As an African American man, I am acutely aware of the spaces I occupy. I instinctively scan a room, counting the number of people of color and locking eyes with other black people to give the obligatory nod that says I see you.
As I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve made it my mission to create opportunities for more of me to be in rooms where deals are brokered, decisions made, and strategies developed. As T. Rowe Price’s global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), I’m proud to lead a team of professionals responsible for activating our strategy and helping us improve the attraction, development, and retention of our diverse associates.
Creating Access and Opportunity
Research shows that diverse communities and organizations are stronger, richer, and more sustainable. Public sentiment, changing corporate cultures, and client expectations require us to make strides to value difference and equity and to understand the work required to create access and opportunity for all.
From the employee who shares an idea to reduce expenses and enter a new market; to collaboration with a manager that creates scale to build their business; to my own experience joining the industry and feeling safe enough to share ideas, these actions can shift the way we recruit, coach, and support diverse professionals.
Lead by Example
When trying to identify the factors that create sustainable progress toward inclusion, the answer is leadership. More
specifically, leaders who champion DEI initiatives, demonstrate inclusive behaviors, hold themselves and others accountable, and elevate DEI to a business imperative. They set the tone and can drive the culture shift by encouraging different perspectives and prioritizing access and opportunity that truly foster an inclusive workplace. Without this first step, organizations will struggle to move the needle.
We recently launched a Diverse Connections initiative to create a bridge between diverse associates and senior leaders to strengthen their internal networks and relationships, enhance our culture of inclusion, and create visibility to move toward their career ambitions. Our senior leaders also grew their acumen through these relationships and engagements.
Flexing Your DEI Muscle
Like any muscle, lack of use can lead to atrophy. DEI training is a key piece of furthering an individual’s and organization’s DEI journey. We introduced Managing Inclusion, a required inclusive leadership development experience, to strengthen managerial skills for supporting our collaborative culture. Conscious Inclusion is available for non-people leaders globally and is designed to enable inclusive practices across work teams. These trainings complement a suite of learning opportunities to support our global workforce at all stages of their DEI journey.
Accountability
We have an intentional multiyear strategy to grow and support our diverse workforce, engage and develop our associates, sustain and enhance our inclusive culture, and communicate our commitment and progress to stakeholders. With a clear vision, aligned priorities, and a focused direction, our DEI strategy is rooted in accountability. Our associates, as are our partners and peers, are collectively dependent on each other for the success and failure of creating effective change in our industry.
DEI should be the result of strategic planning with dedicated stewards and success metrics to track progress. It is important that we inspect what we expect in both behavior and outcomes. This coupled with internal assessments of an organization’s employee population, culture, talent programs, company policies, and external benchmarking exercises can guide the path to success.
As we all progress in our DEI journeys, I encourage you to challenge systems, policies, and processes that are barriers to inclusion. Consider who you mentor, sponsor, and advocate for. Oftentimes, we are in rooms where our voices can create an opportunity for someone to be seen and add tremendous impact to our shared success.
To learn more about T. Rowe Price and our DEI work, visit troweprice.com/diversity.
