Meritocracy is a Myth

The social, political and racial unrest in the US and abroad during 2020 has forced organizations to take an inventory on how diversity and inclusion is practiced in their organizations. Many leaders realize there’s not a representative number of diverse leaders in their organization. Some organizational leaders are clouded by implicit bias and believe that hiring decisions are made based on “meritocracy”. Let’s explore that and discuss practically how you as a leader can build a diverse and inclusive leadership team in your organization with the guiding principles of sourcing, selecting, and promoting culturally diverse talent.

Meritocracy is defined as “the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability.” Common arguments that leaders rely on to support inequitable hiring decisions are: “we hire and promote based on ability" and "there are not enough diverse candidates in the talent pool that fit the ability level that the role calls for.” Let explore this:

The people selected to lead in an organization is the most important decision that a hiring manager will make:

Organizational culture is shaped and reinforced by the leaders in place. Once selected, and put in a place of leadership, the approach, values and practices of that leader will either positively or negatively impact organizational culture on their team, department or business segment for years to come. How often do we hear stories about the “previous leadership team” and the culture that lives on in the organization today although there may be a new leadership team in place? People selection is a decision that leaves a legacy. You can train skill, but not character and value. Selecting leaders that demonstrate the cultural characteristics that you want to see take root in your organization is key. You must select leaders that already see the value of a diverse and inclusive organization, because trying to shift a biased mindset, will take a long time investment and have many downstream impacts.

Is it meritocracy or implicit bias?

Without judgment, we all hold unconscious bias, based on our what we learned over a lifetime of influence from family, educators, spiritual leaders, media, colleagues, and our personal life experiences. This bias has shaped what we believe to be “capable” and what makes up a viable candidate for the positions in our organization. In a September 2020 article posted by Forbes, the CEO of Wells Fargo was reported saying that the organization has challenges reaching diversity goals because of a “limited pool of Black talent”. Meritocracy is the word that is often thrown into the conversation to justify not selecting diverse talent. We can easily debunk the myth of meritocracy with two points:

• We all have worked with colleagues that were not competent or experienced for the role they were in - across gender and race.

• Diverse candidates come from a pipeline of systemic racism in the US that can have impacts on “merit”, namely access to quality education, lower selection rates for roles and projects in the companies they work for, and less opportunity for mentorship and advocacy in organizations, in comparison to their counterparts in the majority population.

Here’s the action plan to counter the meritocracy myth:

1. Start with the numbers

2. Expand your talent pool

3. Invest in diverse talent

Start with the numbers

As a leader, if you are initiating the conversation about increasing the amount of Black candidates that are promoted (or any minority population group), it is helpful to start with the numbers to level-set the reality of the current state in your organization versus the perception. The stats round out the perspective and lessens some of the emotionality that often fuels the judgment regarding these decisions. For the purpose of this article, I’ll focus on the Black population: African Americans make up 12% of the US population. If we use that representation as a baseline to measure diversity in leadership, here’s some comparison stats:

• There are 3 Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. 3 of 500 is .06%.

• Of 45 US presidents, 1 has been Black. 1 of 45 is .02%.

• 2 of the 100 US Senators are Black. That’s .02%, again.

Blacks are underrepresented in positions of leadership in this country historically, systemically and presently.

Reflection & Action Point: What are the numbers in your organization? Start there to begin and continue this important conversation and necessary corrective action path. Do you have a representative number of Black talent across all of the roles of your organization?

Debunk the myths and share the numbers with your leader, your peers and your team when the conversations come up about increasing diversity, especially when there is a lack of support. This is a powerful place to start by being transparent, because you have something that you can track and measure against as you improve.

Expand your talent pool

When hiring for your next open role and reviewing your candidate list, ask yourself - who are we not considering and why don’t we have them on the list? For the candidates that likely should be on list, consider their background and experience and what work they have done for the organization already. Have you reviewed actual work samples of all of your candidates and spoken with stakeholders that have been impacted by their work? This groundwork can add some additional data points to your hiring process to round out your considerations.

In each candidate pool, push to identify a few more candidates that are not on the list and encourage them to enter the running for that position. This can provide you with a more accurate evaluation of the talent in your organization. Also, go back to your most recent talent review and identify those that we classified as mid to lower-tier performers and ask them to participate in the selection process. This establishes another set of necessary checks and balances with your talent management approach.

Invest in diverse talent

A well-rounded diversity strategy, includes proactively investing in diverse talent. High quality candidates often include a blend of values, education, experience, receptiveness to feedback and a cooperative attitude and outlook. Cultivate your candidate pool by initiating sponsored programs for development opportunities such as professional certifications, making your tuition reimbursement process easy, and rotating team members to other functions in the company to expand their experience and promote collaboration across organizational boundaries. There should be an active mentorship and sponsorship program in your organization with controls in place for ensuring that diverse people are included. Have stretch assignments where employees are asked to join projects and contribute to the outcome, especially projects that they would not have had access to before.

Externally, create a pipeline of candidates by investing in their education. Ensure that your recruiting strategy includes proactive outreach to high schools and colleges in the communities that your organization does business, with intern and mentor opportunities extended to up-and-coming professionals of all background.

How are you approaching diverse talent in your organization?

VisionCast Consulting - 2020