Diversity and people’s ‘natural’ tendencies are not a winning combination. For example, we all know that, by default, we tend to hire people that are like us. When aiming to build more diverse teams, this is one of the first things to tackle. Inclusion is the essential next step. Without it, teams will not be able to benefit from their diverse nature. Amongst other things, inclusion requires actively overwriting implicit bias by identifying each individual’s qualities and providing an environment where everyone can thrive. The way we look at performance of employees is key in this respect. Here’s why.
When Winston Churchill said: “Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common… Celebrate it every day”, he captured the most basic form of diversity. An example of how we are all different is each individual’s set of preferences and tendencies (‘Styles’). One of the models used to identify Styles in the workplace is the DiSC model. This model is based on the emotional and behavioural theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston (1928) and designed to predict job performance. The word ‘DiSC’ represents four Styles: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. Each Style represents roughly 25% of the population. I will use this model as an example to explain the importance of a robust performance assessment process for the success of diverse teams. Everyone will be able to relate to this example: our ‘natural’ tendencies take over and the outcome is not what the team needs.
Let’s take a manager with a ‘D’-Style, David, who is appointed as the mentor of a younger employee with an ‘S’-Style, Simon. Given his ‘D’-Style, David comes across as result-focused, self-confident and direct. He is prepared to take risks and is motivated by power, competition and success. Simon, on the other hand, has a calm demeanour, is a team player and a good listener. He is motivated by stability, sincere appreciation, collaboration and helping others. David, acting upon his ‘natural’ tendencies and implicit bias, looks at what, in his view, Simon is ‘missing’ and encourages him to be more assertive, to enhance his profile in the market and to look for opportunities to draw attention to his qualities by outperforming others. David is confident that these changes will lead to success, because this is how David sees the world and he unconsciously assumes that everyone does. Although Simon, if he wanted to, would be able to adopt a different way of doing things, this would cost him a lot of energy and he wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it. This would be clear to others. The outcome would therefore always be suboptimal and less authentic. In addition, and despite David’s good intentions, Simon would probably feel that he cannot bring his whole self to work. In the situation where David would not compare Simon to himself but instead would look at Simon’s natural strengths, he would most likely choose a different approach. David would be able to appeal to Simon’s natural ability to know what is going on in the team and to make the team greater than the sum of its parts, e.g. by increasing the level of collaboration. Simon would naturally be drawn to investing in team efforts, rather than in his individual accomplishments. As a result, the team as a whole would benefit. Recognising the success of the team as well as Simon’s role would leave Simon feeling motivated and appreciated.
People don’t naturally look at the benefits of a different approach. In addition, we all basically assume that everyone sees the world as we do and we act accordingly: we judge others based on our own preferences and assumptions. This is an illusion, we are all different, and it is counterproductive. Building a top team requires different kinds of people with different qualities. From a DiSC point of view, this means that decision makers, influencers, team players and law-abiding citizens are all equally important to the team’s success. This principle applies to all types of diversity. So, step 1, let’s start by recognizing that (fortunately) we are all different. Step 2, map out the qualities present in the team: what are the core strengths of the team members and what do they need to be successful? Then, step 3, start steering on those qualities to achieve the goals the team wants to achieve: let people do what they are naturally good at. If certain qualities are lacking, step 4: actively look for them and add them to the team. Because we are all different, we must complement and, by doing so, strengthen each other. This is why diversity works, provided it is based on empathy, good communication and awareness of the qualities and pitfalls of yourself and others. Let’s do this!