The War for Talent: Should We See Colour​?

“People only see what they are prepared to see.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

About a week ago, I attended a meeting hosted by an organization I volunteer with. Founded in Germany, the organization champions initiatives that provide professional development opportunities to people of colour (BPoC) and promote diversity in the corporate world.

As it is typical during the start of such meetings, we began with a round of introductions. A few people sitting beside me had to introduce themselves before it eventually came to my turn. I kicked it off;

My name is Kingsley, I work in Recruitment Marketing.......

When I was done speaking, I signalled to the lady sitting next to me that it was her turn to introduce herself. And as we soon found out, she was also into recruiting. She was a recruiter who had spent the last couple of years working in large corporates and was about to start her recruitment agency. She shared her background and passion - a person of colour (BPoC) in the recruiting world with a burning desire to see more diversity within the corporate space, and concluded her inspirational introductory speech with the sentence;

In my job, I don't see colour.

For a split second, there was a brief silence. Although I had already had my time speaking before her, I felt a need to again say something after she finished. And from the look on the faces across my table, it was apparent that I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

This was probably no surprise as most people in the meeting were no strangers to the struggles of navigating the professional world as people of colour, and could tell a story or two from our personal experiences.

Colour and Representation: My Experience

It's up to all of us — Black, white, everyone — no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work - Michelle Obama

First, I have to admit that the subject of racial representation in the professional environment is not one of the easiest topics to manoeuvre. Even with all the research and data available, many still struggle with publicly articulating it.

As a person of colour (BPoC) working in talent acquisition in a European headquartered organisation, I usually try to approach it not only from the angle of how we can have more "colour" in the professional workplace but looking into the actions that are necessary to provide opportunities to under-represented and disadvantaged talents. And as it turns out, it's just the case that people of colour (BPoC) are at the moment one of the most under-represented and disadvantaged talents in many organisations across Europe and America.

"Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not." - Leila Janah

I have met dozens of individuals from under-represented communities whom I believe have the talent to succeed in the corporate environment but have never got the chance to actualize their potential or contribute their knowledge and experience due to the lack of opportunities afforded them.

And taking into account how challenging it is nowadays for recruiters and companies to find and retain talent, I think if we proactively make the effort to support these talents that have the passion or skill-set to strive, we can achieve a win-win situation.

I also believe that if companies want to stay competitive especially at a time when people are quitting their jobs in record numbers, it will become even more important to start looking into groups not previously considered. As the data suggests, this does not only help advance diversity within organisations and teams but also makes good business sense.

A 2015 McKinsey report on 366 public companies found that those in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean, and those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to have returns above the industry mean.

On a final note, I am convinced that providing opportunities to under-represented communities and groups isn't just going to be a smart strategy to reduce the existing structural disadvantage of BPoC in the corporate world particularly in Europe and America, but will be the key to making organizations more successful, whatever their business goals might be.

So I moved a little closer to the recruiter lady who was now quietly sitting next to me and whispered to her;

"Actually, you should see colour."