So about 5 months ago, I made a post related to a D&I job post that I came across from a previous employer that left much to be desired.

The initial post is below:

Since then, (un)surprisingly, this role has been reposted — assumingly from not being filled.

There’s some improvement from what it was, which is obviously good and yet, there’s still room for improvement.

I’m going to walk though some of the updates since it was previously posted.

The pay has been increased by 10K (It is now ‘up to’ 55K).
The role has been updated to now be permanent.
The core D&I statement is now embedded in the jd.

Now, aside from the 10K pay increase (which is not guaranteed, but rather based on how much you can make a case ‘for your worth’), an improvement would be to recognise that this role is uniquely taxing and therefore highlight any support (financial or otherwise) offered by the organisation for doing it.

The level of leadership of the role has not been increased, but ‘full support of CEO and Senior Leadership’ is mentioned twice. A role of this importance would be better placed within the leadership team and answering to the highest person/people of the organisation directly. The only somewhat tenuous advantage is in the role now being permanent meaning that the impossible one year turn around can be more ‘realistic’ to the magnitude of the ask.

Other interesting additions to the JD include acknowledgement of:

Utility and analysis of data for d&i beyond the schools alone to inform relevant initiatives.
The candidate being committed to equality and diversity in the workplace.

Interesting subtractions from the JD include a responsibly to:

‘To embed a culture of inclusivity’, which previously read: ‘Further a culture of inclusion and belonging by creating forums to share the lived experiences of employees and providing a safe space for feedback’

Despite the improvements in the areas above, there still remains areas for improvement: recognition and tangible support for complexity and uniqueness of role and of concern: the wholesale removal of specific responsibility (oversight) of both employee lived experience and safeguards around organisational feedback.

Now aside from all of this front of shop menu change, what is equally important to draw attention to is some of what occurred behind the scenes between where it started and where it is now…

And so while it’s obviously positive to have been addressed (it’ll serve the organisation in the long run), Leadership needs to reckon with how it dealt with the initial feedback. It also needs to consider how racial bias, emotional reaction and status all played into the actions of making changes based on feedback by a former Black, queer, male employee while not acknowledging his contribution to hightlighting the initial flaws with the JD & role at any stage.

#diversityequityinclusion

#diversityintheworkplace

#jobapplication