Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Listen to voices across an organization
Last week, enterprise software maker Basecamp announced several changes, including banning societal and political discussions. As CEO Jason Fried wrote, “These are difficult enough waters to navigate in life, but significantly more so at work. It’s become too much. It’s a major distraction.”
When I first read the announcement, I thought to myself, “What event caused the CEO to take this stand?” I found the answer in What really happened at Basecamp. Employees had discussed an internal list of “funny-sounding” customer names, how the list was inappropriate and often racist, and how the company should hold itself accountable.
In other…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Combat the “halo-horns” effect
In How One Company Worked to Root Out Bias from Performance Reviews, I learned a new term: “halo-horns.”
“The ‘halo-horns’ effect [is] where white men are artificially advantaged … because they get halos (where one strength is generalized into an overall high rating) whereas other groups get horns (where one mistake is generalized into an overall low rating).”
To combat this effect, the study’s authors recommend that performance review forms require at least three pieces of evidence to back ratings. This change, coupled with training on how the bias showed up in previous reviews, made a difference. …
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. See the light, yet share their fear
On Tuesday, a jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd. As President Biden tweeted, the verdict “can be a giant step forward on the march towards justice in America.” While I’m hopeful that there is light ahead of us, we still have much to do. And as a white woman, here’s just one thing I’m focused on: Doing the work to understand the fear faced by Black people and others who are marginalized in America as they navigate their daily lives.
In a recent Fortune RaceAhead newsletter, Ellen McGirt provided some insight into one of…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Understand your privilege
I’ve written about the “p-word” in previous newsletters, and it’s time to do so again because it’s one of the first steps in the ally journey.
At its core, privilege is a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group. Due to our race, class, gender, sexual orientation, language, geographical location, ability, religion, and more, all of us have greater or lesser access to resources and social power.
Here’s the thing: Privilege is often invisible to those who have it. This means that people can get defensive when someone mentions their privilege. Having one’s…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Don’t dismiss racism against AAPI employees
Last Friday, I attended “Tech for AAPI Rally,” a virtual event to understand violence and racism against tech employees of Asian and Pacific Island descent. During a panel discussion of how allies can lead change, Bloomberg tech journalist Tom Giles shared the following:
“There is a tendency and a temptation to minimize the problems that are faced by the Asian community … that ‘they’re doing fine.’ It gets back to the model minority myth. … When you think about oppressed groups…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Disrupt the schmoozing advantage
In Schmoozing And The Gender Gap, NPR’s Planet Money team reported on recent research from economists Zoe Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia about why men rise in their careers faster than women. By studying a bank where employees rotated among departments, working for different managers, they found a clear advantage for men who worked for male managers. They socialized more and were promoted faster than men assigned to women managers. By contrast, women in the rotational program socialized with their manager at the same rate, regardless of the manager’s gender, and had similar career progression.
Interestingly, after men were promoted, their…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Know when to walk away from cash
On the journey to be better allies, there will be times we need to make hard decisions. After all, change starts with each of us as individuals. So, we should ask ourselves: How do we want to operate? How should we treat people? Would we turn down business or investments because of creepy behavior? Would we dismiss our top sales executive after disciplining him for harassment? What are the deals we won’t do because they conflict with our values? When will we walk away from cash?
Walking away from cash was exactly what Professor Luke Stark did recently when he…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Advocate for women’s physical safety
“The spread of COVID-19 has been followed by two horrible, hateful trends: a shadow pandemic of violence against women and a surge of violence against Asian Americans.” — Melinda Gates, March 17, 2021
In early March, Sarah Everard disappeared while walking home in South London. Last week, her body was found. A few days ago in Atlanta, a gunman killed eight people in three spas. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.
And that’s not all. After multiple rape allegations against members of Parliament, people across Australia are marching for gender equality and justice for victims of sexual…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
1. Guide new employees on how to survive and thrive
On Sunday evening, my Twitter feed filled with reactions to Oprah’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. I found much of it heartbreaking and even infuriating. The next day, I was still processing it all when I read my friend Dr. Suzanne Wertheim’s summary, I hear stories like Meghan Markle’s every day in my anti-bias work. The parallels are chilling and important for allies to understand.
Here’s just one.
Duchess problems: Markle asked for training on the technical aspects of and protocols for her new job. “The firm” did not provide that training.
Regular problems: I hear about…
Each week, Karen Catlin shares five simple actions to create a more inclusive workplace and be a better ally.
March is Women’s History Month, and I decided it would be fitting to focus this week’s newsletter on what all too often falls on women’s shoulders: Office Housework.
Every workplace has office housework — tasks that need to get done but don’t impact the bottom line. Chances are they don’t lead to career growth; they may even impact it negatively. The most obvious example of office housework is taking the minutes at a meeting if that’s not part of one’s job description. (As a former program manager and epic notetaker, I know the value of good notes. I’m not diminishing…
Better Allies®
Everyday actions to create inclusive, engaging workplaces. Together, we can — and will — make a difference with the Better Allies® approach.
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