It may take only a glance around the table – or Zoom screen – for leadership to recognize a problem with diversity and inclusion (D&I). Lack of diversity is a broad social issue, yet it impacts corporate culture with feelings of disempowerment and exclusion and a sense that a company is not forward-looking.
Companies that are not diverse (by race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other category) miss out on great ideas and different perspectives. They are limiting the talent pool and recruitment opportunities and reducing the likelihood of retention. Ethically, addressing D&I is simply the right thing to do, but there is business case to be made when it comes to public perception and branding. How do we go about addressing this challenge?
Recognizing the problem and demonstrating willingness to address it is the essential starting point, and that’s no small thing. But focusing on numbers alone will not cut it. Recruitment on the basis of identity, however well-intentioned, is problematic. Just adding a few diverse faces in leadership positions here and there – however important – is not enough.
The more fundamental approach to the D&I challenge is to address the culture, not just the head count, and to do it through staff engagement and education, not leadership decree. This means showing real commitment at the leadership level, yes, but going further by empowering staff across the company to talk about the challenge and supporting them to develop solutions and proposals themselves. The process provides a platform for improvement, identifies fresh ideas and new leadership, and gives confidence across the company that all voices have value.
A Need for Change in Diversity and Inclusion
When Sean O’Brien P.E., a civil engineer with more than 20 years in senior executive roles in the engineering consulting industry, joined BSC Group in late 2017 as President and CEO, he recognized the need for change. A leading engineering, planning and environmental firm in Boston, BSC at the time had 4 offices and a headcount of 120. It is now 160 people in 6 offices across New England.
“The company was traditional in its thinking and had not put the appropriate priority on diversity and inclusion,” recalls O’Brien. “We were holding ourselves back and we needed to change. Parts of the firm were hungry for D&I, while others simply wanted to see a shift from the traditional, fixed mindset to a broader one. Everyone agreed the changes had to be authentic and the impact should be felt internally and externally. BSC needed to change its culture.”
Early on, O’Brien started with modest changes, working with HR to reform hiring strategies, corporate communications, the use of language, and engaging others to learn how the company could be more inclusive. A year in, a female colleague – then the only female engineer at the company – approached a group of senior female leaders at the firm including BSC’s recently hired, Director of Client Development, Lori Chicoyne, suggesting that they start a women’s group. The engineer noted that women were not always included in the same types of conversations as men and did not always feel that they fit in.
When Chicoyne approached the CEO with the idea, O’Brien was enthusiastic, but wanted to expand the idea to address the firm’s broader diversity and inclusion challenges and further the culture shift that many members of the BSC team were craving, and that he knew the firm needed. “He said we need to cover everyone. We are one BSC and everyone is on the team,” remembers Chicoyne.
From this beginning, the firm launched a formal, company-wide D&I program. They established a D&I committee to drive it and created a half-dozen employee-led teams to address a range of sentiments and issues – with nearly half of the firm participating. As the importance of D&I grew, BSC renamed and visually branded the overall D&A initiative. The IDEA Council was conceived, representing BSC’s commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Awareness.
“The impact has been profound,” says Chicoyne. “So many people want to get involved including working parents with little time to spare. Getting involved meant that participants not only receive support and advice from colleagues struggling with similar challenges, but they also had the opportunity to help their peers. They have helped others – and they have helped the firm. This is what makes the people of BSC so special.”
Listen, Listen, Listen
The solution to D&I is to find out what employees want, and then provide them with the support to make it happen. The process needs a sustained commitment, and the benefits can be transformative – good for employees and good for business, too. Specific steps include:
- Make the case for change and align leadership with the need for it. The senior team must be fully behind the effort. Communications matter, and there could be challenging moments, especially if the leadership itself is not diverse. Make sure everyone is on board from the start.
- Establish a committee to lead the D&I initiative and formulate the specific steps. It is likely to include a senior team member and HR, but to be credible, it must demonstrate inclusion.
- Commit to listening. Establish platforms, such as a series of learning meetings, where everyone is encouraged to speak and share. Ask people what they want, what they need. Listen carefully.
- Work deliberately and consultatively. Summarize what you think you heard in the first sessions and propose next steps. Then share it out and take in more feedback. Listen again.
- Start small and encourage staff to lead. Follow the energy and momentum of your people. Don’t push or direct, instead, support and connect. Set up employee-led sub-committees to represent specific groups or address specific concerns, and to enable staff to show leadership.
- Be real and do the hard work. That means following up on proposed changes, large and small, and making things happen. Ultimately it means working to ensure that diversity is apparent – and inclusion is practiced – at Board and management levels as well.
- Review the process regularly. Task the D&I committee to report where progress is made and challenges remain. Recognize milestones and celebrate staff efforts to achieve them.
