Feeling Connected

Relationships across organizational levels are important to effective retention and engagement of diverse talent. Interactions with managers, coworkers, and mentors can all be positive contributors to the career experiences of diverse employees (Ashikali & Groeneveld, 2015; Jones & George, 2014; Offermann & Basford, 2014; Ugorji, 1997). Supportive managers have been linked to enhanced employee performance, as well as a more committed and effective workforce. Peer support has been positively related to a sense of empowerment. Mentors have also been linked to a number of outcomes for protégés; those who are mentored are more satisfied with their careers, receive more promotions, feel a stronger commitment to the organization, and are less likely to leave. Research clearly shows the power of mentoring in helping people of color break through to senior levels within the organization (Blake-Beard, 2003; Creary & Roberts, 2017; Thomas & Gabarro, 1999; Wang, 2016).

Not only are relationships surrounding diverse professionals important, but a growing body of work points to the need for diverse professionals to bring their whole selves to work (E. L. Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Dumas, Phillips, & Rothbard, 2013; Hewlett, Luce, & West, 2005; Kahn, 1990, 1992; Phillips, Dumas, & Rothbard, 2018; Roberts, 2005; Roberts, Mayo, Ely, & Thomas, 2018). For example, Phillips, Dumas, and Rothbard (2018) discussed the costs to diverse professionals when they leave important parts of their lives and identities at the organizational door. As importantly, they noted the negative implications that also accrue to organizations as a result of this compartmentalized approach.

The goal of our research was to explore these factors related to employee engagement, with a particular focus on the experiences of professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds. Specifically, we aimed to answer the following questions regarding engagement, authenticity, and relationships in the careers of racially diverse professionals:

1)  Which professionals report the highest levels of engagement, authenticity, and satisfaction with their careers and their employers?

2)  How do key constituents (managers, coworkers, mentors) support diverse professionals to make frequent, valuable contributions to their employing organizations?

3)  What are the benefits of providing work contexts where diverse professionals are able to bring their whole selves to their work?

Methodology

The Survey

The first section of the survey asked for information about relationships at work. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they currently have an informal mentor. A mentor was defined as “an influential individual who takes an active interest in developing your career.” The survey stated, “We are particularly interested in your experience with informal mentoring relationships. An informal mentor is an individual with whom you have built a relationship on your own, without assistance or intervention from an organizational initiative.” Respondents were also asked to report how many informal mentors they have had in their careers and how many intraorganizational informal mentors they have had. Respondents rated the perceived level of support that they received from their informal mentors, as well as their managers and coworkers. Items were rated on a five-point Likert scale, with 1 being “not at all” and 5 being “to a very large extent.”

TABLE 7-1
Descriptive statistics of demographic variables
Variable	Survey data
Gender (N = 201)
Men	0.30
Women	0.70
Race (N = 201)
White	0.25
Black/African American	0.53
Hispanic	0.07
Asian or Pacific Islander	0.06
Other	0.08
Age (N = 201)	39.7
	(9.6)
Education (N = 201)
Some college	0.06
Bachelor degree	0.32
Some graduate school	0.08
Professional degree	0.53
Income (N = 197)	108,249
	(75,731)
Marital status (N = 201)
Married	0.53
Partnered or committed	0.08
Single/never married	0.27
Single/previously married	0.11
Note: Standard deviations are in parentheses.

The second section of the survey solicited information about several variables related to attitudes at work. Variables measured included work engagement, perceived job fit, career satisfaction, authenticity, organizational commitment, and intention to leave. The same five-point Likert scale just described was used to rate these attitudinal measures.³

The final section of the survey was devoted to demographic variables. Respondents were asked to provide information about number of promotions, annual compensation, size of current employer, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, educational level, US citizenship, age, number of children, current employment status, current job title, and industry of current employing organizations.

Key Findings

Attitudes Matter

We also found strong results indicating the importance of respondents’ perceptions and attitudes regarding their workplaces. Respondents who feel highly inauthentic at work also reported lower feelings of job fit, career satisfaction, and commitment, and they were more likely to have plans to leave their employment (figure 7-4). One of the most striking findings is the relationship between inauthenticity and intention to leave; respondents who felt that they were not able to bring their whole selves to work reported an average score of 4.0 for intention to leave, in comparison with the 1.9 average score for respondents who reported low levels of inauthenticity.

We found similar effects with engagement (figure 7-5). Respondents who reported high levels of engagement with their jobs also reported higher levels of job fit (4.4 average score) and career satisfaction (4.1 average score) than those who had low levels of engagement (with an average job fit score of 2.2 and an average career satisfaction score of 2.7). Respondents who were more engaged were also less likely to leave, as evidenced by their average score of 2.0 on intent to leave, in comparison with respondents who were less engaged (and their average score on intent to leave at 3.6).

