Want to retain BIPOC Leaders and Staff? Fix Systemic Issues
Happy employees stay at their jobs longer. When the estimated cost to hire a new employee and get them up to speed is 3-4x the position’s salary (according to SHRM), it just makes business sense to retain your staff.
What makes employees happy?
A sense of belonging inside their company’s culture.
Being given the same opportunities to contribute as their counterparts.
Seeing leaders in positions of power who are from similar racial backgrounds as them (to inspire their own career journey).
I’ve coached many Black professionals working in complex organizations who feel a sense of isolation being the One and Only. I personally know what that feels like, too. It’s tough when you have limited common bonds with the people you work with.
Don’t get me wrong – people will still show up at work to the best of their ability.
But if another great opportunity comes along … why would they stay, if they’re not intentionally included and made to feel “part of”?
3 First Steps to Retaining BIPOC Staff
What can your organization do differently to retain BIPOC staff?
Look into the fairness of their full workload. I remember being asked to serve on just about every hiring panel because the organization needed a Black person to check the racial diversity quota box. But that meant I had extra work compared to my white counterparts. And for some, that can mean that because others are able to spend more time on the actual work they were being measured against, they often get rated higher.
Provide equitable opportunities for visible recognition, such as joint duty assignment credits in the government space or being a staff representative for an advocacy coalition in the nonprofit space. (And, if this is extra work outside their normal day-to-day activities, reward them with a bonus.) A lack of visibility doesn’t mean a lack of skill. Help your BIPOC staff get “out there” to support their promotion pathways and moving up the pay band scale.
Offer personal development, mentorship, training, and coaching (ideally from a coach with similar lived experiences). This level of support helps team members identify their unique strengths, needs, and personal growth plans to bolster team performance. People tend to be specialists early in their career – they’re good at one thing. But you can train people to learn new skillsets.
While that may be obvious, I’ve often heard “Well, they don’t have that specific expertise so they’re not a fit for this promotion.” Interestingly, I rarely heard that comment when a hiring manager wanted to bring on somebody who looked like them.
3 First Steps to Support Your BIPOC Leaders
So what about those who have already moved into leadership positions? I've coached dozens of Black leaders in the government and nonprofit sector. None of them wanted or expected special opportunities just because of their race. They simply wanted their qualifications to match an appropriate level of opportunities:
They wanted to be properly supported (and respected) by management and given the resources necessary to lead, like their counterparts.
They wanted supervisors to start the promotion conversation around qualifications and transferable skills, not where they’d potentially miss the mark.
They wanted to walk into a boardroom and feel welcomed, not asked "Are you lost?” Or “Can you take notes?"
When people with racial identities that have been historically underrecognized and excluded gain more opportunities, every single person benefits.
Complex organizations have an elephant in the room when it comes to DEI: some leaders think more opportunities for BIPOC leaders means less opportunities for them.
But that's just not the case. Fixing these systemic cultural issues will lead to more dynamic teams because everybody will have a better experience at work, leading to retention, leading to organizational cohesion and vitality.