Allyship should be on every D&I-leader’s agenda

In case allyship still wasn’t on your company’s D&I agenda in 2021, this year it definitely should be. No D&I leader can afford to not pay attention to allyship.

I am in the very lucky position of working with managers in many different organizations. In the last six months I have spoken with several hundreds managers about inclusion and how to create more inclusive teams. What has struck me in these highly interactive sessions is the amount of willingness to learn about difference and inequality managers across organizations show. The majority of managers I meet are not only willing to learn new things, they are also willing to create change and willing to stand up and intervene when things go wrong: when a colleague makes a sexist, racist or homophobic comment or joke, or when a collegue silences another colleague in a team meeting. What I have seen is hundreds of individuals, leaders of smaller and bigger teams, who want to be allies.

This is one reason why you should pay attention to allyship: it is very likely that a majority of your employees want to be allies. They want to know how their identities impact their interactions, they want to know how they can influence their team dynamics and how they can participate in creating a more inclusive work culture. It is also however very likely that they aren’t that effective yet. A recent study conducted by Lean In showed that while the majority of White employees see themselves as allies, only a minority of Black and Latina women say they have White colleagues who are strong allies1.

What if the majority of your employees started taking action in everyday situations for increased inclusion? What if they knew what to do, and how to do it? What could the impact be for your D&I efforts? Research shows that allyship can be beneficial for both the allies2, the individuals allies support3, as well as for the organization as a whole4. If your employees, who want to be better allies, were given the resources, skills and support to be effective, don’t you think it could lead to real change?

The second reason you should be paying attention to allyship lies in the potential for change it encompasses. D&I work means developing policies, better practices and ultimately creating cultural change. Cultural change will truly be achieved when the change takes place in the daily interactions between people. And here, allies are the key.

There is wonderful potential in individuals as allies, however the focus of D&I leaders shouldn’t be detracted from the organizational level. We know from research that allyship is impacted by the organizational context4. Therefore as a D&I leader your role should be to make sure that the right conditions are in place. Do not wait for allies to do the work for you, work for enabling allies to grow.

By ensuring the following, you increase your chances of seeing allyship happen:

Healthy organizational culture

If you have a culture characterized by high internal competition, fear and uncertainty, it is very unlikely that people will stand up for each other. Lead with courage, trust and compassion. Make sure people feel psychologically safe, that they feel they are listened to and that they are able to have an impact.

Organizational support

Provide resources and support for the employees who want to be effective allies. Provide them training on allyship and inclusion where they can reflect over their own privileges as well as over the many emotions both their own privilege and the injustices in worklife evoke in them. The training should also guide them to be active bystanders. If there are events or different networks where they can learn more, give them access to join. Your organization’s top leaders can act as wonderful role models; highlight the top leaders but also reward employees who demonstrate great allyship.

Inclusive organizational practices

Ensuring that your organizational practices are as inclusive as possible also helps individuals to act in the same direction. Use inclusive language in your corporate communications and make sure your physical office is inclusive and safe for all. Encouraging your employees to communicate their preferred gender pronouns is also a way to signal that you value them taking a stance for inclusion.

Being an inclusive leader and team member is an increasingly important worklife skill. If allyship wasn’t on your agenda before, then today is a better day to start than tomorrow. Why not include allyship into your next one on one meeting with your team members. You could ask “Have you noticed moments during the past week when you could have acted as an ally? What supported or impeded you from taking the action?” This not only shows that allyship is something you care about. It also shows that you care about them, their opportunities to grow and to do good.

1: LeanIn.Org (2021) White employees see themselves as allies — but Black women and Latinas disagree. Available at: https://leanin.org/research/allyship-at-work#!

2: Rostosky, S. S., Black, W. W., Riggle, E. D. B., & Rosenkrantz, D. (2015). Positive aspects of being a heterosexual ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(4), 331–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000056

3: Cihangir, S., Barreto,M., & Ellemers, N. (2014) Men as Allies Against Sexism: The Positive Effects of a Suggestion of Sexism by Male (vs. Female) Sources. SAGE Open. 1–12. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244014539168

4: Erskine, S. E., Bilimoria, D., Combs, G. M. & Milosevic, I. (2019). White Allyship of Afro-Diasporic Women in the Workplace: A Transformative Strategy for Organizational Change. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26(3), 319–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819848993