How to Support the Career Growth of Black Employees
By Melissa James, Chief Growth Officer at IBIS
After the death of George Floyd in 2020, many leaders began to wonder if their employees were experiencing racial inequities within their workplace. Leaders were curious to learn from Black employees:
Have you experienced racism?
Have you experienced racism at this organization?
The answer to these questions from Black employees was a resounding “Yes!” and “Yes, this has been happening here, and it's been happening for a long time.” Black employees shared a plethora of stories. Some shared stories about the difficulties they experienced during the hiring process and the pushback they received when asking for a promotion.
The impact of racism at work has negatively impacted the career growth of Black employees. Many organizations were surprised to learn that racism existed in their workplace. Organizations rushed to hold listening sessions to learn from Black employees about their experiences with race at work. As a result, organizations focused on education and awareness about racism at work, hoping that awareness would solve the issue. While awareness is a valuable component, it does not replace the need for changed behavior and mindset.
Many organizations are still struggling with how to take action in the workplace, even two years after George Floyd’s death. How can they leverage the voices of Black employees to drive systematic change?
We need to rethink how we support Black employees. In order for Black employees to succeed, we need to rethink career development plans. Generally speaking, a career development plan focuses on acquiring more educational skills aligned to an individual's career interests. While that is important, there is a significant aspect of career growth that needs attention.
Leadership should be aware of the different dimensions of diversity and how they impact the career trajectory of Black employees. This awareness will positively affect behavior and mindset around employee development. Organizations should ask underrepresented employees what they need and want to be set up for career success.
I am calling for a new approach to supporting the career growth of Black employees. In 2022, Black employees need personalized career growth plans that consider the dimensions of diversity affecting their career trajectory. For myself, as a Jamaican-American Black woman, the dimensions of diversity that affected my career growth were my ethnicity, race, gender, age, educational background, and socioeconomic background.
For example, my ethnicity played a large part in the missing foundational pieces of my career growth. I am the daughter of two West Indian immigrants who never talked about work at home. My parents saw work as a means to an end. They worked multiple jobs to provide for their family and never had the privilege to think about career growth. I needed a career growth plan that took this into account. I needed to define career success for myself and learn how to align my passion with my career ambitions.
I created "When Are You Going To Get A Real Career: A Guide to Designing a Career You Would Be Proud Of!" as a way to help those looking for guidance and a blueprint on career success. This book is a roadmap for millennials of color starting out in their career and for the experienced executive crafting their next move. Shared stories and experiences provide insightful knowledge and steps for anyone navigating different aspects of their career.
Melissa James is the Chief Growth Officer at IBIS Consulting Group. She works in partnership with executives to design and implement Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategies to help their organizations grow into their diversity best practices.
