This woman shares tips on how to address leadership on making Black Lives Matter at work

Since your company posted on social media or sent out internal communications about ensuring Black Lives Matter at work, you’ve been holding your breath to see accountability, actionable workplace culture framework, and change that has not happened. You want to address it. Weeks have passed, and the email to your employer is collecting dust in a draft. 

 

 

So why haven’t you sent the email to address your concerns? Why haven’t you provided suggestions or feedback in response to your company’s letter? It might be fear. A fear that you might have penalties for speaking up. Maybe a doubt that you are not articulating your feelings well. Perhaps you don’t want to become the leader to spearhead workplace changes involuntarily. 

 

 

It’s the fear that Ronesha, a senior software developer out of D.C., had when she responded to her CEOs email addressing the events in late May that lead to the death of George Floyd. “I was super nervous about sending it because I worked for a private company at the end of the day. He is the CEO of that company. You never know what the response is going to be. You never know if something’s going to be well-received,” she shared.

 

 

Ronesha is one of four Black employees and one of two who work onsite for the 50 employee company. “Truthfully, I did not anticipate my CEO speaking on the issue at all. When you’re a young company, it’s very hard to be willing to speak out about an issue,” she shared. As Ronesha shared her experience, I thought about my own. Working at small companies, with smaller pools of employees, you’ll find no onsite HR and no ERG groups. Production and growth become more of a priority than culture or people. With a smaller group of Black employees, many smaller companies have decided to avoid responding about the issues affecting their one or two employees. However, smaller companies are not exempt from implicit bias and microaggressions. 

 

 

Ronesha took the week to respond to her CEO’s email sent to the staff the Monday after Floyd’s death. “I didn’t want to reply right then and there. I said, ‘You know what? I have every right to process my emotions. I have every right to just focus on me doing my job.'” Here are some takeaways from her experience, sending a letter to her CEO and the results.

 

Set the tone & intentions

By taking her time, Ronesha was able to set her tone and intentions in replying to her CEO. If you are reaching out to leadership at your company, be mindful of taking your time. The fight for equality is a marathon and not a sprint. All change takes time, so if you have not addressed the events this summer, it’s okay to send it when you are ready. “I wanted to make sure that when I said something that I could be impactful and it was something that could also educate,” Ronesha shared. She also reached out to her circle to review and give feedback on the letter. Getting input from the people closest to you can empower you with the right words, keep your words professional and not personal, and the confidence to hit send. 

 

 

Know your audience

Ronesha’s mother reminded her there had not been another time in history where white people have been so open to hearing about Black issues. Make sure to read the room before responding to senior leadership. If your C-Suite is open and trying to have a dialogue with employees, now is the perfect time to direct what you want to say. “I knew my CEO was open to what I had to say, and because there was openness, I could say a little more,” she expressed. 

 

 

Offer actionable change

In her CEO’s letter, he asked the company for suggestions and shared that it would donate money to organizations. Ronesha wanted to ensure that the company did more than give money and create change within the organization. “Donations are appreciated, but they aren’t going to be the thing that ends police brutality,” she expressed. 

 

 

When writing a letter to your leadership team, think about internal and external ways, your company can impact current Black employees and future ones. “I work with a lot of young people, and this is their first company after college. I worked with a team of people that will be able to become leaders. Those are the people that need to get equity, diversity and inclusion training right now,” she shared. Consider the current issues within your workplace and recommend outside consultation, professional development, and the initiation of committees to address inequality.

 

 

On the company level, Ronesha asked for diversity and inclusion training. Despite being a small start-up company, she understood that they were not exempt from employees showcasing microaggressions and implicit bias. Training helps to identify those issues when people don’t know that they contribute to those workplace behaviors. Lastly, she recognized her company’s position with new business and an opportunity to create a pipeline to increase employee diversity. Due to her company’s proximity to several HBCUs, she suggested an internship program for HBCUs.

 

 

Be willing to do the work

Now that you are asking for changes be prepared to do the work to create those changes. Don’t let it deter you from helping to make your workplace better. “As much as I don’t think that it is the responsibility of any Black person to have to do the work if you are in a position where you can bring others up, use that position,” she advised. Hopefully, you won’t have to do the work alone, and that others will commit to being active in the pursuit for an equal workplace. The only way change can be useful is if everyone participates. Be sure to ask for resources and funding to implement your ideas if your company is ready to move forward. 

 

 

The results

Ronesha was able to get the green light to initiate the HBCU program. Juneteenth will be a paid company holiday, and there will be diversity and inclusion training. They also added a diversity and inclusion page to the employee intranet and will add one to the external website. She also hopes to add a mission statement to future job posts on what the company stands for.  

 

 

If you are working on reaching out to your senior leadership, I hope these tips and her insight empower you to use your voice to implement change.