In an interview with Veritude´sWorkforce Insights, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, who heads the Center for Work-Life Policy in New York, argues that the double lives that many minority executives lead can and should be changed. In a Harvard Business Review article, Hewlett, Carolyn Buck Luce of Ernst & Young and Princeton University professor Cornel West expose the hidden biases these executives encounter and present ways that organizations can instead benefit from these valuable professionals´ hidden strengths. Hewlett explains these four strategies - all of which hinge on nurturing "cultural capital."

WI: Let´s start by discussing "cultural capital." What do you mean by this term, and why is cultural capital important?
SAH: Cultural capital is the term sociologist Pierre Bourdieu uses to describe non-monetary wealth and relationship capital generated outside the workplace. Examples include organizing community events, serving on the boards of local organizations, leading fundraising initiatives and engaging in other forms of social outreach.

Everyone accumulates a measure of cultural capital in their lives, but in the case of minority professionals, it is unusually rich. There is a clear business imperative for companies to recognize and tap into the cultural capital of their employees. The work employees perform outside the office generates significant transferable skills - leadership and managerial skills, for example - that, if properly recognized, can improve performance and the bottom line for their companies.

WI: Why do minority professionals tend to have more cultural capital than their white colleagues?
SAH: As anyone who has worked with minority professionals - particularly women of color - knows, these women are frequently asked to serve on diversity-seeking task forces and to spearhead minority recruitment efforts. They play high-profile volunteer roles in their towns, schools, churches, hospitals, libraries, shelter, and other community organizations, and they invest an inordinate amount of time doing so. In addition, because they have "made it" - often with the odds stacked against them - they become mentors and role models to young people in their communities.

Our research bears this out. It shows that one quarter of highly educated African-American female professionals are active leaders in their religious communities (compared with 16 percent of white men) and 41 percent are involved in social outreach activities (compared with 32 percent of white men). Further, one-quarter of African American businesswomen serve as mentors, tutors, and "big sisters" (compared with 14 percent of white businesswomen).

WI: So what happens when these community leaders leave their communities and enter the workplace?
SAH: Their activities go largely unrecognized. This is a loss to both the individual and their employer because such substantial community involvement develops strategic interpersonal skills, hones core values and builds organizational and communication capabilities - all of which are highly valued in the workplace.

WI: Are there other attributes of minority professionals that are being overlooked?
SAH: Yes. Minority professionals bear a disproportionate load of care in their extended families. Over half of minority professional women are working mothers (compared with 41 percent of professional white women), African-American professional women are more than twice as likely to be single mothers than white women (18 percent compared with 7 percent) and nearly one-fifth of African-American female professionals care for elders and extended family, spending an average of over 12 hours per week on this care.

Corporate benefits packages do nothing to support or acknowledge this role. As a result, instead of being rewarded for developing extensive cultural capital, many minority employees end up feeling ignored, diminished, overextended and burned out - and their employers miss out on the strong and diverse leadership they could easily draw upon.

WI: What are the reasons behind this disconnect, and what are the costs?
SAH: There are many reasons. One is that most employers haven´t examined it. Traditionally, when management has even bothered to look at executives´ extracurricular lives, the focus has been on things like United Way drives, symphony orchestra sponsorship, and sporting events - activities that are generally undertaken by white male executives and that are thought to burnish a company´s image or enhance relationships with clients. The women we surveyed were more likely to be involved in things like running an award-winning Girl Scout troop in a homeless shelter or serving on the board of a nonprofit organization. These are activities few companies take time to note.

Another startling reason for the oversight is that minority professionals often hide their cultural capital by choice. Many of the women we surveyed said they were reluctant to speak of their outside pursuits and accomplishments.

This lack of trust that minority professionals experience can place significant costs on an employer. Many of the professionals we surveyed spoke about a phenomenon called "quitting, but staying on the job." Because they are unable to bring all of themselves to work and do not feel able to discuss their outside work, they do not perform to their fullest potential. While financial constraints prevent these employees from actually quitting their jobs, firms stand to lose if they do not shine a light on the accomplishments and varied, complex lives of their employees.

WI: They hide their accomplishments?
SAH: Yes. Some say they feared that their bosses would disapprove of their activities, because it takes time away from work. Others simply don´t recognize their outside affiliations as legitimate leadership-development venues. And sometimes the topic doesn´t come up, because it would touch on religion or ethnicity - which are important parts of many minorities´ non-work lives but are considered taboo in the workplace.

