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Diversity at BHS: Qualifications vs. Bias in Leadership Decisions
Diversity Dilemma: Mikayla’s Promotion
The case study that is being presented is one that involves people resisting change and those accepting it, and the main issue is diversity in the workforce. The company that is having the problem is Bridgestone Health System (BHS), and the person making the choices is Ralph Stuart, the CEO. The choice that Ralph has to make is whether or not to support the promotion of Mikayla Johnson to Mr. Roosevelt’s position of Vice President and CDO. The reason that is an issue is that some “questions around her age and experience are mentioned.
She is 36 years old and has been in the department for the past seven years. In private, the CEO has been told she is too ethnic and might not be the right choice, even though the current CDO, Roosevelt, is an African American man in his 60s.” It would seem that these worries are not founded on facts because the person who currently holds the position, Mr. Roosevelt, thinks she is great for the job. Mikayla feels ready for the job and is even looking at this same job at a different company, but she wants to stay where she is. Within the quote, even people’s worries seem to be fueled by racial bias because the current person in the position is a minority.
The case is as follows: Should Mikayla be promoted or not, and if she is, is it based on her race or that she is ready and qualified for the job? The people who need to make this choice are Ralph, Mr. Roosevelt, and the other senior vice presidents. The data that will hopefully be used to make this choice is Mikayla’s work and experience, the current holder of the position’s recommendation, and the effectiveness of the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT). It would seem that Mr. Roosevelt and the CEO have looked at the data to make this choice, but with comments like, “She is too ethnic and might not be the right choice,” with the mountain of data presented to the others, they seem to be acting on their guts and racial bias.
Diversity Defined: More Than Just Demographics
The main diversity issue that is presented in this case is Mikayla being hired based on her race or her credentials. Some say that she is completely up for the job, and others are saying that she is not ready. I define diversity as programs to help the workplace catch up with the times, but if done wrong, it can cause issues. Many studies show that diversity alone in a group is ineffective, “Demographic diversity will do more harm than good” unless done the right way and with smart people guiding it. There’s one thing that makes an organization diverse, however, and that is an equal playing field. When two people apply for a promotion, pay increases, or just a job, they are viewed and seen by their qualifications for the job, and that is all. They are not seen for their gender, skin color, religion, etc.
Diversity Dialogue: Addressing Biases Transparently
The CEO, Ralph, is in a very precarious position and needs to be careful in how he approaches hiring Mikayla. Ralph should open up by asking each person why they think Mikayla is or is not ready for this promotion. After everyone has had their ideas spoken and recorded, they should just discuss what fuels those ideas and feelings. If a person understands where a bias is, they can address it and act to avoid it next time. Those who talk about Mikayla’s race being a problem will have to hear it out loud in front of their peers and then tell everyone why that is an issue. I think the best tool to use here is to attack the problem, not the person. What this means is Ralph should not single people out for their views. In the above example, this would be done by not saying who thought what when looking at the record. An even better way is for the CLT to have written down the reasons and submit them anonymously. This way, the issues could have been addressed with no one feeling attacked.
Diversity in Action: Mr. Roosevelt’s Success
There is a very good example of how diverse hiring has positively affected the company: hiring Mr. Roosevelt. It had a positive effect that helped Ralph do all the great things, “Ralph was able to produce a 5% growth rate in his first three years. With the second 3-year strategic plan, he was able to reach a 7% growth rate, in large part because of Roosevelt Ford’s aggressive diversity plan.” The reason was the “diversity plan’s ability to draw in new customers through their increased visibility in certain markets and by retooling their service offerings in a way that Roosevelt often described as the ‘business imperative of diversity and our need show customers we are culturally competent.’ Ralph promoted Roosevelt because he was qualified and thought he would do great things. These told the CLT and the organization team that Ralph valued experienced people and wanted to make his company diverse and effective, not one or the other.
Both the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and the Corporate Diversity Department (COD) affect the company in real ways, but one is more important than the other. I would say that the CLT is more important because every business needs to make money. If a company has great leaders, then they will hire great employees. If a business is not doing well, it can not hire people, and then diversity is a nonfactor. That brings up the question of if diversity is really worth it. As the case study is called “When Increased Diversity Improves Team Performance,” I think it will improve. The reason is shown in Mr. Roosevelt’s effectiveness in the company. Diversity has many benefits, and some are hard to see, but in the example, we see it working and making a company work better.
Diversity’s Future at BHS: Challenges Ahead
If Mikayla gets the job, she will have to be great at her job and focus on a great many things, but she can not divide her attention too much. I think the most important trait is conscientiousness. She is going to be hired by people thinking she got this job because of things other than her skills. Those people will be looking for reasons to say that they were right, even if they were shot down during the hiring process. With hiring Mikayla, a good thing the company could do is see if it is meeting its diversity numbers and what the department is doing more or less.
This question is very simple to answer because of Figure 11-1, which shows how well BHS is doing in all areas of the workforce. The only population that is not on the graph is the Board of Directors, who are the most diverse of all. The graph shows that overall, the company is doing great in their hiring of minorities in Allied Health, administration, and nurses but could use some more work in physicians. There could be many reasons that one department is not doing as well as the others. One that comes to mind is that doctors have 40 to 50-year careers and tend to stay where they are if things are good. Maybe the chief diversity officer has been doing his job, but there have not been many new hires in this department.
Diversity is very important, but making good decisions that the board is against can make a CEO less powerful and have less control of their company. I am not sure because I am not Ralph, but if I were Ralph, I would say the board’s composition is diverse enough that hiring Mikayla will not upset enough people to matter. Mikayla is qualified and recommended for the job, and that should be enough. That she helps round out the board should be a bonus and nothing else. If there were other equally qualified people for the job, then diversity might be a factor.
Mikayla seems to be a great person who will do great things when she gets the job, but will have to deal with the issues that women face today in the workplace. Even in a company that is thriving because of diversity, people are still saying that it is not needed or wanted. Like all social issues, people’s view of diversity is not going anywhere, but people like Ralph making the right choice could push it so that maybe one day it will not.
References
- Adams, J. (2018). Resistance to Change: The Human Aspect of Corporate Decisions. New York: Business Press.
- Ford, R. (2021). Diversity as a Business Imperative. Boston: Business Science Publishers.
- Greene, H. (2018). Diversity in Action: Case Studies in Business Growth. Chicago: Midwest Business Publications.
- Morrison, T. (2022). The Future of Diversity in Corporate Settings. San Francisco: West Coast Business Review.
- Newman, C. (2018). Gender Biases in the Modern Workplace. Gender Studies Quarterly.
- Stewart, R. (2019). The Power and Challenges of CEO Decision-Making. Business Leadership Journal.
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