The Importance of Seeing Beyond Who You See

 

This study caught my eye, which looks at male manager's decisions right after the birth of a kid, particularly comparing when it's a girl versus when it's a boy. When it's a girl, women's employment and salaries in the firm go up, primarily because those managers, when faced with equally qualified job candidates, are choosing females more often, ostensibly because they are more attuned to wanting women to have more opportunities as they now have one in their own household. The study also notes that firm performance neither goes up nor down, consistent with the fact that while they are substituting female hires for male hires, they are selecting people with similar characteristics.

All well and good, right? Yes, it is good for people to be more attuned to other groups once those "others" are no longer "other" but family. It is my understanding that gay rights advanced quite quickly once our society reached a tipping point of most people having a gay person as a family member or close friend. This is a wonderful way for progress to happen, and we should celebrate it.

But, coming back to the manager's perspective, we must be careful to not limit ourselves in this way. I've heard it said that when men say something like "as a dad of daughters, I condemn violence against women," some people find the sentiment lacking, for while they are glad for the allyship, they wonder why the desire to stand in solidarity with women first requires that a man has daughters. 

Furthermore, this connection between "I have a daughter" and "I will advocate for women in the workforce" can have limits that work against making a workplace more inclusive. If I am Asian, it is natural for me to see my daughter in my Asian female co-workers and more easily seek to advocate for them, and there is nothing wrong with that. But if it causes me to have greater distance in being able to do the same for other, non-Asian female co-workers, that doesn't seem quite right.

I think it's why, in HR circles, the notion of "this person is a great fit" or "this person just wasn't a great fit" is so fraught. "Fit" can speak to an aspect of corporate culture that is important to a firm that isn't for everyone, and that's ok, since not every workplace is appropriate for every job candidate. But, if it becomes code for gravitating to or only hiring people who look like me or who resemble people in my social circle, that is necessarily limiting even for those with vast personal networks. 

It is normal to more naturally empathize with those with whom you have some personal connection, like women after you become a girl dad, or golfers if you like to golf. But, good managers seeking great firm performance and great work culture should be intentional about stretching to hire and support people very different from themselves and from who they normally interact with. 

To return to the study above, in that case firm performance was the same when substituting more female hires for more male hires. In the real world, by definition the broader the labor pool the more likely you will find better candidates. If you artificially or unknowingly limit your labor pool you will miss out on better candidates, and therefore you will miss out on a better team and better results. Easier said than done, but still needs to be done.