One man we interviewed, an Asian-American executive at a large California-based energy company, said he was reluctant to tell colleagues about his involvement on the board of a prominent charity, because the charity supports faith-based organizations and targets minority families. He said he doesn´t want to give them "ammunition" to use against him. This was one of the most disturbing findings of our research.

Our data shows that a large proportion of minority professionals feel they cannot trust their employers with even the most basic information about their private lives.

Equally disturbing, many minority women told us that they felt that they had to censor themselves in order to fit the white male mold of their workplace. Nearly one-third in large corporations say they worry that their quiet speaking style leads people to doubt their leadership potential, while nearly one-quarter are concerned that their animated hand gestures are seen as inappropriate.

More than one-third of African-American women in the business sector believe that promotion at their companies is based on appearance rather than ability. And almost one-fifth of professional women of color see hidden biases as being severe enough for them to consider quitting.

WI: What can HR professionals do to help minority executives feel more valued and to make their contributions more visible?
SAH: HR professionals can do a lot to help their companies nurture and support the cultural capital that minority professionals develop outside the workplace.

First, they can help their companies build a greater awareness and appreciation of the community work that minority professionals do. Specifically, they can ensure that their efforts to recruit other minority executives are recognized explicitly in job descriptions and performance evaluations and make sure employees are allowed - and even encouraged - to set aside time for volunteer activities. These actions send a message that social outreach and community involvement are valued.

In addition, an overwhelming majority of our survey participants said they would welcome training in fundraising for volunteer activities. Companies could even take an active role in helping young minority professionals access nonprofit boards, giving them an early opportunity to develop leadership skills they can bring back to the workplace.

WI: Do you have any examples of companies that are doing this well?
SAH: One great example is Pitney Bowes. Demitra Jones, an HR generalist at the company, reports that her employer is fully supportive of the evenings and weekends she spends with members of Delta Sigma Theta, an African-American sorority founded in 1913 that emphasizes service. Demitra devotes 30 hours a month to the organization - on top of 60-hour workweeks.

Pitney Bowes not only verbally acknowledges this commitment, but supports the sorority in other ways. For example, the company buys advertising space in fundraising souvenir journals and matches Demitra´s donations. More important, the company has kept an eye on Demitra´s growth as a leader in both worlds.

The second thing HR can do is to help make sure employers are better attuned to the extra burdens many minorities carry in their families, extended families and communities. They can do this not just with established practices, like flex-time and telecommuting, but by offering benefits that go beyond the nuclear family. Almost three-quarters of minority women want help paying for health insurance for up to two members of their extended families. Nearly the same number said they´d welcome a few days of annual leave for the purpose of elder care or extended family care, and nearly three-quarters say they´d appreciate help in accessing state and federal services for a range of family needs.

Time Warner, for example, is "widening the tent" by extending their employee assistance program to other reliant family members, such as aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Third, HR can work with their companies to create innovative policies that build trust and foster environments where minorities feel safe discussing their extracurricular activities. For example, by establishing "safe harbors," or places where employees can discuss issues, challenges and opportunities in their private lives while maintaining anonymity.

Another example respondents overwhelmingly support is the idea of evaluating managers on their track records in recruiting minority talent and linking this evaluation with compensation. Minority professionals are also reassured when they see companies combating hidden bias. Nearly three-quarters of minority women in our survey back cultural sensitivity training for managers in order to break down stereotypes.

Lastly, companies need to finish the job of leadership development. They can do this by treating cultural capital explicitly as a form of leadership "action learning." This means observing established pedagogical practice, helping minority executives reflect on their experiences, extract and generalize the lessons, and apply what they´ve learned to other settings.

A final way to transfer cultural capital is by doing what General Electric has done: create mentoring programs across divisions and match minority employees with senior colleagues from similar ethnic and cultural backgrounds. GE´s African-American Forum is an affinity network that began with 15 black managers coming together to study retention problems.

Today it has grown into a major initiative that serves as a vehicle for minority employees to find mentors and holds an annual meeting that draws nearly 1,400 people and features top executives. Through initiatives like these, companies open a window on leadership talent that may be hidden from view.

For more, interesting questions and answers, visit the Workforce Insights Q&A archive.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, a New York-based nonprofit organization. She also heads the Gender and Policy Program at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York. The article originally appeared in Workforce Insights, an online resource about emerging labor trends and issues produced by Veritude, a provider of strategic human resources and a wholly owned subsidiary of Fidelity Investments.. Veritude serves clients throughout the U.S. and Canada. To review other articles, please visit Workforce Insightson Veritude.com.  For more information, contact: inquiry@veritude.com or call:1-800-597-5537. 

^©2006 Veritude,LLC.  Reprinted with permission.