Summary

The article discusses the inadequacy of traditional mentoring and sponsorship programs in bridging the equity gap in corporate America, advocating for a new approach where business leaders actively champion diverse talent beyond organizational boundaries.

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of mentoring and sponsorship initiatives aimed at promoting diversity in corporate America, the advancement of women, particularly Black women and women of color, remains slow. The article argues that while mentorship and sponsorship are beneficial, they are not enough to address the systemic inequities faced by underrepresented groups. It emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift from sponsorship, which is often confined to a single organization, to a broader form of advocacy known as championing. This involves business leaders using their influence to support and advance the careers of diverse individuals across various companies, thereby creating more significant opportunities and a more inclusive corporate environment. The article underscores the importance of such championing in overcoming unconscious biases and building robust professional networks for those traditionally excluded from executive levels of corporate leadership.

Opinions

Carla Harris from Morgan Stanley is cited emphasizing the necessity of having a sponsor within an organization to ascend professionally.
Women of color report experiencing a lack of influential mentorship, which hinders their career advancement.
The traditional sponsorship model is limited as most employees will change jobs multiple times, and sponsors may be reluctant to advocate for an employee's move to a competing company.
Unconscious bias in the workplace contributes to the perpetuation of a homogeneous executive profile, as leaders tend to sponsor and champion individuals who are similar to themselves.
Women and people of color have less access to 'social capital' compared to their male counterparts, which affects their ability to navigate job transitions and gain promotions.
Sheryl Sandberg's perspective on leadership involves making a lasting impact by improving others and ensuring that impact endures beyond one's presence.
The article suggests that business leaders must intentionally champion diverse talent to foster a more representative workplace and improve organizational performance.

How to Develop Diverse Talent Pools in Corporate America

Why mentoring and sponsorships are falling short in bridging the equity gap

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Ask successful women in corporate America, particularly Black or women of color who have reached senior levels within companies, and they will likely cite mentoring programs and sponsorships as having played a significant role in the advancement of their careers.

LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company’s sixth annual Women in the Workplace report offers compelling data that shows women who are mentored and have the support of sponsors in influential positions often fare better in career promotion, finding work-life balance, and overcoming challenges to staying in the workforce. Accordingly, savvy companies often tout their considerable investments in professional development programs as a demonstration of their commitment to advancing the careers of underrepresented minorities and women in corporate America.

Yet, progress has been slow. Women remain woefully underrepresented within business. They still account for less than half of all entry-level employees, despite representing a majority of college-educated adults for roughly four decades. Further along the corporate pipeline, female representation steadily decreases, from 38% at managerial levels to 21% within the C-Suite.

For women of color, the picture is even bleaker. While men and women of color have equal representation at entry-level positions, men of color perform better over time, making up 12% of corporate C-Suite positions, in comparison to their female counterparts who occupy only 3%. Black women, in particular, are severely underrepresented in senior leadership, occupying only 1.6% and 1.4% of VP and C-suite positions, respectively.

Some corporate executives cite a lack of qualified people of color in the talent pool as the reason for the shortcomings of their organization’s diversity efforts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, however, over 40% of STEM-related technical degrees earned by women between 2015 and 2018 were conferred to women of color.

If lower rates of advancement rates of women is not due to a dearth of capable candidates in the workforce, what is missing?

Sponsorship Alone is not Moving the Needle

Sponsors help an employee get ahead in a company, advocating for their promotion and offering opportunities that help showcase the employee’s abilities. As Carla Harris, Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, said in a 2018 TED Talk, “You are not going to ascend in any organization without a sponsor.”

Even with corporate leadership focused on sponsoring talented individuals, however, women in business report they are 24% less likely than men to get consistent advice from senior leaders. In spite of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, 62% of women of color say the lack of an influential mentor holds them back from advancement and Black women, in particular, report receiving less support, encouragement, and sponsorship from influential mentors throughout their career, according to LeanIn.Org’s 2020 State of Black Women in Corporate America report.

Career Development Reimagined

Rather than relying on the sponsorship model, corporate leadership needs a new way of thinking about driving career development.

Sponsors are tied to a specific organization, often limiting the transferability of career support. The majority of employees, however, no longer stay at one company their entire career. Most will change jobs at least a handful of times in search of new opportunities.

Asking a sponsor to put their professional reputation on the line to advocate on one’s behalf inhibits that employee from approaching the same sponsor 12 months later to ask for help moving on to the next, often competing organization. It is the corporate equivalent of burning bridges.

What people need in overcoming obstacles to career promotion are business leaders who will champion their advancement throughout their career, agnostic of any particular company. If a sponsor helps open doors at one company, a champion helps open many doors.

Champions are people who have broad influence and power and are willing to leverage it for promising individuals by mentoring and providing advice, helping expand and develop their professional and social network, and advocating on that candidate’s behalf. Whereas a sponsor introduces an employee to stretch assignments, a champion introduces them to stretch jobs.

Where are all the Champions?

Corporate America is a vast and competitive world and the development and promotion of an employee in one company does not always translate into access to opportunities elsewhere. Rather, it really does depend on who you know.

Well-documented unconscious bias in the workplace indicates that, despite organizations increasingly advocating for greater equity, executives unwittingly continue the practice of sponsoring and championing those who look, behave and share backgrounds like them, thus perpetuating the homogeneous profile of executive and C-suite positions in corporate America. Research by Boston Consulting Group in 2019 showed women entrepreneurs and professionals have relatively limited access to “social capital” compared to their male counterparts. Corporate men, on the other hand, more easily develop broader, robust networks and tend to perform better navigating transitions between organizations.

A New Approach for Business Leaders

The business case for gender and ethnic and cultural diversity in corporate leadership is evident. If the most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability, it stands to reason corporate leaders have much to gain from thinking more broadly and innovatively about their role in fostering the development and advancement of a diverse talent pool.

What underrepresented populations — women, Black women, People of Color — truly need to become more representative in the workplace are business leaders who make an intentional effort to champion their interests. As Sheryl Sandberg said in a speech about redefining leadership at Harvard Business School, commemorating the 50th anniversary of women’s admission to the school, “leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”

It falls on business leaders to reimagine their role in fostering the development and advancement of a diverse talent pool.