Understanding biases helps build authentic relationships, keynote speaker says

To advance racial equity in the workplace, money managers need to focus on building authentic relationships with their employees, Tina Opie, an associate professor in management at Babson College, told attendees at Pensions & Investments' Future of Asset Management conference in New York on Dec. 12.

By being adept and fluent in diversity, equity and inclusion, managers can become better leaders and make their firms "better places to work," she added.

Among the firms recognized in P&I's 2023 Best Places to Work in Money Management program, 103 winners said they have formal recruiting and retention programs designed for people of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Based on the 2020 U.S. census, about 62% of the population identified as white.

But DEI remains a pressing issue in the industry, with 91 of the 113 firms that provided race demographics reporting that at least 62% of their employees identified as white.

Employers have rolled out initiatives to address the issue, but Opie noted that they "can't just get positive outcomes" by "putting people who are different into the same workplace."

Rather than keeping conversations about race, ethnicity and culture "behind closed doors," firms need to bring these talks out for public discourse, Opie said. But to initiate these discussions without ending up in a "bloodbath," employers "have to be equipped" with the right tools such as vulnerability and trust, which she shared in a book she co-authored titled "Shared Sisterhood: How to Take Collective Action for Racial and Gender Equity at Work."

The professor, who holds a doctorate in management, was the keynote speaker at the conference, which was held as part of the Best Places to Work program.

Opie said she often finds that "when individuals try to connect and act in the workplace, they may sometimes skip over an important step" — digging into their personal biases and assumptions. If individuals do not confront their internal beliefs, "it can be really challenging" to have authentic relationships, she added.

"We often deny that we have biases because we want to be liked by our co-workers," Opie said. "We want to be accepted."

Opie asked attendees to quickly write down 10 statements that start with the words "I am" and share them out loud. She encouraged them to challenge their identity, as if they were holding up an object, turning it around and analyzing it from different angles.

Statements from attendees included "I am a (human resources) leader" and "I am a beautiful Black woman."

While some people may be "buzzing with energy and happy" while doing this exercise, she noted others may feel "uncomfortable." To Opie, the discomfort is a "signal" to write down that feeling and dig into where it is coming from. From there, individuals exchange how they feel, discuss it, develop deeper connections and advance their organization.

To make DEI initiatives more effective, Opie said both leaders and employees have to be on the same page, too.

"There have been instances where the executive leadership team, CEO and managing partners have bought into this idea, but it hasn't waterfalled yet throughout the organizations," so employees are left unaware, she added. She noted some organizations "create and develop initiatives without talking to the groups they're ostensibly helping."

Opie asked attendees to assess what employees have said, but this was "not a call to do another survey," as BPTW winners have done.

If leaders went back into the responses they've already collected from employees through surveys and focus groups, the professor said they will see they "have enough data already," so they "could have a better understanding of what some people from historically marginalized groups actually want."

After the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in a June 29 ruling, some employers began to worry about whether workplace programs meant to promote diversity would be affected and open up potential legal challenges.

But Opie said many organizations are "overreacting to the ruling," noting that Title VII — which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color religion, sex and national origin — is still legal.

"Quotas are illegal, by the way — I need everyone to understand that," she added. "DEI initiatives have never said you need to have this percentage of these people. That is illegal, but (Title VII) has said we can consider the different backgrounds that people have."

After all, coming together as a more diverse team is what she said the titular concept of her book is all about — how people can "have these conversations," "elevate each other," "help each other," "be honest and sober about these discussions rather than driven by emotions." In the end, heterogeneous organizations will have a "competitive advantage," she added.

"That's a long-winded answer to say yes — (diversity) matters," she said.