Cultural diversity - our biggest untapped opportunity
It’s NAIDOC week, with the theme this year ‘for our elders’.
Australia’s Indigenous elders have been fighting for justice, recognition, and human rights since invasion in 1788. They’ve inspired countless future generations, with activism and advocacy continuing to play out in present-day Australia. In 2023, Indigenous recognition continues to be debated in the political and public sphere, with a referendum to decide whether our constitution should recognise the First Peoples of Australia.
While systemic racial and cultural challenges, such as First Nations recognition, remain uncertain in Australia, we continue to see the consequences of these issues show up in other ways. A key example is the challenge of significant under-representation of cultural diversity in Australian workplaces.
Australia has long considered itself a diverse and multicultural contemporary society. You only have to look as far as the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs website to find proud statements such as:
“Australia’s vibrant, modern multicultural society is a national strength.”
And yet, our history books tell a different story, which began from the very first invasion of indigenous territory: the concept of terra nullius, meaning “land belonging to no-one” – was used as the legal basis for British settlement. Further, Australian migrant history is one marked with ‘white’ preferential treatment, culminating in the White Australia Policy.
It is important to understand our history, as it is these origins that permeate the Australian psyche of today, with ‘white’ bias continuing to play out, as evidenced in Australian workplaces.
Cultural under-representation in Australian workplaces is real
In Australian workplaces, the under-representation of cultural diversity is ever-present and most notable at senior leadership levels. In a study by the Human Rights Commission, white ‘Anglo-Celtic’ people - that is, people of primarily English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh descent, made up 76% of senior leaders in Australia, despite only comprising 58% of the Australian population. This was followed by people of European descent at 19% (while representing 18% of Australia’s population). Non-European representation was well below the 21% population levels, at 4.7%, and Indigenous representation sat at a measly 0.4% despite comprising 3% of Australia’s population (recording only 10 Indigenous senior leaders from 2,490 CEO or C-Suite leaders in Australia).
There has never been a better time for cultural diversity
Today, 20% of Australia’s total GDP relies on international trade with partners from across the globe, with Asia dominating 65% of this market. The time for cultural diversity, with all the benefits it brings in global perspectives, agility and innovation, is now.
There is consistent evidence to demonstrate the benefits of culturally diverse and inclusive organisations. Studies such as those by Lorenzo et al and Hunt et al. show that when an organisation has cultural diversity in their leadership team, they’re 36% more likely to financially outperform on EBIT margin, compared with companies that are not diverse. And, they report innovation revenue is likely to be 19% higher than that of less diverse competitors.
Furthermore, companies that do it well are more likely to have inclusive cultures, which has a wealth of other benefits (Gallup, 2022) such as:
· Over 20% more profit
· Significantly lower absenteeism
· Higher customer loyalty
My lived experience reinforces what the data tells us
I have sat in a boardroom and in leadership roles for over ten years, and in almost every situation I was the only person around that table with a cultural background that was not Anglo-Celtic.
What did that mean for me in the real world, that data doesn’t tell you? Well, first of all, I I had to quieten myself to fit in. Without an established level of psychological safety for different worldviews, I first had to build up my credibility as a person of expertise before I could share my different point of view. I always found this deeply inequitable.
I always had to represent if I wanted to see action. I was regularly nominated to be the Diversity & Inclusion representative and was frequently introduced as “someone who is passionate about this stuff”. The truth, however, is that I’m not necessarily passionate about diversity and inclusion. I just grow tired of always being alone.
The impact for me personally that stood out the most, though, was that I frequently pushed up against invisible barriers. I recall the precise moment that I decided I would start to speak up. There was a particularly big debate that was ongoing in our Leadership Meeting on the strategy we would take to serve differing socio-economic segments of our community. My colleagues were highly researched on the topic. However, not one person around that table had lived experience of a different socio-economic background and it created a discussion that lacked empathy.
The night before a planned discussion on the topic, I prepared extensively to contribute. In the hour before the meeting, I was pulled aside by my people-leader and asked to recite what I was planning to say. In that moment, I broke down in tears. It was so deeply personal, and I was so nervous and frightened about the impact this honesty would have on my reputation. At the first sign of tears, my people-leader immediately pulled me from the agenda – citing that they were saving me from humiliation.
Fortunately for me, being told I can’t do something lights a wildfire in my belly and in that meeting, I interjected at the perfect moment to share my story. This was the beginning of much more sharing from me (with lots of tears) and a transition into a new chapter, where I felt I truly became the leader I wanted to be and the role model for others that I wish I had.
For a long time, being alone, and without psychological safety, dampened my ability to be creative and innovative, to share different ways of thinking, and to fully utilise my strengths. In this way, my personal experience reinforces the data that a lack of diversity significantly disadvantages a workplace.
So what do we do about it?
As the debate rages on in Australian politics, with no crystal ball on what that outcome will be, there remains plenty that every organisation in Australia can do – if we’re serious about unlocking the benefits of cultural diversity. Start by taking three foundational actions:
1) Make a demonstrable commitment
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is a growing trend among organisations, with LinkedIn reporting that D&I job postings grew 58% from 2019 to 2020. However, an organisation that simply creates a company statement and hires an individual to be responsible for D&I risks becoming an organisation that pays lip-service to a fad, while achieving no real change.
Given the deep societal complexities and vulnerabilities around acknowledging diversity statistics, it is critical that the CEO and/or Board makes a demonstrable commitment to increasing diversity – through taking personal actions that they own and lead.
2) Gather the data
There is ample baseline data available, if leaders are brave enough to take a look. Gather data across the employee lifecycle:
Recruitment:
recruitment practices
recruitment success of Anglo-Celtic vs other cultural backgrounds
staff cultural background
Employee experience:
HR complaints on racism or unsafe behaviours affecting diverse team members
pay gaps and levels of staff
Attrition:
attrition of Anglo-celtic vs other backgrounds.
Support these findings by collecting qualitative data, to ensure you hear the personal stories and experiences of your staff to better contextualise what the quantitative data is telling you.
Finally, fix your data fields, if the above is not easy to gather. There are simple systems solves for any data problems, but they require prioritisation.
3) Accept your data and hold yourself to account
This will be the scariest but firmest commitment you can make. If you are serious about making a change in your organisation, it is critical that you accept what the data is telling you. There is an Australian propensity to disregard and avoid what our people of diversity and the supporting data is telling us. By making our data public, we can hold ourselves to account and be trailblazers in an area of change that derives from a deep national shame. You are the leader – so lead.
If you want to have a discussion about how your organisation can better embed D&I practices and see the results, we'd love to hear from you.