Race/Ethnicity Matters

We found that race/ethnicity also matters in explaining work attitudes for diverse talent (figures 7-6 and 7-7). An examination of racial/ethnic trends in manager and coworker relationships, engagement, and authenticity reveals some variation among the different ethnic groups. Interestingly enough, each racial/ethnic group reported moderately high levels of engagement, with African Americans and Asians indicating an average score of 3.8 and Whites and Hispanics indicating an average score of 4.0. African Americans reported the lowest levels of both manager support and coworker support. While most groups feel a sense of authenticity, African Americans and Asian Americans reported lower levels of felt authenticity than their counterparts. Hispanics, with an average score of 2.0 for inauthenticity, were the most positive in terms of their ability to be authentic at work.

There were similar trends in the career outcomes for each racial group. African American respondents in particular reported the lowest levels in several of the career outcome variables. African Americans had the lowest level of commitment (average score of 3.0), the lowest job fit (average score of 3.4), and the highest intention to leave (average score of 2.9). Hispanics had the highest level of job fit (average score of 3.9). And after Whites, Asian and other respondents reported the next-highest level of career satisfaction (average score of 3.7 for others and 3.6 for Asians).

Implications

Taken in sum, findings from this study on the career experiences of diverse professionals have several important implications. Before discussing these, two points bear mentioning. First, this research effort supports the findings of Thomas and Ely’s (1996) classic work on diversity in organizations. Simply having diversity present in organizations is not enough. Without a strategic plan to encourage supportive relationships or to shape a more inclusive culture, recruiting diverse talent will likely result in a revolving door of high turnover.

A second point worth mentioning is that one of the benefits of this study is the diverse sample. Much of the research that considers race tends to focus on African Americans and Whites. And while there is still certainly a story evoked by that particular dynamic, it is not the only story. Now, more than ever, it is time for other stories to start being told and for other career experiences to be explored. Organizations need this information, as it is a source of guidance on how to support and assist employees across dimensions of diversity in building effective career narratives.

This study confirms that professionals of diverse backgrounds benefit tremendously from a cadre of supportive relationships. The impact of respondents’ supportive relationships with their managers and coworkers can be seen in their strong scores for job fit, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment, as well as in their reduced intention to leave. The relationship with one’s manager is particularly important. There is a popular adage, “People don’t leave their organizations; they leave their managers.” If we see managers as the front line in dealing with increasing workforce diversity, it is important that they are equipped and trained to effectively leverage the opportunities provided by the new workforce. Organizations will need to be proactive in honing managers’ cultural competence and other skills that will aid them in managing diversity. The Partnership provides an instructive example of supporting managers to help them support their diverse talent. The Partnership’s comprehensive leadership development programs for diverse talent have interactive and support opportunities built into the one-year curriculum for program participants’ managers. These opportunities include welcoming managers to the orientation at the start of the program, encouraging managers to attend a showcase workshop with their direct reports, and inviting managers to conclude the program at a celebratory dinner. In addition, the Partnership’s program arms participants with several developmental tools and inventories, as well as practical frameworks and best practices, that can be used with managers back in sponsoring organizations.

The importance of peers is also critical; coworker support emerged as a substantive contributor to the career effectiveness of diverse professionals. A growing dependence on peer support should come as no surprise. Work in organizations is increasingly dependent on an ability to join across disparate communication styles, dissimilar cultural backgrounds, dispersed geographic locations, and varied leadership styles. The increases in work teams and virtual projects are two trends that contribute to the need for strong peer support.

Although mentoring did not emerge as a significant contributor in this study, there is ample research that supports the importance of these developmental relationships (Murrell & Blake-Beard, 2017). While the value of supportive relationships and mentoring has been reinforced and often linked with better outcomes for diversity, there still exists a gap in implementing robust mentoring programs or initiatives (McDonald & Westphal, 2013; Gandhi & Johnson, 2016; McAlearney, 2005; Poulsen 2013; Ragins, 2017). Ragins (2017) identified the need to move our mentoring relationships from ordinary to extraordinary by adopting a relational approach. Hence, organizations must nurture high-quality mentoring relationships to help minority professionals achieve accelerated growth. McAlearney (2005) also discovered that the integration of leadership development with mentoring, talent management, and human resource activities will ensure the maximum impact on organizational effectiveness. Yet how do we build and sustain the commitment of senior management to invest in such leadership development practices?

Larry (2003) advocated for establishing specific practices within “diversity-driven” mentoring programs. The author affirmed that cross-cultural and cross-gender mentoring programs improve senior-leadership appreciation of diversity principles, enhancing the integration of these practices within health-care organizations. Larry additionally specified several principles for diversity-driven mentoring programs, including communication skill development and diversity-awareness training, to augment understanding of difference, generate support from top management, and solicit input from all parties involved.

