The Bumpy Road To Inclusion
Many of the discussions I have within organisations inevitably lead to a question of how to put in place positive action towards inclusion without alienating the majority group. Those leading DEI in their organisation have a deep concern and anxiety that their efforts to champion diversity and work towards creating inclusion will create backlash - an unwelcome bump in the road.
What is backlash?
Backlash tends to come from privileged groups or those over-represented in the organisation when organisations begin to address reasons for these disparities.
For example, an organisation might set up a women’s network and men ask ‘Where’s my network?’ or the company commits to encouraging people from ethnic minority groups to apply for jobs and you hear ‘But that’s unfair on the white people who didn’t get that step up’.
We hear these comments often at Avenir – in fact I haven’t come across an organisation I’ve worked with where this hasn’t come up. So what do we say in response? It’s important take a step back to help everyone in your organisation appreciate the ‘step up’ that is already given to privileged groups in society. Enhancing their self-awareness of their own privilege and the structural advantage in society is key to gaining buy-in and support for actions that create equity. Without this understanding from everyone, backlash can halt progress towards an inclusive culture by leading to a resentment towards minorities.
To avoid backlash halting progress towards inclusive cultures we firstly need to understand why it occurs.
In our research we have found that backlash typically comes from a place of defensiveness of the status quo, wanting to believe equality has been achieved already, as well as a fear of missing out on the benefits of new policies. People want a piece of the action, not realising they already have what the policy creates for others, simply by being in a privileged group.
So how can we combat these perspectives and ensure we have the understanding and support of all colleagues… without backlash or a fear of missing out?
Acknowledge the discomfort and help raise employee’s self-awareness - introducing concepts of privilege and bias can help employees see the need to level the playing field which help them come to accept new policy.
Emphasise that diversity benefits everyone - help employees to see that an inclusive culture benefits them and their multitude of diverse characteristics too as well as the company as whole.
Open the conversation and give all employees a voice - let perspectives of all groups be heard by creating a feedback culture which would not only highlight early signs of backlash, but also help identify when mishaps do happen.
Lead inclusively - model inclusive leadership at all levels that supports new policy and is committed to diversity.
Download our new report for more insights and recommendations on how to create an inclusive culture.
Building Inclusive Cultures that Don’t Lash Back
At Avenir, we believe in building inclusive cultures that have a shared understanding of the need for diversity and inclusion with buy-in from all groups. We aim to foster this collective acceptance so companies can implement these progressive policies without the noise of backlash.
We do this through inclusion workshops that allow your colleagues to learn from one another by facilitating debate and taking different perspectives through experiential learning to foster this shared understanding. We aim to create a safe space for debate and help your colleagues learn from one another’s lived experiences to help them begin to foster higher self-awareness. Our 'Privilege Merit and Bias?' session focuses on this as part of the complete inclusion series.
Have you heard some of these sentiments before within your organisation? Are you finding it hard to navigate through the complexity of creating equity? Let us know in the comments.
Want to hear more?
We have recently conducted research surrounding backlash towards positive action with the University of Liverpool and will be conducting a free webinar exploring our findings on the 14th of May 2021. If you’d like to hear more about this you can register for the webinar here, and find a copy of our free report here.