The Importance of Embracing Diversity at Your Credit Union

Whenever I walk into a department store, I can always find the beauty products I need – ivory-colored makeup, hair products for my straight blonde hair and Band-Aids for my fair skin. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Growing up in the small, mostly homogeneous town of Tillamook, Ore., living without these things never crossed my mind until I took a sociology class in college, where we discussed racial, gender and economic inequities, and the topic of everyday conveniences, such as the simple act of finding a Band-Aid or makeup to match your skin tone, came up.

It’s not that I didn’t think racism existed, it’s just that I was oblivious to it because it was never in my face. The world had, up to that point, accommodated my whiteness in a way that did not force me to think about race. To put it bluntly, I was extremely naïve.

The sociology class opened my eyes to so many things, and I realized I had been suffering from a huge knowledge gap. That pushed me on a trajectory of learning more about different races and cultures. A few years later, I spent a summer in Accra, Ghana, where I interned at a television station. After graduating from college, I moved to Washington, D.C. (which, as I’ve mentioned many times before, is a busy and diverse city full of people from all over the world). The cultural vibrancy is one of the reasons why I enjoy living in this city.

Being exposed to diversity has given me an opportunity to learn about people who’ve had experiences drastically different from my own, but I’ve also witnessed incidents that prove racial and gender discrimination is still a huge problem in this country.

While exploring the topic of workplace discrimination with an African American co-worker, she shared the following experience: Prior to meeting with the city mayor, the CEO of her company asked her if she was going to keep her hair natural or straighten it to look more presentable.

This microaggression, transmitted through a subliminal message, is that her natural hair texture, which is inextricably linked to her racial identity, isn’t professional and that being in her natural state of existence wasn’t OK.

My coworker recalled another experience she had while giving a presentation, during which attendees let her know they were surprised by how articulate and intelligent she was. She said they were initially concerned when they saw her name, which they had deemed a “black name.”

Racism and gender quality are topics people don’t often want to discuss. It can be uncomfortable and painful, but ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. Furthermore, never having been discriminated against doesn’t mean discrimination doesn’t exist; it just means you’ve been lucky or simply oblivious.

And failing to address these types of issues in the workplace will eventually impact your credit union’s culture and bottom line.

Ronaldo Hardy, president/CEO for the $101 million Southwest Louisiana Credit Union in Lake Charles, La., said now more than ever, consumers are becoming more aware of how they’re directing their dollars, and are looking for representation when deciding to do business with an organization. Additionally, a 2017 Forbes article said, “Companies that have more diverse management teams have 19% higher revenue due to innovation.”

“On the consumer side, it affects us because now people are more in tune. They want to know, if I’m going to do business with this credit union, does this credit union communicate a value proposition that’s centered on diversity, inclusion and equity,” Hardy said.

We’ve seen several high-profile companies recently that failed to live up to this and paid for it.

In 2017, Uber’s CEO resigned after Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer, posted an in-depth blog post about the hostile work environment toward women at the company. In January 2018, several mutual funds dropped their estimates on the value of Uber, according to a Recode article.

In a 2018 incident, Papa John’s Founder John Schnatter resigned after using the n-word during a conference call. Soon after, the Miami Marlins said it was suspending all business relations with the brand. In the last year, the company’s stocks have lost half their value, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The credit union industry is not immune to this type of scandal. Hardy said within the industry, we’ve seen about four to five high-profile, viral stories centered around issues that dealt with race. The majority of the incidents offended consumers directly, and some took place in the workplace.

So what can credit unions do?

Hardy said it’s important for credit unions to develop an intentional strategy on diversity, inclusion and equity. Part of that strategy is ensuring the organization reflects the broader community.

It’s also critical to assess the ways you’re recruiting. Hardy said it’s important to go to people where they are. For example, if you’re looking for African American candidates, Hardy suggests forming partnerships with local Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He also said it’s important to be thoughtful of how job descriptions are written and ensure they’re not just tailored to one type of race or gender. Hardy noted when he puts out a job advertisement, he’s considerate of how it’s written, specifically regarding what type of terminology is used, whether it appeals to a broader audience and where the advertisement is placed. He emphasized it’s important to talk to potential employees in a manner that makes them feel like you want to have them on board.

Hardy said he promotes a culture of openness in his credit union where people can respectfully discuss various issues. He added it’s important for people to be aware of cultural sensitivities. If a credit union’s leadership doesn’t know how to develop a plan for diversity or have conversations about cultural sensitivities, he encouraged them to hire a consultant to do it for them.

Embracing diversity in the workplace leads to diverse perspectives and points of view. It means decisions aren’t just made by a homogenous group of people. A recent article by Real Business said it best:

“If everyone were the same, the world would be a boring place, and it’s important in business to always be progressing and innovating. Put simply, diversity equals creativity. If everyone on your team was from the same background, of a similar age or gender, they would likely have similar ways of thinking. Which is perfect for autonomy, but not for creativity.”

It continued, “A diverse workforce will bring different ideas and new ways of thinking to the table. They’ll be able to better serve your client or customer base. Members of staff that come from a range of backgrounds will have had different experiences, giving them a greater understanding of different points of views. This can be useful for empathizing or problem solving in various situations, offering more tailored support to clients or customers. What’s more, supporting diversity opens you up to a bigger talent pool. If you are recruiting with a strict set of criteria in mind, you could be losing out on talented candidates. By widening the search and embracing diversity, you could find your perfect recruit.”

So what will your credit union do to improve diversity? Send me your stories to the email below.

Tahira Hayes is a correspondent-at-large for CU Times. She can be reached at thayes@cutimes.com.