How Managing Diversity Can Limit People of Difference

One of the primary intents of the Managing Diversity programs has been to promote the successful integration of people who have traditionally been marginalized in most organizations. The ultimate goal is to have these people channel their talents and efforts toward the objectives of the organization. But paradoxically, Managing Diversity programs can hinder rather than facilitate attainment of this goal. One example of this paradox is the incentive that rewards managers for hiring and retaining women or persons of color in their departments. Managers receive rewards (or avoid penalties) if they maintain a head count that demonstrates departmental diversity. This can certainly motivate a manager to make that critical hire. But it can also have the unintended consequence of motivating managers to prevent an employee from advancing and moving elsewhere in the company.

At Worldview Studios,* a large multimedia entertainment company, an African American woman named Jolene had been heavily recruited. After nearly two years in the same position, she couldn’t understand why she hadn’t been promoted. Her performance reviews were consistently strong, and she seemed to have a good rapport with her manager and her colleagues. But she realized that she was one of very few women of color in the company and the only one in her department, and as accountability for creating diversity spread through the company, she had become a prized commodity. The diversity-driven incentive structure motivated her manager to keep her in his department as long as possible. Each of her performance reviews included subtle areas for improvement that justified withholding a promotion. Jolene was as talented as ever, but her performance degraded as she learned that no matter how well she did, she wouldn’t be promoted.

A similar dynamic prevents people who are different from moving laterally. An episode of the popular science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation portrayed the dilemma. The U.S.S. Enterprise, the flagship space vessel of an organization known as the United Federation of Planets, had been dispatched to take command of several other ships before an upcoming conflict. Each Enterprise officer was assigned to command a ship—except for the android Commander Data, a sophisticated robot with human form. When he inquired dispassionately about this exclusion (he lacked emotional awareness, so he was exceedingly rational), his captain realized there was no reason not to assign him to a ship. But when Data assumed command, his first officer asked to be reassigned. He didn’t believe an android was capable of commanding a starship.

This science fiction scenario exemplifies the “role-slotting” that occurs in organizations. By virtue of their novelty, “different” people are often misjudged on their competency, thanks to widely held stereotypes about their capabilities. The Japanese are engineers, women are HR professionals, and Australians are social directors. Such stereotypes shape perceptions of the abilities of anyone who is different. They also shape perceptions of what people cannot do. Superiors and colleagues come to see them as competent only in a particular area, even though they may have a tremendous breadth of abilities. And, as was the case for Jolene, the persistent feedback that she couldn’t perform in a different capacity ultimately became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When people in an organization hold stereotyped views about particular groups, Managing Diversity initiatives can inadvertently feed career-limiting behavior by highlighting individuals’ membership in those groups.

Mr. Data the android, by the way, turned out to be a decisive and clever commanding officer, much to the surprise of his subordinates.