The business imperative behind inclusion and diversity
This is the second installment of a two-part interview in which Lauren Tucker discusses the importance of an enriched, diverse talent portfolio. Dr. Tucker is the founder of Do What Matters, which is a consultancy dedicated to promoting diversity in the marketing services industry.
Tucker says that improving cultural and social wellness within a business is an ethical imperative. Right now, employers need to pay attention to mental wellness, too.
"Agencies are feeling a lot of pressure. Their feeling squeezed margins by the growing in-house movement, increased competition from consultancies, more demanding clients. I mean, it has gotten even worse since COVID --- everybody just feels like they need access all the time, and they can get it through Zoom or Teams or cell phones or what have you. And then rising employee and customer activism means that there's a lot of consciousness that has been raised. Throughout, not just the last year but really throughout the last three years." |
"We really frame the conversation around talent so that managers and leaders and people in the C-suite start to see that, if there is a failure, if they have brought somebody in and that person is not performing at the level that they had expected, then they need to take the responsibility for that hire and they need to start figuring out how to invest in that person's development and learning. There needs to be a very specific job description of what that person is expected to do on day one, and then you need to make it very clear what do they need to do specifically to get to the next level. I'm still getting people reaching out to me who are at the V.P. or SVP level, especially women of color -- and I will say this very emphatically -- women of color at the V.P. and SVP level have not gotten the kind of sponsorship they deserve, and not gotten the opportunities they deserve. And when I follow up, I get the same answer which is, you know, she's really great. She's really a utility player. We just don't know what to do with her. Wow, okay. I don't think any of these people have admitted or even understand what they're admitting at that point." |