Lead with Compassion - Diversity

business model communitiy compassion diversity leader leadership policy staffing

You have heard the term: A square peg in a round hole....

When leaders are faced with the issue of having a "square peg in a round hole", they often reject the square peg and try to find a round peg or they try to get the get the square peg to adapt to the round hole. But, what if leaders adjusted the hole instead, thus allowing the square peg to fit into a square hole?

In this analogy, the "peg" is an employee. Organizational leaders most often focus on screening out the "square pegs" or they force-fit conformance via corporate policies, striving for a sense of workforce uniformity . But what if leaders instead adjusted their business models (the round holes) to accept a more diverse mix of employees and employee needs.

I'm not talking about relaxing process compliance, but I am talking about widening company policies so businesses could employ a broader diversity of people groups. For example, can businesses better support the needs of single moms? Can businesses operate based on employee dictated flex-schedules? Are there more cultural holidays that we need to recognize? Can companies provide more time-off? A better work-life balance? Are there improved methods to incentivize skill development? Can companies increase output in the winter months so that employees can be home with their children during the summer months? Can older employees cut back on their work hours as they near retirement? Can companies partner with the local communities in order to more flexibly staff their operations?

Sports teams, ones that develop into championship dynasties, are successful at adjusting to team diversity. In these organizations, the game strategy revolves around the skills and diversity of the players, not around fixed coaching schemes. When players retire or get traded, the team develops a new approach. One that reflects the new team dynamics and diversity of talent.

However in the business world, it seems like operating models haven't changed much since the industrial revolution. We seem to be stuck in concrete. Covid forced some changes and many businesses adopted minor changes thereafter, but otherwise, no big revolutionary changes to our operating models have occurred in over 100 years.

Diversity can be strange! Or diversity can be interesting! Our perception is our choice!

Diversity is what makes our world interesting. We enjoy a diversity of foods, books, art, music, clothing styles, animals landscapes and yes; people. However the problem we sometimes have with diversity, is that we as humans like to categorize and standardize everything. It is difficult for us to adjust our rules and change our stereotypes.

An example of this is reflected generationally. Each new generation comes along and adopts new styles of music, fashion, hairstyles and lifestyles. Meanwhile, each older generation condemns the new generation for its widened diversity. When we don't understand something that is "different", our tendency is to reject it.

Unfortunately, leaders can have these blind spots too. They try to get their employees to adopt the work schedules and policies of the company (aka - make the peg round). However, by doing so, the leader can actually hinder company performance. Rigidity in the face of diversity shuts downs opportunity and closes business doors. Instead leaders should be embracing the diversity of thought, culture and lifestyle. It is always better to keep our eyes-wide-open, become visionary leaders and to nimbly adapt our operations to fit into a world of great diversity.

A Case Study: Fah Chen

Fah Chen* was a production worker at a plant that I managed. Fah worked at this plant for over 10 years. She was a great worker, consistently fast and very quality conscience. She was very quiet and kept to herself. Fah performance reviews always reflected solid performance. Any supervisor would be happy to have Fah on their team.

One day Fah came to my office crying. Her father passed away and to make matters worse, Fah’s father lived in Thailand, and it would take Fah two weeks to travel to Thailand, make arrangements and travel back. However, our company policy allowed for only 3-days of bereavement leave. As such, our HR Department’s first reaction was to terminate Fah if she didn’t comply with our bereavement policy. They told her she could reapply for employment when she returned. When Fah came to my office, she was crying not only about the loss of her father, but also, the loss of her job.

When Fah came to talk to me, I listened and told her I would talk to HR about the situation and see what we could do to help here during this difficult time. After Fah left my office, I called our Human Resource Manager (Linda*) and made an appointment for us to talk. So that afternoon, I met Linda in her office and we discussed Fah’s situation. Linda explained that our Bereavement Policy was clear and that it only allowed for 3-days paid leave for a death in the family of a close relative. One day for more distant relatives.

I said that I understand the policy but it wouldn’t make sense to terminate an employee who needs to travel overseas to attend a family funereal. I explained to Linda that this situation is bound to happen again. We had an extremely diverse workforce with employees having roots from all over the world. I asked if there was any way to modify the policy to include unpaid leave for extenuating circumstances such as Fah's. I proposed 3 days of paid leave and up to two weeks of unpaid leave. After some conversation, Linda agreed that my proposal made sense. However, she said, that Fah would be terminated if she didn’t return to work within that time frame. We both agreed and Linda said that she would create a letter stating this and that Fah would need to sign the letter. Linda also agreed to update our company's bereavement policy.

Fah happily signed the letter, departed to Thailand for her father’s services and returned on time to maintain her employment status.

Case Study: Leadership Summary

Being a Strong Leader: Being a strong leaders requires that we consistently enforce company policies. Inconsistent application creates employee discontentment and an air of favoritism. Ignoring certain policies makes the company leadership appear weak. Managers don't have the decision making space to decide what policies to enforce and which ones to ignore. If there is a written policy, managers are required to know it and enforce it. Strong leaders enforce policies using a wide set of leadership tools, including training, one-on-one conversations, team meetings and formal corrective action steps. So be a strong leader and enforce your companies policies.

Being Compassionate: Being a compassionate leader doesn't mean being a weak leader. It means being a good leader. When policy enforcement feels wrong, it probably is. When policy enforcement doesn't feel like the right thing to do, take a deep dive into the situation and consider whether or not there is an extenuating circumstance. Ask yourself, "Is there something different about this situation whereas the policy fails to meet it's intent?". Does an employee need your help to resolve an issue instead of a cold-hearted reminder of a policy? If you are faced with situations where things are not so cut-and-dry, take a step back before acting. Talk to the employee and get their input. Consider if there are extenuating circumstances to consider. Talk to your Human Resource Manager and explore options to resolve the problem in a way that helps the employee and supports your company's objectives. Being a strong leader and being a compassionate leader can go hand-in-hand.

Build a Business Model with Policies that Embraces Diversity!

Every community reflects a diverse group of people and employers are smack-dab in the middle of this great diversity. When company leaders decide to build their business model around the diversity that exists within their community, that business will become the region's employer of choice and they will surely have a competitive advantage. They will excel at staffing, retention, training and business flexibility. They experience greater profit and more favorable long-term growth.

Throughout my 35-year leadership career, I’ve come to realize that good leadership always yields what is in the best interest of the company, the employees as a group and the employees as individuals. Effectively managing a diverse group of employees requires an open mind, wisdom, energy and managerial courage. It is easy to be an uncaring manager and to always make the textbook decision - decisions that may ignore the needs of the individual. However it is also wrong to be overly sympathetic to one employee or another, in which case you may fail to represent what is in the best interest of your company.

Spending personal energy to find a way to accomplish win-win outcomes is no-doubt exhausting. But it is also the right thing to do. I think that leaders who don't take the time to do both, aren't leaders at all. So be a leader and find that balance in every messy situation. Support employees who are faced with extenuating circumstances. Do what is right for the company and the employee. It rarely needs to be an either/or outcome. It is possible to be a strong leader and to be a compassionate leader and to do both at the same time.