Best Practices for Cultivating BIPOC Talent on Your Team (Part II)

I'm continuing my discussion of fifteen things that some managers do really well in developing BIPOC talent. Last week I shared five ways great managers develop and manage relationships. This week, I'm sharing five practices focused on feedback:

1. Express curiosity rather than judgment. If a BIPOC team member is quiet in meetings, what are you more likely to do? Do you invite them in a non-defensive way to tell you more about how they experience those interactions? Or do you automatically label them as not being assertive enough? The first option seeks to understand. The second seeks to interpret, judge, and peg your employee's success to a preferred cultural standard. You could learn a lot about your team and organizational culture by first seeking to understand.

2. Distinguish between managing and mentoring moments. If we use the example above, all too often, the manager's perceptions negatively impact the direct report's performance assessment. This happens even if the behavior has nothing to do with on-the-job performance. Now it's possible that the direct report's quiet posture in meetings means that other leaders aren't noticing their potential. That's when you switch hats and become a coach who says, "I'd love to help you increase your visibility in the organization. Let's talk about some ways we might do that given our organizational norms and culture."

3. Offer feedback more than once or twice a year. Your performance assessment conversations with direct reports should offer no surprises. If you've been managing well, you've been offering positive and constructive feedback in real time throughout the year rather than stockpiling it. Feedback that is closest in proximity to related events will be most relevant and helpful to those you supervise. And it will feel more developmental than evaluative which is ideal. The mid-year and end-of-year conversations should simply formalize what you've already been discussing and focus on where to go from there.

4. Focus on your direct report's growth rather than your own discomfort. When someone you supervise is missing the mark, you owe it to them to be clear and direct about areas of concern as soon as possible. Providing hard but necessary feedback is one of your greatest acts of service as a manager. Delaying the timing of conversations and using fuzzy language and examples serve no one. And these actions unfairly prioritize your anxiety over your direct report's opportunities for growth. Being direct and kind are not mutually exclusive. If you have taken time to build the relationship, your direct report will know you truly have their best interests at heart.

5. Ask for feedback on your own performance as a manager. Great managers know that feedback is a two-way street. They humbly invite direct reports to share what has been working well and not so well in their approach as managers. Effective managers also solicit the types of support supervisees need more of. Gathering these perspectives will help you identify your own strengths and growth opportunities and bolster your relationships with those you supervise.

Feel free to share other positive practices around feedback you've observed and experienced. How are you planning to show up for upcoming feedback conversations? A coaching session can help you articulate those intentions and desired outcomes as you grow in your journey as an inclusive people developer.

Kind regards,

Renee