There is a consistent disconnect between the intention of workplaces and the impact on employees. While we hold compassion for leaders who have had to navigate an ever-changing, fast-paced world, we must hold even greater compassion and understanding that for groups who face oppression, the world has changed incredibly slowly. While some people have made equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI or IDEA or JEDI) their life’s work, others were thrust into it during the pandemic and epidemic of anti-blackness that the murder of George Floyd highlighted.
Organizations were pushed to act fast. For many of us, it was long overdue; for others, they didn’t know where to start. We have seen a spike in designated positions, targeted programs and statements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on every social media account and job ad.
While people are striving to create safe and inclusive environments, not enough time has been put into the process of understanding what they were doing that lacked inclusion in the first place. Yes, these messages were broadly distributed (and information overload has been a real consequence) but not every organization used the necessary resources to build their organization back up from an equity lens – and not every organization could afford to. Unfortunately, diversifying your workplace does not change the practices and policies that disproportionately cause harm to historically and presently marginalized communities.
Many organizations are striving to create safer and more welcoming workplaces, which has elevated the idea of bringing your full and authentic self to work. Albeit this is not a new concept, but one that I’d argue is worth slowing down and paying attention to.
Over the past few years, I have been in spaces where people have brought their raw and authentic concerns, struggles and frustrations to employers. Leaders nod their heads in a show of support and then absolutely nothing changes.
I have also been in spaces where people who once showed up as their authentic, glowing selves have dimmed completely. The change stems from a new level of awareness regarding the emotional labour and the burden of being asked to bring your full and authentic self to a workplace that does not allow you to do so safely. It can be harmful to expect employees to be themselves at work when an employer is not meeting their basic needs or struggles to understand the circumstances and experiences of someone whose authentic self does not fit into societal norms.
The harm is not in the person showing up as their authentic self, just like the harm is not in equity, diversity and inclusion work. In fact, these things are critical. However, the harm is in leaders, organizations and institutions rushing a process that then becomes superficial because there is no backbone support. The superficiality comes from the lack of true consultation of those most gravely affected.
“Over the past few years, I have been in spaces where people have brought their raw and authentic concerns, struggles and frustrations to employers. Leaders nod their heads in a show of support and then absolutely nothing changes.”
There is also a lack of processing the accountability employers have when asking employees to show up as their authentic selves. Would you offer someone a glass of water if you did not have the glass nor the water to fulfill the offer? You might – if your intention was to be polite in hopes that they would say “no, thank you,” instead of being accountable when you must sit in discomfort or scramble to find the water you prematurely offered.
A colleague shared a great quote with me from adrienne maree brown’s Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation that puts into perspective what workplaces that push for employees’ “authentic” self do not understand: “We are always our whole selves, but that does not mean that every space is the appropriate place for every need to be met, or idea to be heard.” (p. 62). A person’s ability to be their authentic or whole self is directly predicated on what happens when a person takes you up on that offer.
If an employee is authentic in their difficulties, in their concerns and in their request of you as an employer, and then you do nothing, you are in fact that polite person with no water and no glass.
Read more from Josslyn Gabriel in CERIC’s Careering magazine: Current approaches to career education risk impeding students’ exploration
What does slowing down the process look like as an action toward accountability?
- Before you ask for authenticity from your employees, have a conversation about why and what benefit this will offer. Explain how you will be accountable for that ask, and be prepared to be authentic in where you are individually and where your organization is. A learning journey is not an excuse for lack of accountability and clarity.
- Do not prioritize leading the work. If your organization has not rebuilt from the ground up to ensure equity is a foundational part of your structure, then focus on catching up, not leading.
- Reflect on what your strategy is and how it was developed. Look at who is at your leadership table and who has decision-making power. What is their purpose? How has EDI been made a key priority? Reinvest your resources appropriately.
- Do not waste your employees’ time and energy; if you have a lot of areas for growth as an organization, that work should not be borne by your entire team. That is in fact for leadership to figure out in consultation with your team and external support. Too much collaboration is free labour, an extractive practice and distraction from the work employees were hired to do.
The truth is, it is an employer’s job to create a culture that lets employees know they can show up in whatever way they need to and help them develop the tools to show up the way they want to. Instead of fixating on how to attract the “right” talent that “fits” the culture, employers should focus on creating a foundation that will attract a team that matches the pace of our world today. And, most importantly, that foundation is not to be built on the free labour of Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples. If this has been your EDI footprint, then the work you are doing is directly against social equity and performative at best.
