Amy Waninger

Do you think Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) initiatives begin and end with hiring? Think again. Your next hire is just one decision of many that can affect your D&I metrics. You need to go beyond hiring initiatives to create a real and lasting impact.

Go Beyond Hiring

A prospective client, the HR director of a small investment firm, called me to inquire about D&I programming. After some small talk, I asked if there was a problem they were trying to solve, or if they had a goal in mind for the session.

She replied candidly, “I’m having trouble getting some of the managers on board with our diversity initiative. We’re a small firm with very little turnover. They asked me if I was going to fire ten people and hire for diversity. This got me thinking. What can we do to show diversity and inclusion is a priority for us, if we’re not hiring anytime soon?”

This is not a unique concern. I talk to owners of small and medium-sized businesses all the time. They want to do the right thing. They want the innovation, sustainability, and profitable growth that come with a diverse workforce. Here are some ideas I

Include the People You Already Have

Find out, to a person, what makes each of your employees feel included or excluded. Talk to everyone to learn what the trouble spots are, or bring in trained facilitators to help you. Chances are, your employees already see the firm from very different perspectives. Ask them how you can do better.

Work with Diverse Suppliers

Whether you’re looking for printer paper, toilet paper, or an event caterer, there are probably dozens of diverse suppliers in your area who can meet your needs. Rather than sending your office manager a big-box store, invest in your community be seeking out a minority-, woman-, or veteran-owned vendor. Your local Chambers of Commerce (yes, there are several in every city), WBENC regional partner, or NMSDC office are a good place to start.

Broaden Your Funds and Portfolios

Admittedly, I know very little about investment management. Still I have to imagine that fund managers make decisions everyday that affect millions of people’s jobs and livelihoods. With this in mind, put some intention around the firm’s investment products and its own investments. Adherence to ethics guidelines, diverse board representation, and transparency around pay equity all contribute to a company’s long-term success. Some investors will be especially interested in products that both do good and perform well.

This one is specific to the client I referenced, but look for ways to apply this kind of thinking to your own business’s offerings and operations.

Mind Your Philanthropy and Pipeline

Your firm probably helps fund fellowships, scholarships, internships, and other “feeder” programs for aspiring financiers. Look outside the alma maters of your founders. Intentionally invest in students at HBCUs, for example, to maximize your impact and to create a sustainable talent pipeline.

Pay Attention to Your Hiring Processes, Too

You may be six months away from hiring your next employee. Now is a great time to shore up your selection process. Review job descriptions for bias, create a system for reviewing resumes, implement training for conducting interviews. Look in new places to be sure your talent pipeline isn’t artificially limited to exclude veterans, women, Black and brown people, or people from the “wrong” Ivy League school. It’s much easier to fix these problems now, than when you’re scrambling to find a new team member.

TL;DR: In Summary…

Think beyond hiring if you’re really committed to sustainability, profitability, innovation, and inclusion in your organization.

Are you facing a tough challenge or change at work? You might get frustrated if you expect steady progress or quick resolution. None of us is going to glide smoothly from start to finish. So, what do you do when you hit a rough patch? Your answer can mean the difference between success and defeat. Change your perspective to realize you’re collecting footage for your montage.

The montage is one of my favorite cinematic storytelling devices. A montage is an edited series in a movie wherein a main character advances through scenes in quick succession. In the best montages, we watch the character transform from awkward novice to confident badass, while a catchy pop tune engages our emotional response.

Famous Montage Examples

Think about your favorite movies. In Rocky (1976), director John G. Alvidsen didn’t have the time to show us every workout and every sparring practice that built a champion; he used a montage to show incremental improvement, setbacks, and small triumphs along the way. In the 1984 bromance hit Footloose, we cringe at Willard, Ren’s best friend, who enters the montage as an uncoordinated oaf, unable to stomp to a simple beat. In a steady-but-edited-for-time progression, we witness his miraculous transformation into a teenage dance floor sensation. And in Disney’s animated feature Mulan (1998), we watch as the main character pushes her way through military training. She fails at first but slowly gains competence, ultimately overcoming the “impossible” challenge set for her by Captain Li Shang.

As you read the last paragraph, did you catch yourself singing “Eye of the Tiger,” “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” or “Be a Man”? The songs, too, are often edited for length so that you felt the whole transformation take place at warp speed. Think about how many hours of planning, rehearsal, costumes, makeup, raw footage, B-roll, retakes, camera angles, animation, sound effects, and editing went into create your favorite movie montage. All of that for less than three minutes of concentrated storytelling!

Get to Work!

While you’re doing the hard work – when this whole ordeal seems like it will never end – remind yourself that you’re collecting footage for your montage. The planning, practice, pain, and frustration are all fodder for the montage memory you will someday have of going through this challenge. So, pick a catchy soundtrack and get started.

