In my book, Driving Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion, I discuss many of the barriers to advancement for women and people of color. One of the most pervasive challenges is how managers assign high-profile projects that make-or-break careers. These “Goldilocks “projects get you noticed by key decision makers, important clients, or other key stakeholders, and they set you up for promotions and advancement into leadership positions. Unfortunately, the distribution of the “Goldilocks” projects is inequitable.
One of the most pervasive challenges is how managers assign high-profile projects that make-or-break careers.
Lack of access to Goldilocks assignments is a key reason that employees leave organizations. From an equity perspective, this lack of opportunity impacts women and people of color more than white males. Research from Korn et al. published in HBR indicates that “ 81% to 85% of white males report fair access to desirable assignments, but that number falls to only around 50% for women of color, and 43% for Black women” 1 These finding align with my own research around lack of equitable opportunity and the need to redesign organizational systems to reduce bias.
From an equity perspective, this lack of opportunity impacts women and people of color more than white males.
Unfortunately, leadership decision making is fraught with bias. “ Research in the field of behavioral corporate finance identifies how decisions made by even the most educated and influential decision-makers such as board members and CEOs are influence by bias.”2 Unconscious bias impacts all of us. To reduce bias, we must redesign our organizational systems and processes. For example, a well-intentioned leader might exclude a new mother from consideration for an overseas assignment because of the demands on her time outside of work. Rather than have the manager make that decision, create a process that allows all employees that meet certain job performance and experience requirements to self-select for consideration for the assignment. Redesigning the process reduces the impact of leadership bias. Further supporting new parents with parental leave, childcare, flexible work and other programs reinforces an organizations commitment to all employees. This approach reinforces and organizations commitment to an inclusive culture that values all employees.
To reduce bias, we must redesign our organizational systems and processes.
From a human capital management perspective, designing a process to improve equitable assignment of projects improves outcomes across the organization. Begin by educating managers on the importance of equitably assigning projects and providing resources to support success improves outcomes. Shine a spotlight on some inequitable practices around distribution of the administrative or housekeeping work that is required for teams and groups to operate like note taking, food ordering, and meeting clean up. Ensure that managers rotate these roles to more equitably carry the load. Create an organizational system to track assignments and projects provides information on outcomes and identifies problem spots. If a manager is offering all the Goldilocks projects to the same person, a system that tracks these assignments will make this trend apparent very quickly. Align rewards and incentives to support equitable work distribution.
If a manager is offering all the Goldilocks projects to the same person, a system that tracks these assignments will make this trend apparent very quickly
Taking a uniform and holistic approach to train managers across the organization sends the message to your employees that you are committed to building an equitable organization. Leveraging technology in conjunction with change management effectively addresses the challenge of inequitable assignments. Addressing this challenge at its root cause improves your leadership pipeline and reduces unwanted employee turnover. Taking these steps reinforces your commitment to building a culture of belonging.
- Korn, Rachel M., Asma Ghani, and Joan C. Williams. “How to Equitably Assign High-Profile Work.” Harvard Business Review, July 15, 2024. https://hbr.org/2024/07/how-to-equitably-assign-high-profile-work.
- Kohl, Kristina. Driving Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion. 2022. Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press.
