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<\/div>\n?Many companies have spent countless hours building or refining diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) policies and programs in the two-plus years since protests against racial injustice swept the nation.<\/p>\n
However, managers often don\u2019t know how to translate those policies into daily actions, says Tara Jaye Frank, an equity strategist and author of <\/em>The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence <\/em><\/a>(Amplify, 2022). <\/p>\n \u201cCompanies are making big declarations and changing practices, but managers don\u2019t know what to go do,\u201d Frank says.<\/p>\n HR leaders should define and discuss what inclusive behaviors managers need to develop to support the new policies, she says.<\/p>\n Managers are key to the success of DE&I programs. When they demonstrate inclusive behaviors, their team members will adopt similar behaviors, according to research by Coqual,<\/a> a nonprofit think tank based in New York City. A more inclusive manager is associated with an 18 percent increase in perceptions of fairness at work, the study found, and inclusive colleagues are associated with a 21 percent increase. <\/p>\n Employees want their employers to demonstrate a serious commitment to DE&I, according to Julia Taylor Kennedy, Coqual executive vice president. <\/p>\n \u201cHaving broad statements is an important step, and having conversations about race is another important step,\u201d Kennedy says. \u201cBut it can come across as tone-deaf if it\u2019s not backed up in the day to day.\u201d<\/p>\n Model Behavior<\/p>\n According to Frank, every employee needs four things: to be seen, respected, valued and protected. Employees want to be defended when colleagues say offensive and insulting things, and they want to be able to take risks without fear that their reputations will be harmed, she says. <\/p>\n To help create a more inclusive environment, encourage managers to model these four behaviors:<\/p>\n Be curious. Let\u2019s say an employee is frequently late. Instead of assuming that the employee is dropping their kids off at school, the manager should ask what is making the employee late and how the manager can help, says Aiko Bethea, CEO and founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting in Atlanta. <\/p>\n Make amends. If a manager says something that doesn\u2019t sit well with another employee, the manager should apologize, Bethea says. For instance, the manager could say, \u201cI didn\u2019t get that right. I didn\u2019t realize how loaded that word I used is. I\u2019m not going to use it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t treat everyone the same. Employees need their managers to be empathetic, but that empathy will look different for everyone on the team. Managers should ask their direct reports what they need to be successful, Bethea says. \u201cAsk everyone, not just women or people of color,\u201d she adds, \u201cand don\u2019t assume everyone needs the same thing.\u201d <\/p>\n Understand employees\u2019 aspirations. It\u2019s important for managers to get to know their employees as people, and that involves learning more than just how many children they have or what breed of dog they own, Frank says. Inclusive managers will ask what their employees aspire to and then coach them toward that aspiration, she explains.<\/p>\n Avoid Common Obstacles<\/p>\n Common mistakes made by managers can hinder attempts to build an inclusive culture. To avoid this, educate managers about potential pitfalls and teach them to:<\/p>\n Focus on the employee. Too often, in an attempt to find common ground, managers will make an incident about themselves rather than focusing on the feelings of the person who was offended by the actions or words of a colleague or client, Frank says. It doesn\u2019t work to say, \u201cI remember one time I was offended in the same way.\u201d <\/p>\n Instead, say, \u201cThat must be really difficult,\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t imagine how that feels,\u201d \u201cTell me how that feels\u201d or \u201cHow does that affect how you are showing up at work today?\u201d Those sentiments indicate that you care about the person, Frank says, which helps the employee feel more protected.<\/p>\n Additionally, managers must show empathy on an ongoing basis, not just when something bad happens. It doesn\u2019t build trust, Frank notes, to ask a Black employee how she\u2019s doing only after a mass shooting that impacted a Black community, such as the Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket shooting in May. <\/p>\n \u201cManagers need to have regular touch points that aren\u2019t all about the work, because it creates space to show ongoing empathy,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Understand \u201cintent\u201d versus \u201cimpact.\u201d If someone at a coffee shop bumps into you and spills coffee on you, you\u2019d probably expect the person to apologize and hand you a napkin, says Michelle Rodriguez, director of diversity, inclusion and belonging at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based LinkedIn, which employs about 20,000 people. <\/p>\n At work, it\u2019s easy to \u201cbump into each other\u201d by saying or doing something that hurts someone else\u2014even if by accident. While the manager\u2019s intentions might be good, \u201cthe impact might not match intent,\u201d Rodriguez says. <\/p>\n \u201cIf someone tells you it hurt them or what you said to them didn\u2019t feel right, don\u2019t go into a defense spiral,\u201d she says. \u201cThe most powerful leaders take a pause and listen to the impact.\u201d <\/p>\n Allowing employees to say how they feel creates psychological safety and builds trust, she adds.<\/p>\n Avoid lazy language. Be careful about the language you and others on the team use to describe colleagues, says Mitzi Short, an executive coach and an author of You Should Smile More: How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace <\/em>(City Point, 2022). For example, just as managers would be unlikely to inquire about \u201cthe new boy in accounting,\u201d they should also avoid asking about \u201cthe new girl.\u201d Additionally, a manager who hears someone use the phrase \u201cthe new girl\u201d could correct the colleague by asking, \u201cDo you mean Sally, the new woman in accounting?\u201d <\/p>\n Be aware of affinity bias. It\u2019s natural for managers to be drawn to employees who remind them of themselves, Kennedy says. But managers need to ensure they aren\u2019t favoring some employees over others.<\/p>\n For example, Rodriguez says, pay attention to who gets the office housework of organizing team events and who gets the high-visibility and stretch projects. <\/p>\n Provide equal feedback. Some managers worry about coming across as biased or harsh when giving feedback to people of color. As a result, they use vague terms that don\u2019t provide enough specifics to help employees improve, Rodriguez says. <\/p>\n Measure the Results<\/p>\n HR professionals can pinpoint managers who are roadblocks to inclusion goals by conducting an audit of hiring, compensation and promotion decisions, says James D. White, former CEO of Jamba Juice and author of Anti-Racist Leadership: How to Transform Corporate Culture in a Race-Conscious World<\/a><\/em> (Harvard Business Review, 2022). <\/p>\n Want to take it a step further? Show managers that the company is serious about building an inclusive work environment by rewarding those managers who exhibit inclusive behaviors with increased compensation and promotions, Kennedy says. <\/p>\n Lisa Rabasca Roepe is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Va.<\/em><\/p>\n Illustration by Marc Rosethal for HR Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n