December 16, 2003

SOME ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS THAT IMPEDE CULTURAL DIVERSITY EFFORTS

  • The myth that there are no qualified candidates from underrepresented groups. "We have to get past that," Posner remarks. "It’s an easy out. It’s all about relationship building from one person to one organization to the next and the next, until you find what you’re looking for."
  • The CEO as sometimes the last person to learn of a problem in the organization. Solutions: Dialogue with top team members, staff groups or departments about difficulties and/or have a vehicle for expressing concerns. (BoardSource has a question box in the lunchroom.)
  • Fear of retribution (e.g., loss of career mobility) if people speak up about sensitive issues. The main way around that, according to Eby, is to set up a culture that rewards people for constructively speaking up. "You can’t talk about that, you just have to do it."
  • Ongoing nature of the work and the importance of embedding the concepts and practices within the organization. "It’s not something you do just once. It is important to recognize that organizational culture is constantly evolving, is not set in stone, and therefore the manager has to be aware enough to tap into and encourage good ideas…[and] to remove some of the stressful elements that can cause dissatisfaction and loss of productivity," Alvarado says.
  • The slow, arduous process of organizational change.   "Organizational culture is so deep rooted and so poorly understood," says Cohen. "The differences between practices and policies and the behavioral dimensions of how organizations function is so huge that it’s hard when you don’t see changes in daily behavior."

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