On Diversity

Continuing the recent theme of hiring and performance management, I want to add a thought on diversity in the workplace.

A few years ago, I went to a seminar on diversity in the workplace. The thesis of the speaker was that very few people intentionally discriminate, but rather that individuals tend to be attracted to those who are like-minded and like-experienced. I’ve seen no hard data on how prevalent this phenomenon is, but I can see how this might happen. People naturally tend to look into their own networks when seeking a vendor, consultant or a job candidate and may be reluctant to stray too far out of their comfort zones.

Knowing that this “like-attracts-like” propensity can be subtle and subconscious, I strive to cast a wide net when making sourcing and hiring decisions and during the decision process I frequently take a step back to see if I have cultivated a sufficiently wide range of options. As it happens, two of my first three permanent hires and six of my first nine temporary hires have been from diverse backgrounds. Moreover, the majority of our billed hours from law firms in the past year have also been worked by attorneys from diverse backgrounds. I can’t take credit for those numbers because I didn’t do anything special to achieve that result, other than to seek as deep a talent pool as possible, and to remain open now and then to trying new approaches.