The Rockettes are a precision dance troupe that performs at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. If you’ve ever watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the 1982 movie Annie, you’ve seen these top-notch tap dancers in action. The uniformity of the dancers is part of the show. And it’s all because of the Rockette Rule.

Rockette auditions are notoriously grueling. But only a fraction of professional dancers even qualify to audition. Because of the “Rockette Rule,” each aspiring Rockette must be measured “in stocking feet” to ensure she meets the 5’6″ – 5’10.5″ height requirement. Fair or not, this is a written rule that exists to maintain the overall aesthetic of the famous Rockette Kick Lines. No matter how talented a dancer may be, she need not apply at all if she doesn’t meet the Rockette Rule.

Height restrictions have not been the only Rockette Rule. For the first six decades of Rockette kick lines, all the dancers were also white and without visible disabilities. It would not be until the 1980s that the Rockettes hired their first non-white dancer (1985), their first Black dancer (1987), or their first dancer with a physical disability (1989).

Rockette Rule Case Studies

When I was a little girl, I watched Annie 462,789 times. I danced along to the soundtrack more times than that. I begged my parents for dance lessons. But even if I had been good enough (I wasn’t), I couldn’t have been a Rockette. Even if I had devoted my entire life to the pursuit of perfection in tap, ballet, and jazz (I didn’t), I couldn’t have been a Rockette. My full adult height maxed out at 5’3″. Hell, I can’t even reach the lima beans at my local supermarket without asking for help. I definitely couldn’t have been a Rockette. Dreams dashed, but I persevere.

Admittedly, I am probably not the best case study here. Let’s instead think about the “greats.” Fred Astaire was 5’9″ and perhaps one of the most celebrated dancers of a generation. He met the height requirement, and may have qualified as a “Male Dancer” in a Rockettes production. However, being a man would have precluded him from being a Rockette. Even Ginger Rogers, who was described as having done “everything Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels,” couldn’t have been a Rockette. She was only 5’4″.

Your Organization’s Rockette Rule

“What does the Rockette Rule have to do with my company?” In short (pun intended), everything. It’s not in the employee handbook, but I’m willing to bet your organization has a Rockette Rule. Ask around, and you’ll find it.

For example, one organization I worked for mostly hired Black women into hourly roles. But it was common knowledge among those women that they would never be promoted out of the call center or into a supervisory role.

“That’s just not true!” executives would indignantly proclaim. They would follow with words like hard work, meritocracy, and paying one’s dues.

Yet, if you walked the floor and looked around a bit, you could see a definite trend. There certainly seemed to be a Rockette Rule in place, although I never heard an executive admit it.

There Are Always Exceptions

You may well find exceptions to your organization’s Rockette Rule. People will often claim that any exception to the Rule disproves the Rule entirely.

One woman in the C-Suite? No Rockette Rule here! Not necessarily… Watch how that executive picks her battles. See if her male peers willingly follow her into uncharted territory. Does she feel safe sponsoring other women into executive ranks?

Or maybe there’s a role that’s always held by a person from an underrepresented group. Just not the same person all the time, because there’s a revolving door for the role. The leader feels tokenized and marginalized, so they leave. This happens over and over again.

Looking to Fill Bigger Shoes?

Are you trying to move up in your organization? Be sure you know your organization’s Rockette Rule. Do all the managers have college degrees? Did the executives all graduate from the same school? Are they all from the same part of the country? Common work history?

If everyone on the executive team is a frat boy from New England with a Masters degree from Tufts University, you’ve found your organization’s Rockette Rule. If all the managers were promoted because they posted great sales numbers five quarters in a row… Rockette Rule.

Look for the Rockette Rule before you start chasing more responsibility or a fancier title. Do you stand a chance as an applicant? I’m not saying you should give up. But if you’re fighting an uphill battle, best to know that going in. Find some allies, and develop an advancement strategy you can live with.

One company I worked for seemed to typecast Indian and Indian-American employees into information technology (IT) roles. Granted, lots of these folks came in as technologists. One of my colleagues was determined to leave IT and break into business operations. He intentionally took a role two steps down and gave up his Director title to do so. He specifically wanted to “come up through the ranks” in business operations so he wouldn’t be seen by his teammates as “an IT guy.”

Are you willing to blaze a trail for others to follow? A great coach can help you along the way, and our team is ready to serve. [Learn more here…]

Already a Leader in Your Organization?

If you already have a leadership title, you can effect change. Be an outspoken critic of the Rockette Rules in your organization. Call out bias in hiring and promotion processes. Seek out data to understand the scope and scale of the problem.

Don’t be afraid to ask for outside help. Lead at Any Level® offers quantitative and qualitative assessments, consulting, and training to help organizations build inclusive cultures and diverse leadership pipelines. [Learn more here…]