with the CEO, and it was a lot more of a relaxed conversation over coffee than an interview. He explained the company, the technology, the role, and, of course, the company culture. I appreciated that this was a 2-way conversation, not a “job interview.” We both had questions and answers, and the CEO set a tone for two colleagues vs. adversaries, writing salary expectations on slips of paper and passing them back and forth. If you were sitting in the restaurant and saw us, you would have thought it was a business meeting between equals vs. an interview where there was a senior and a junior.

The CEO is comfortable in his skin, and he didn’t have to prove it by ensuring I knew I was the junior. Needless to say, I liked his style and the atmosphere that was created. I took the tone of that initial meeting as a good indicator of the company culture he created. 

How does diversity fit in this post? 

There were several skills and experiences the CEO was looking for from the position. International HR experience, experience with fast-growth technology companies and larger corporate entities, experience managing a team, etc. He also mentioned wanting to “bring company awareness to the community.” My initial thought was that he was looking for someone with marketing experience. Still, when I probed a little further, it turned out that he wanted to increase the company’s visibility within the local community. He wanted to attract candidates of diversity. We have a very diverse population in Seattle, but within the technology sector, the workforce does not always reflect the community. This is a common challenge that many technology companies in all cities face. 

Big companies are not immune

Larger companies in the area are not immune to the challenge of hiring for a diverse workplace. Microsoft, one of the state’s largest employers, released a report earlier this year on their diversity within the workplace. The stats on their EEO1 report are here: 

• 76% of the workforce is male
• 5% of the workforce is Hispanic /Latino
• 3% of the workforce is black 

Fortune magazine has an excellent narrative and infographic here. 

The report describes low numbers

As a minority that falls into two protected classes, I don’t blame Microsoft. The resources that MSFT is throwing into their initiative to recruit diversity is Herculean, in my opinion, and I respect them for it. The bottom line is that although there is a lot of diversity in the Seattle area, it has only been in recent years that a pool of diverse candidates has impacted technology. This is because it has only been in the last few years that technology has begun to reach younger demographics in diverse groups. Of course, this number will increase over time, and not just for MSFT but for the US as well. Exposure and accessibility to technology at a younger age will impact the interest and proficiency of future generations at a later age. This early exposure will translate to increased diversity in technology in the future. 

Low diversity in some sports

I believe there is a similar reason we don’t see a lot of diversity in professional golf and tennis. Athletes need exposure, access, and facilities at a very young age to make it to the professional level. We also need role models to emulate. You don’t get to the pro level if you start the sport in college. You need exposure and access when you are 6 years old. If you do not have access to a golf course or a swimming pool for 10 hours a week when you are younger, you probably will not have the hours needed to make it to the professional level.

We now see role models in golf like Tiger Woods and Michael Chang in tennis. These were sports that didn’t traditionally see much diversity. Similarly, more access, earlier exposure, and role models in technology will increase future numbers. 

As our initial meeting came to a close, the CEO explained the next steps and took a few minutes to set expectations for the rest of the process. 

The conditions of the interview process for this Fortune 50 company

1. He wanted to set up a second meeting to provide a debrief on the leadership team. I explained that I wanted the team to meet me as I am. I did not want them to hire something I was trying to be. They will either appreciate my HR style or not. I know I am not for everyone. If they hire someone who I am trying to be in the interview, neither of us would be happy in the long run.

2. Although this is a mid-sized company, it is owned by a Fortune 50 company. Because of the parent companies’ size and company initiatives, he needed to talk to at least three candidates, one of whom had to be a minority. 

Slippery slope

Now, this is where the blog becomes a slippery slope. Some readers will be outraged that the CEO is required to talk with at least one minority. Some readers will wonder why he even has to mention this (He is transparent, and I appreciate the style). Fair or not, right or not, I know some minorities appreciate the opportunity to interview where they may have been otherwise passed over for an initial interview.

I also know there are minorities like myself who want to be hired on our own merits and want to be treated exactly like the other candidates. 

My initial response to the CEO’s comment about three candidates and the requirement for a minority was, and I quote: “Yo dude, what am I? I am a minority and fall into two protected classes”. For the record, I would never say this in an interview with anyone I have just met, but this CEO is a friend, and we have a history. 

I was lured into Bro mode, and my defenses were down during the interview. 

Over the next three-quarters of a second, I had all the following thoughts run through my head. 

Paranoid HRNasty

“SHIT! What did I say? Even if it is only jokingly in Bro mode, the last thing I want to do as a minority candidate is bring up the “D” (diversity) word during an interview. I don’t want to scare any hiring company off with the fear that I will use the minority card to gain leverage or sue. HRNasty, you are a dumbass. HRNasty, YOU ARE A DUMBASSSSSSS !!! Why did you use the “D” word? 

Cynical HRNasty

“Ahhh, I see why he is talking with me. He wants a minority in this role to recruit more minorities. What he needs is a woman minority. I know a woman for him for this role.” 

Sad HRNasty

I had a flashback to my days back in corporate America, where an office of 12,000 employees held a Diversity fair and assembled 100 minority employees to work the room that night and make candidates of diversity feel comfortable. We got a lot of candidates, but a total of 2 candidates of color showed up. 

Pragmatic HRNasty

“There are not that many minorities working in technology. The colleges do not have high percentages of female computer science majors “yet.” This is going to take time, and it is going to be a claw.” 

The CEO’s response: 

“But you aren’t a minority. Well, I guess you are. I never thought of you as a minority.” 

Optimistic HRNasty

I was flattered. Yes, I do make an effort to be mainstream and have always tried to make an effort to fit into “corporate.” I am not trying to hide my ethnicity, and I am not embarrassed by my background. Life is easier when you adapt to your environment. I dress and act appropriately for my preferred work environment.  Make no mistake, I encourage the mainstream white guys to adopt a corporate look as well. If we want to play in the leadership sandbox, we must be accepted and “fit in.” We must dress and act a couple of levels above our current position to be seen in a more prominent role. 

Not an exception, just a candidate

A quiet smile spread across my face! I wasn’t being interviewed as a candidate of color or from a protected class. I was being interviewed as simply “a candidate.” He would decide based on my skills and experiences, not my ethnicity or background. This is even better than the singing competition television show, The Voice. The Voice, for those unfamiliar, has four stages of completion. The first stage is a round of blind auditions where the judges listen to the talent with their backs to the stage. They are not able to see the talent. Based on what they hear, they can only decide whether the contestant should move forward. Decisions are based on the skill being judged. Isn’t this what all of us want? Isn’t this what Dr. Martin Luther King wanted? To be judged by the content of our mind and not the color of our skin? 

What Diversity is NOT

Diversity isn’t just about attracting candidates from all walks of life. Diversity is the ability to look at all candidates for who they are and not what we think they appear to be. We can attract all the candidates of diversity we want, but if they feel they are being treated differently, it is all for naught. This mentality will attract candidates from all walks of life, including the mainstream. 

See you at the after party,
HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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