Ovell Barbee knows the country is “hearing a lot” about the anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sentiment.
He notes that the kind of harmful language often heard these days in a variety of places – the workplace, the corporate environment, social media – can “perpetuate harmful attitudes and behaviors.
This is of particular concern to Barbee, the Grand Rapids-based Owner/Principal of Ovell Rome & Associates. Barbee, who has held executive leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies in an array of industries including Motorola, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, General Motors/OnStar, Spectrum Health (now Corewell Health) and Indiana University Health, is a longtime advocate for the DEI effort, and the current mood in the country to downgrade those efforts bothers him.
Barbee earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s in social work from the University of Michigan, then got a second master’s degree in HR and labor relations from Michigan State University.
He shared his concerns and his thoughts as the keynote speaker at Corp! Magazine’s 17th annual Salute to Diversity Conference held recently at The Henry in Dearborn.
The conference honored Corp! Magazine’s annual diversity award winners and featured Barbee as the featured speaker and a panel discussion on “Civility in the Workplace.”
Barbee worries about how often harmful words such as “DEI hire” and “reverse discrimination” are used and would rather see more positive language around the subject.
“(These words) minimize the struggles of unrepresented groups,” Barbee told an audience of some 200 people. “Using inclusive language can foster a culture of respect and promote positive relationships.
“The contrast to that is the power of positive language and in words like inclusion and equality promote a culture of respect, being cordial and respectful,” he added. “Civility is the order of the day.”
Barbee, whose best-selling book titled, “The Big House: A Human-Centered & Progressive Approach to DEI and Positive Workplace Engagement,” chronicles his life story and lessons learned as an African-American C-Suite executive, said he often is asked what he thinks about the anti-DEI sentiment.
To counter it, Barbee has what he calls “staggering stats from within the community” he says show the need. According to Barbee:
- More than 60% of Black households are unable to afford basic household essentials, nearly double the hardship rate for white households.
- Only 22% of Black third-grade students and 26.4% of Hispanic third-grade students are reading at their grade level, whereas 62% of white third-graders are proficient in reading.
- 29.4% of Black adults and 21.2% of Hispanic adults have an associate’s degree or higher, compared to 56.6% of white adults.
“The data is telling a different story,” Barbee said. “We have history that we have to undo and doing that takes longer. We have to start somewhere. And so the value message is an important element in terms of messaging from your organization in terms of how you value the efforts of DEI practitioners.”
Barbee urges people to practice advocacy, to “use your voice, stop the silence … start somewhere.
“People always say, ‘I don’t know where to start,’” he said. “Well, if you look … there’s (bound to be) somewhere organizations can get started. “It’s important so that we can have thriving communities. We are all part of communities (so) that’s very important.”
Panel talks civility in the workplace
Work-from-home and hybrid work schedules became a huge part of work life after the Covid pandemic hit in March 2020.
But over the last year or so, companies have been bringing more and more of their employees back into the workplace. Those decisions are giving civility in the workplace a much higher level of importance, particularly with so many new people entering the workforce.
Those were some of the topics covered in the panel discussion. Panelists included:
- Sandy Harvey, President and CEO, Exodus Consulting Group, LLC, who moderated the discussion.
- Harry Weaver, Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Oakland County.
- Dr. Lee Meadows, Professor of Management at Walsh College.
- Susan Bailey, senior vice president for Workplace Culture & Wellbeing Practices Leader for Marsh McLennan Agency.
“The world is an interesting place right now,” Bailey said. “We are, in many ways, re-learning how to be in space together amidst a lot of disconnection and divisiveness.
“On top of that we have a chunk of new humans who entered into the workforce who spent a lot of time online and missed some formative training years,” she added.
The other thing people need to remember about civility in the workplace, according to Harvey, is that it “provides engagement and boosts morale and productivity.”
“People want to feel valued and respected,” Harvey said. ““Leaders can do (much) to create more inclusive workplaces and respectful workplaces so people do feel valued in the workplace.
“We also need to learn how to resolve conflict,” she added. “We don’t have to agree, but we do have to work together and collaborate.”
