Beyond Colouring Crayons

“Hada-iro” – means skin colour in Japanese and is synonymous with the colour peach. Similarly, in English, if someone says “skin colour” what comes to mind? Probably the peach shade in the pack of crayons you had as a child. This dominant concept of skin colour only represents white skinned people and excludes the rest. Such lack of representation for people of colour, is only the tip of the iceberg and points to a deeper issue, lack of representation more widely, be that in media, politics and importantly, the workplace.

I spoke with Nina Cataldo, a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Facilitator to understand more about D&I in the professional sphere. 

What does Diversity and Inclusion mean? 

Vernā Myers says, “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” But it’s more than just a party, diversity means representation of the full spectrum of the human demographic including differences in race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status or disability.

In the workplace this means having women, people of colour and different socio-economic backgrounds and identities represented and importantly, included at the boardroom meeting. As the Harvard Business Review article explains,

"In the context of the workplace, diversity equals representation. Without inclusion, however, the crucial connections that attract diverse talent, encourage their participation, foster innovation, and lead to business growth won't happen." 

Why should companies prioritise Diversity & Inclusion?

There are several reasons. When there are more diverse opinions in a room, decision-making is improved. Different voices express different demands in the market, inviting them to the conversation leads to more sound, demographic-reflective company policy. Second, by creating a safe and representative space, employees from all walks of life feel more invested in, less likely to take time off work and are encouraged to stay when they feel valued at work. Finally, from a pure profit perspective, there is significant evidence showing the increased profit seen in more diverse companies.

Quantamental Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, analyzed the Russell 3000 companies from 2002-2019 and found out that those companies with female CFOs generated $1.8 trillion more in gross profit than the sector average. These companies had, on average, bigger stock price returns relative to firms with male CFOs during the executives' first 24 months in the role. 

Facilitating D&I Conversations

Nina Cataldo, a mixed-raced, white-passing woman was inspired to facilitate D&I discussions because of her personal experience being hafu, (half Japanese) in Japan. Starting in 2017, she has been developing workshops and events about the hafu experience and founded the Hafu Ladies Group designed to foster a global community for half Japanese women.

During her time at Peace Boat, she was given the opportunity to extend her reach and continue the D&I conversation on board. She continues to facilitate D&I conversations with the focus of marginalized communities in Japan. She explained to me how she facilitates discussions about race and inclusion in companies, most recently working with NHK. In the first of a series of internal workshops, she and her co-facilitator Joe Oliver, led a workshop for 123 producers, directors and news anchors, with the majority of people joining online.

“It’s important not to just throw information at people, but really make them think and dig deeper,”

In order to do this, Nina advises using interactive activities and creating safe spaces for open discussions where participants are asked to reflect on their own ingrained biases. Through her workshops, Nina’s goal is to “put the audience in the shoes of marginalized communities or those who are discriminated against.” 

Joe Oliver, Nina’s workshop partner, who is half Japanese and half Afro-American, asked the NHK audience, “Which crayon would you use to draw me?” Black, peach, yellow were the presented options in the spectrum of crayon shades.

More Diverse Product Ranges

Nina and I discussed how different the reactions may be between children and adults. Adults usually want to be very precise, proposing to mix colour or wary to even choose a colour at all. Whereas, children tend to be more relaxed and choose whichever colour they think is best, even if faced with a limited pallet. Such differences show the constant conditioning we undergo as we grow up developing the unconscious biases in society that turns the seemingly simple question of skin-colour into a highly politicized matter. 

In May of this year Crayola, the leading colouring crayon brand, announced their release of a new range of crayons on UN World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, containing 24 or 32 new colours that represent more than 40 skin tones across the world. Just two months ago, Band-Aid owned by Johnson & Johnson announced their diverse colour range of Band-Aids, giving consumers more than just white skin-tone as an option. Many of these more diverse product ranges have been instigated by public criticism. Due to the recent rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, the consumer is more educated than ever. It seems companies are starting to listen to the consumer demands for greater representation in all aspects of society.

So, how can this be applied to the workplace? 

How to implement Diversion & Inclusion in the Workplace 

I asked Nina about the ways in which we can implement D&I in the workplace.  One option is to bring in experienced consultants or facilitators to offer a fresh perspective. In heavily homogenous companies, there can be a lack of diverse perspectives and experiences. Being able to invest in Diversity & Inclusion training through an external party will give us access to new information and greater awareness. Working with NHK employees, Nina and Joe are tackling issues around unconscious biases and microaggressions, and giving participants a platform to share and learn from one another. 

All this sounds great, but how can companies practically apply D&I?

Nina suggests using anonymous surveys to gain statistical evidence of employee experiences. Often, microaggressions can be a personal and internalised experience and often occur between people of different workplace status’ making it more difficult to call out. Anonymous surveys can measure lived experiences in a way that allows employees to feel comfortable enough to speak up. Then, create spaces for people to share, discuss and educate themselves.

I am proud to say at Wahl+Case, we have been meeting bi-weekly to discuss race and how to unlearn unconscious bias. Using tools from Rachel Cargle, The Great Unlearn creates talking points to structure our discussions productively. Although this is a free resource, paying BIPOC, (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) educators is necessary for meaningful inclusion. To prevent tokenism, Nina emphasises: “It is so important to empower multi-voices in discussions and re-visit conversations to constantly evaluate progress.”

Like all business strategies, D&I, too, should be consistently re-evaluated using measurables and action points in order to achieve progress.

Joselene Katayama
Associate | Enterprise Technology

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