Diversity and inclusion are distinct concepts. Even after a company increases the diversity of its personnel, it does not necessarily ensure that everyone will feel included in all areas, and at all levels. Feeling safe and encouraged to speak up, contribute, be heard – this freedom of expression is a critical factor in inclusion. The listening process contributes to this and demonstrates the company’s willingness to welcome diverse viewpoints.
Employee Resource Groups
Many were craving the change. One leader shared, “I think we all want a more cohesive firm, and this will help us achieve that ambition.”
The D&I committee – which originally included Chicoyne, and BSC’s Director of Human Resources, Alison Hunt, as well as Ricardo Austrich, and now includes other BSC team members who are passionate about the idea – hit the ground running. Together, they visited each office, explained the vision, and started gathering data about who was interested and what they wanted from the process.
They asked employees to fill up boards with sticky notes about D&I. Collecting all the comments, they broke the ideas down into four main themes. They held ice cream socials to celebrate D&I, and sent all staff photos of the sticky-note boards, and a purpose statement, including a summary of what D&I means at BSC:
- Listening
- Appreciation
- Community
- Respect
The next step was to establish Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to dive deeper into specific topics and issues, with the first one launched in early 2020 focusing on women. They launched a series of events, including a book review of The Confidence Code and open discussions such as “women in the workplace” and “safety in the field for women.” The latter proposed important changes that could be made and resulted in updates to the company handbook. The initiative was taking off.
Safe Spaces in Employment
Then, less than 6-months into the effort, COVID-19 hit. The company shifted its focus to the pandemic – the new physical, mental, and social challenges as well as navigating emerging business risks and uncertainties. The members of the committee wondered if the D&I efforts would need to take a back seat. However, when asked, O’Brien responded, “Now is the time to double-down. We all will soon understand firsthand what it’s like to be alone, excluded, insecure, and uncomfortable. Not only is D&I going to help us get through this whole COVID thing, but people are going to realize why it’s crucial to have this focus going forward.”
As the pandemic progressed, O’Brien’s double down worked.
“The ERGs provided a great place for people to talk about issues openly, honestly, and safely,” he says. “Being vulnerable and working together on the many Covid-19 and social challenges gave people a sense of security and purpose, as well as a sense of confidence – that we were going to get through this, and everything was going to be O.K.”
Participation continued to increase, and the groups created strong bonds among staff. As people struggled with work-life balance and specifically the impact on those with children, an ERG for Working Parents was created. Other ERGs were established for Multicultural, New Professionals, and Wellness. Combined, the D&I groups had nearly 100 members.
“Right off the bat you know something’s working when that many people show up and want to be part of it,” says Chicoyne.
A More Holistic View of Recruitment
Diversity and inclusion takes work, but there’s a payoff, and BSC Group has come out of the Covid-19 pandemic a stronger firm with a better culture and a brighter outlook. O’Brien credits the ERGs with playing an important role in making this possible. “The ERGs served as a surrogate means of affiliation during Covid-19. Our organizational groups and project teams functioned well, but there were fewer opportunities for chance encounters and side conversations that facilitate relationships and build trust. The ERGs provided opportunity for these conversations with the added benefit of not being limited to a specific team or group. They transcended the entire firm allowing relationships to be built between BSC team members that may not have even known each other before Covid-19.”
Emerging from the pandemic, firms like BSC that have embraced diversity and taken the effort to make people feel included are benefitting from a sense of loyalty and cohesion among their teams. Working from home and hybrid working have also enabled diversity, since the importance of location and the requirement to access an office are reduced.
One specific change at BSC has been to take a more holistic view of recruitment. Rather than focusing exclusively on skills and competencies, they now concentrate on hiring the right complement to the existing group.
“It’s not about hiring the “best” individuals,” O’Brien says. “We are seeking people with diversity of experience, perspective and opinion, so we can build a better team.” He believes the shift will ensure that the company will become more diverse, including at the senior leadership level and the Board.
“The aura and the ambience – when I walked into this organization three years ago versus today – it’s a completely different place,” observed one employee and the sentiment has been echoed by many others. “There was so much untapped potential here. BSC team members were waiting for their opportunity to be heard, to educate, and to lead. Everyone values the part they’ve played in building the firm we are today,” said Lee Curtis, a Principal, new Board Member, strong advocate of BSC’s D&I programs, and leader of BSC’s efforts to improve the firm’s culture. BSC was awarded the WTS-Boston 2020 Employer of the Year, in recognition of its achievements in recruiting and advancing women, was recognized by the Boston Chamber of Commerce for Outstanding Culture and won an SMPS Boston Communications Award for Internal Communications.
“We’re focusing on all elements of diversity,” says O’Brien. “And the benefits to us have been great. It really helps when everybody on your team knows that the Principals and leadership team cares, is doing things for the right reasons, and is committed to doing what is right.”