Murrell, Blake-Beard, Porter, and Perkins-Williamson (2008) also provided support for the benefits of formal mentoring programs, even those reaching across organizational boundaries. They defined interorganizational formal mentoring (IOFM) as formal mentoring activities, programs, or experiences that cut across traditional organizational boundaries and target the unique developmental needs of a specific stakeholder or identity group. In their study of such mentoring practices, they found that participants gained valuable access to mentoring relations that engendered trust and psychosocial support, access to legitimate organizational power, and the sharing of social capital across traditional organizational boundaries.

There may be some unique characteristics of this group of respondents that could help us understand why mentoring was not significantly related to the study outcomes. It could be that these respondents, who, interestingly enough, reported a high level of access to a current mentor, are such a high-achieving group that mentoring is only one of the tools that they use to advance their careers and maintain satisfaction. Given that these respondents were of a relatively high income level (over $100,000) and education level (college degree or above, several with graduate degrees), we imagine that their access to informal mentoring has facilitated their career success. We also suspect that this group might use their mentors to serve certain developmental and networking functions that we did not capture in our assessment.

The theme of this study is “feeling connected.” Our findings indicate that relationships are but one component of feeling connected at work. This study also affirms the importance of authenticity and engagement as psychological measures with real implications for the experiences of diverse professionals. Employees who are more engaged in their jobs and experience a deeper sense of authenticity at work are more likely to make valuable, unique contributions to their employing organizations. Authenticity and work engagement can also reinforce the formation of strong relationships with managers, coworkers, and mentors. Yet when employees don’t feel connected to their work or able to be authentic at their jobs, they suffer a personal cost. These findings reinforce that the workplace climate toward diversity plays a critical role in fostering engagement, welcoming authenticity, and strengthening interpersonal connections among employees from diverse backgrounds.

However, our survey population is drawn from a group of individuals who are highly motivated to engage in career development experiences. Many survey respondents were nominated and sponsored by their employers to participate in these career development experiences to promote their ability to feel connected and advance in their workplaces. As such, our findings may likely present a more positive portrayal of the career experiences of diverse talent than would be found in a general population. On the other hand, these respondents may be more sensitized to diversity dynamics, given their participation in the Partnership’s annual conference, and this may have tempered their reported career attitudes. Additional research among the broader population, such as that reported in this edited volume by Ella F. Washington and colleagues, helps to lend additional insight on diversity and engagement.

For example, our nuanced examination of racial dynamics reveals both similarities and differences among diverse professionals’ experiences of feeling connected. There are some similarities that cross ethnicity; the level of engagement is moderately high across all of the groups. These respondents are also effectively drawing on support from relationships at work—their managers and coworkers are helping them to be successful in their jobs. It is affirming to learn that these highly educated, well-paid, diverse professionals are, by and large, engaged in their work and leveraging their relationships effectively. But then there are also some noticeable differences among the groups. African Americans fare worse on several aspects—they are less committed, less satisfied with their careers, lower in job fit, and more likely to consider leaving their organizations. The experience of African Americans feels familiar; the data echoes intergroup dynamics, firmly grounded in a sociohistorical context, that still challenge organizations today. Then there are results that are more novel, calling for further investigation. Why did Asians report the highest level of inauthenticity? And what allowed Hispanics to report the lowest level of inauthenticity? Hispanics also reported the highest average score for job fit. These findings speak to the need for future research efforts that focus on the career experiences of other ethnically diverse professionals.

In conclusion, this research illuminates a very complex set of factors that influence career satisfaction and organizational commitment among diverse professionals. The critical takeaway from this study is that the experience of feeling connected is a powerful force in shaping overall attitudes toward one’s job and one’s employing organizations. Ironically, this multidimensional experience of connection is often ignored or discounted as less critical to job performance than knowledge, skills, abilities, and personality. Though not conclusive, our findings at least raise the question of whether feeling connected—to one’s work, one’s self, and one’s significant others—provides a needed anchor for deep-level commitment and genuine contribution from diverse talent. In revealing that certain employees feel less connected than others, we also charge leaders with taking the initiative to create a climate that fully engages the best of their diverse talent base.

Acknowledgments

This study was designed by a research team commissioned by the Partnership. We thank the following individuals for their assistance with designing the study: Nancy Brodsky, Alesia Latson, and Annica White MacDonald. We thank Steven Shafer for his assistance with data collection and analyses. We also thank the following individuals for their assistance with data collection for this study at the Workforce Retention Conference: Eleanor Chin, Gloria Cotton, Laurie Hunt, and Anna Kerr. The authors of this report acknowledge the support of the Simmons School of Management and Harvard Business School.

NOTES

1. The Partnership is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing talent management solutions for professionals of color.

2. The Partnership hosts an annual leadership conference for program participants and their managers to learn effective talent-management strategies. The participants in this study were among the attendees at the December 2006 conference.

3. Please contact the first author for additional information regarding the scales or permission for use in future research.

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