In: Operations Management
Hope Barrows, a partner at the national accounting firm Fuller Fenton, drove to the office on Sunday and swiped her access card to enter the parking garage. She noticed that another car followed her in--without using an access card. Hope could see that the driver was a man, but she didn't recognize him. Concerned for her safety, she got out and asked to see his ID. Dillon Johnson, an associate at the same firm, was rushing to meet a colleague to review a client's file. Seeing the garage door was open, he drove straight through. He was puzzled when the car in front of him stopped. The female driver got out of her car, walked over to him, and asked for his ID. He felt he was being unfairly questioned because he was black. Hope was white. Now it's Monday, and managing partner Jack Parsons is being deluged with calls. The company seems to be splitting into two angry camps. Some charge that the organization is racist; others are outraged that a woman was made to feel unsafe. One thing is clear: this incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Jack would like to think that Fuller Fenton embraces diversity, but the experiences of Dillon and other African-Americans at the firm tell a very different story. In fact, Jack knows that Dillon was taken off a team for fear that the client--an old-line company in Texas--might object. Jack is trying to calm people down, but he doesn't know what his next step should be. Four commentators offer advice in this fictional case study.
For the organizational effort to work, Jack and the other senior managers must make clear to employees that conversations about the role race (and for that matter, other cultural identities) plays in the firm are legitimate and encouraged. They should discuss publicly their own experiences and share what they have learned throughout the process. Finally, they should take every opportunity to tie these efforts to the work of the organization—to articulate how the learning that comes from, and facilitates, better race relations among employees creates a more effective workforce and advances the organization’s mission.
Let me be clear about this organizational effort. The primary goal is not for white people to learn how to be more sensitive in interactions with their colleagues of color. Nor is it for people of color to learn how to be less sensitive to perceived slights so that they might be less likely to be derailed by them. Nor is it for Fuller Fenton to ensure that such events never occur again—though there may well be gains in all these areas. The goal is for all employees to learn how to discuss these events openly and constructively, with as little defensiveness, blame, and judgment as possible, when they do occur. Because in a culture such as ours, these kinds of events undoubtedly will occur, no matter how sensitized or desensitized people may become.