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When we talk about bias in our organizations and institutions, many of us look for sharks. Unconscious bias in our interview process? Shark. Style-based feedback in performance reviews for women but not men? Another shark. Pay inequity? Uneven promotion rates? Usability issues in our products? Shark! Shark! Shark!
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For all the danger of lurking sharks, though, we’re largely missing the mark. Bias isn’t the shark.
Bias is the water.
Here’s how to expand your thinking and take the temperature of that water—so you can start to change the whole ecosystem.
Expand your definition of diversity metrics
Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale is famously credited for quipping, “If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” We all know that in business, what you measure matters. That’s why when we talk about measuring diversity and inclusion, we take a holistic view.
Yes, you should know your team demographics and identify who is underrepresented at each level of the organization. Knowing this information is foundational, but it is not enough on its own. It is critical to also measure inclusion to understand who feels like they belong—and who doesn’t. SurveyMonkey is in the privileged position of having led the industry on the development of diversity and inclusion surveys that illuminate the attitudinal data underscoring belonging, and we can say unequivocally that you need to measure inclusion on your team as regularly as you track your brand health or customer satisfaction.
A diversity survey and an inclusion survey provide the foundation. From there, you build.
Once you identify where your biggest problems lie, you can dig deeper into employees’ lived experiences driving those outcomes. If it’s clear you need to focus on recruiting, for example, tracking candidate experience by demographic group can help you diagnose problems and measure the impact of new solutions. If a perception of pay inequality pops up in your inclusion work, run a pay equity study.
This work builds on itself and pays dividends over time, but only if you collect a wide swath of data on a regular cadence to determine what’s working and what still needs work. Expanding your definition of diversity metrics to incorporate advancement and inclusion will help you see the whole picture.
Expand the scope of your impact
Some executives want to make sure their house is in order before reaching outside their four walls for impact, but we can no longer allow the desire for perfection to hinder progress.
Stakeholder feedback is a critical input for determining how to direct your efforts. If your company has a social impact program and/or an active public policy group, a materiality assessment can be helpful to align your work with the impact your employees, customers, board members, investors, and other stakeholders want to see.
Another often overlooked opportunity: Take a hard look at where your resources go. How are you spending your budget? Do your law firm, ad agency, and IT providers have a workforce and a workplace that align with your values?
We recently launched an initiative to modernize supplier diversity to include not only traditional questions around ownership, but also a supplier’s workforce demographics and investment in inclusion best practices. This guide will walk you through the program step-by-step so you can analyze your vendor landscape, too.
As employers, partners, customers, and value-generators in our communities, businesses have power and influence. Now is the time to leverage that power and influence to push for change.
Expand your understanding of the market
Public sentiment is constantly fluctuating, and tumult of recent history has taken its toll on our customers and employees alike. Understanding where the market is headed means reacting in real time to those changes.
For example, we recently partnered with Operation Hope to launch a Minority Small Business Index to shine a light on the challenges facing Black business owners. Of the 1,167 Black small business owners and entrepreneurs surveyed, 79% of respondents felt the odds were stacked against them, saying they were much less likely to succeed in building their business compared with white entrepreneurs. Over half (57%) cited a lack of adequate access to financial institutions.
When I read that, I get frustrated. And then I think, what an amazing opportunity. The savvy investor who understands this financing gap and identifies underserved Black entrepreneurs to support will run circles around those who are chasing the same group of overserved founders. Changing the temperature of that water will be good for Black entrepreneurs, yes, but it’s also good for the investors who see the opportunity in the market.
SurveyMonkey is taking a broad view of DEI metrics as we develop feedback products for ourselves and our customers. We seek to understand our employee base, to maximize our impact in the community, and to identify opportunities in the market based on that feedback.
We know this is a winning strategy. Like so many this year, I ruminate over the influential words from Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet to present at any presidential inauguration. She said: “We are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.”
Let that be a call to action for all of us with a role to play in shaping the business world of tomorrow. That’s the kind of water I want to swim in.
