By Kim Jong-nam
During my work conducting diversity and inclusion projects with various types of companies, I have conducted many surveys. I had assumed, before starting these projects, that any initiative that a company took to make its employees feel more comfortable in expressing their true selves and identities would be welcomed as a relief. However, to my surprise, I found that this situation wasn't true: there were some foundational concerns as well as doubts that these initiatives would work.
When asked whether they thought that it was impossible to be their "true selves" in the workplace, most people agreed, but seemed to see this situation as normal: of course my behavior at work is quite different from my behavior at home, they said. The belief that this divide is natural and acceptable made them see these initiatives as ineffective. I investigated further; here are some common responses.
Some people said that we, as adults, have a sense of responsibility and a sense of sacrifice. Since people in any workplace have a variety of personalities and dispositions, we must suppress some of our most natural instincts in the interest of group harmony. It is necessary to maintain good relationships with colleagues and focus on one's performance. Furthermore, too much individuality can have a negative impact on a group's achievements. These people were convinced that the difficulty of integrating too many unique voices justified the abandonment of diversity.
The second surprising factor was people's anxiety about their managers. Many people agreed that they need to heed their executives' wishes. Some said that when they have different opinions from their managers, they cannot behave like themselves. Some others even said that they were wary about having too many differences with people who were close to or influential on their managers. Furthermore, others emphasized that they wanted to avoid conflict with their managers at all costs, as they believed that such conflict would be detrimental to peace and to the overall sense of fellowship. On the other hand, some others said that, these days, they also feel that they need to monitor how they behave with their subordinates as well, because, in their opinions, the new generation of subordinates is as stubborn as their managers. This fear of having to keep one's true self hidden in order to avoid conflict within the hierarchy is another reason why some people did not like my suggestions concerning expressing one's true self at work.
The third reason that some people believed they needed to hide their true selves and identities is that they feared creating difficulties that might consequently cause harm to themselves. They see any impact that they might have on the office environment as a possible personal danger. For example, some of them thought that evaluations of their performance might be negatively affected, or that volunteering too many of their own ideas about potential workplace changes would produce unwanted new responsibilities for them, thus creating more work. In addition, some of them said that they wanted to avoid inter-team or inter-department disputes. We are "salarypeople," they agreed, and we need to earn our salary.
Other reasons given for not wanting to express one's true self were: not having enough time, uncertainty about the future, too many obstacles, not enough autonomy and unclear communication. The more I heard, the more I began to think that people's behaving unlike themselves is actually natural. How, then, can we overcome all of these natural concerns? Eliminating these negative factors will be very difficult. Is individuality really worth it?
There were also some self-imposed constraints, such as: a lack of confidence due to a lack of expertise, a belief that true agreement with others is impossible and must therefore be feigned, a strong feeling of pressure to coordinate opinions with those above and below, and a lack of knowing which direction one wants to pursue in one's work. I am sure that there are many other concerns that stop people from revealing their true selves, while making them believe that behaving unlike themselves is just as natural as behaving like themselves.
Every time I conducted one of these surveys, most people agreed that they had to shed their true identities at the workplace and behave as other people expected them to. Corporations must therefore decide what level of diversity and individual expression should be pursued and how to deal with the resulting problems and confusions. The blind pursuit of an intellectually diverse workplace, without any consideration of what that will look like, will not bring about the desired results. In order to create an organization in which people can voice their true opinions, we need to create an organization in which employees don't see hiding themselves as advantageous. Touting the effects of individualism and diversity is not convincing: employees will not be swayed by the abstract and academic promises of productivity and creativity. They must instead be shown what real, tangible benefits they will gain from taking the personal risk of showing their true selves.
Kim Jong-nam is the founding CEO of META (www.imeta.co.kr) and a global organizational development consultant.
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When asked whether they thought that it was impossible to be their "true selves" in the workplace, most people agreed, but seemed to see this situation as normal: of course my behavior at work is quite different from my behavior at home, they said. The belief that this divide is natural and acceptable made them see these initiatives as ineffective. I investigated further; here are some common responses.
Some people said that we, as adults, have a sense of responsibility and a sense of sacrifice. Since people in any workplace have a variety of personalities and dispositions, we must suppress some of our most natural instincts in the interest of group harmony. It is necessary to maintain good relationships with colleagues and focus on one's performance. Furthermore, too much individuality can have a negative impact on a group's achievements. These people were convinced that the difficulty of integrating too many unique voices justified the abandonment of diversity.
The second surprising factor was people's anxiety about their managers. Many people agreed that they need to heed their executives' wishes. Some said that when they have different opinions from their managers, they cannot behave like themselves. Some others even said that they were wary about having too many differences with people who were close to or influential on their managers. Furthermore, others emphasized that they wanted to avoid conflict with their managers at all costs, as they believed that such conflict would be detrimental to peace and to the overall sense of fellowship. On the other hand, some others said that, these days, they also feel that they need to monitor how they behave with their subordinates as well, because, in their opinions, the new generation of subordinates is as stubborn as their managers. This fear of having to keep one's true self hidden in order to avoid conflict within the hierarchy is another reason why some people did not like my suggestions concerning expressing one's true self at work.
The third reason that some people believed they needed to hide their true selves and identities is that they feared creating difficulties that might consequently cause harm to themselves. They see any impact that they might have on the office environment as a possible personal danger. For example, some of them thought that evaluations of their performance might be negatively affected, or that volunteering too many of their own ideas about potential workplace changes would produce unwanted new responsibilities for them, thus creating more work. In addition, some of them said that they wanted to avoid inter-team or inter-department disputes. We are "salarypeople," they agreed, and we need to earn our salary.
Other reasons given for not wanting to express one's true self were: not having enough time, uncertainty about the future, too many obstacles, not enough autonomy and unclear communication. The more I heard, the more I began to think that people's behaving unlike themselves is actually natural. How, then, can we overcome all of these natural concerns? Eliminating these negative factors will be very difficult. Is individuality really worth it?
There were also some self-imposed constraints, such as: a lack of confidence due to a lack of expertise, a belief that true agreement with others is impossible and must therefore be feigned, a strong feeling of pressure to coordinate opinions with those above and below, and a lack of knowing which direction one wants to pursue in one's work. I am sure that there are many other concerns that stop people from revealing their true selves, while making them believe that behaving unlike themselves is just as natural as behaving like themselves.
Every time I conducted one of these surveys, most people agreed that they had to shed their true identities at the workplace and behave as other people expected them to. Corporations must therefore decide what level of diversity and individual expression should be pursued and how to deal with the resulting problems and confusions. The blind pursuit of an intellectually diverse workplace, without any consideration of what that will look like, will not bring about the desired results. In order to create an organization in which people can voice their true opinions, we need to create an organization in which employees don't see hiding themselves as advantageous. Touting the effects of individualism and diversity is not convincing: employees will not be swayed by the abstract and academic promises of productivity and creativity. They must instead be shown what real, tangible benefits they will gain from taking the personal risk of showing their true selves.
Kim Jong-nam is the founding CEO of META (www.imeta.co.kr) and a global organizational development consultant.
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