Allyship is a word we hear a lot of these days. In fact, at Hootsuite we found that the term has been mentioned almost 1 million times across social media channels in the last year.
That’s commensurate with the recent traumas we have felt and witnessed, particularly in vulnerable communities that need more allies. Along with the pandemic came the police killings that reignited the Black Lives Matter movement, a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, calls for accountability from a history of colonization, marginalization, and violence against Indigenous peoples, and much more.
Allyship cannot stop now. By definition, acting in allyship is an active, ongoing practice. It involves the incredibly difficult work of unlearning and re-evaluating, in which a person of privilege works in solidarity and partnership with a marginalized group of people to help take down the systems that challenge that group’s basic rights, equal access, and ability to thrive in our society.
For many of us trying to make sense of the past year and a half, the way we think about the role of employers and colleagues has changed forever. It’s been a time of learning but also an important time of unlearning the past. When I hear of companies going back to “normal” in any way shape or form, I worry for their employees and for society. The learnings from the past year cannot and should not be taken for granted or ignored.
Whether your company is starting from scratch or diving deeper into an allyship journey already embarked upon, here are nine ways you can think about catalyzing meaningful change within your organization.
Unconscious bias training is critical. But there is more to this journey than changing people. It is about tearing down, adding, or changing your structures. Think about this work as assembling a building. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leaders are builders who, with the help of architects and engineers (industry experts and partners), are creating a building that will outlast their time at an organization.
One critical component to getting help on the architecture of DEI programs is to lean on consultants and partners. Ensure that you are not asking your underrepresented groups to take on the emotional labor of educating, designing, or helping you without paying them for it.
Understanding where you are is critical to understanding where you are going. Focus first on retaining your underrepresented talent before trying to attract new talent.
It’s essential to think about the employee journey from the very beginning of the candidate phase. When we think about the employee lifecycle as something that starts before someone is even hired with an organization, we realize that there are some great ways to ensure DE&I is baked into the hiring process.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are infinite journeys that by now should be table stakes in every organization. But it’s allyship that plays the most crucial role in ensuring these efforts aren’t limited to the HR department.
HR leaders often are made the owners of DEI initiatives. However, it’s a team sport. To make sure it’s seen that way:
Unlearning something means getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and confronting ugly truths. To start or continue the unlearning process within your organization, cultivate a culture that empowers employees to speak up and discuss issues of allyship.
When organizations openly share and encourage conversation about the results of surveys or third-party audits, we are all reminded that the end goal is not about shiny results. It’s about enacting incremental and consistent progress together.
I often think about how our leaders can provide employees with the tools they need to speak up and share their stories. As a leader, this shouldn’t happen on occasion; it should be a daily practice in virtual meetings, brainstorming sessions, company all-hands meetings and really, at any chance you get.
A great way to advocate for employees in underrepresented groups is by decentering yourself to elevate their visibility.
At Hootsuite, CEO Tom Keiser and I host listening sessions with employees to have open conversations about how we can better support them as an executive team. If you are considering rolling out a listening session series with your executive team:,
A key pillar of supporting allyship is supporting the mental health of your people. In 2021, the discussion of benefits and employee wellbeing has become less reactive and more proactive. You can get started on your own benefits overhaul by:
People are the lifeblood of any business and need to be allowed (and encouraged) to bring their entire selves to work. In doing so, they can become better allies to each other. The struggles that people at work are going through are the struggles of the entire organization. A workplace must provide the space, time, and resources employees need to seek solutions and combat those challenges, and take on the simple complexities of life, via effective leadership and mentorship, time off, and flexible benefits.
Societal conversations about racism, bigotry, marginalization, and hate have presented a very raw vulnerability for companies that shine a light on age-old practices that need to be redefined. That can be uncomfortable. But the wonderful thing about vulnerability is that it presents an opportunity for growth and change.
