Diversity and Skills Transfer

I responded to a question in a strategic planning chat. The question involved the best ways to increase representation of a particular ethnic group in a business. It seemed they were in a big hurry because they presented the idea that they could throw money at it and create a department staffed with talented people of that ethnicity. Here are my initial thoughts and I welcome your input. Financial resources are finite and job creation is not the answer. If a company wants to better reflect the diversity of their community, they need to expand their recruiting to increase the number of qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds. It takes time to increase diversity, but it avoids several issues. One, it prevents new hires being treated as "token" employees to meet a number, great qualifications can't overcome this stigma. Next, creating jobs represents a poor business decision unless there is a true business need, like supporting a new customer. Finally, creating lasting relationships educational institutions and organizations that can refer high quality candidates from diverse backgrounds will make the biggest difference for the company.
They also asked about meaningful skills transfer. Here are the thoughts I shared and I would like to hear your ideas. Meaningful skills transfer is another matter. If this is regarding scientific or mathematical skills at a higher level, this requires time with the incumbent and sometimes a mentor to walk the learner through the quirks of the teacher. Companies have to plan skills transfer to ensure time for the new learner to gain and practice the skill of the encumbent. If a company lets their highly skilled folks work alone and in compartments that prevent skills from being shared. If one of them jumps ship, it is a significant loss. There are some techniques used by drug makers to get their teams to collaborate and share knowledge. There are a handful of different articles from Harvard Business Review on the topic.
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