Panel SA: Presence of blacks leading companies has not improved in Brazil, says businesswoman

The issue of racial diversity has gained visibility in the corporate world, but statistics still do not reflect progress, according to Liliane Rocha, founder of the Gestão Kairós consultancy, an expert on the subject.

She criticizes what she calls “diversitywashing”, an analogy to the “greenwashing” practiced by some companies that try to be diverse or sustainable to consumers, and says that performance needs to be measured by the participation that, in fact, blacks are occupying within companies.

What advances in racial diversity in companies in Brazil after the murders of João Alberto, at Carrefour, and George Floyd?When talking about how far we think we’ve advanced, I think subjective looks come into play. It depends on where you focus, from what business perspective. I try to take this margin out of subjectivity by looking at the numbers.

The 2016 Ethos census shows that in large companies there were 35% of blacks in the workforce and 4.7% in the leadership. And also about 35% of women in the frame and 13% in the leadership. And the intersectionality of black women had 0.4% in the lead. Comparing with the previous study, in 2010, the staff improved, but in the leadership there were small drops, in the decimal place, but there was. This gets attention. Why did it fall? And why did few companies answer the question of job titles in the 2016 Ethos census?

More recently, in the census that the Kairós Management has applied with 26 thousand respondents, when looking at the percentage of afro-descendants in the workforce, it is 33%. That of women, 32%. That of black women, 8.9%. These are numbers from 2019 to 2021 in large companies, that is, it has not increased.

And when we look at leadership clippings, the respondents’ perspective varies a little. We always ask to make the cut from the manager upwards, but some make the cut from the consultant, coordinator, above. When looking at the manager above, it also did not improve in relation to the Ethos study in 2016.

Can we say that racial diversity has improved? Then I enter with my opinion, no. But where do we have the perception that it has improved? When it comes to communication, lectures, seminars, events, commercials. Everyone understood the importance of having inclusive speech.

Why?First, because companies understand that these diverse audiences are consumers. Companies want to be associated with this purchasing power and this influence of these social groups. And the easiest way to do this is perhaps with communication, creating products. The most difficult thing is to bring these people together, to socialize, to give them space.

I always ask: what psychological preparation do you need to have to receive a black woman at the table with the same position as you, director, vice president? Looking at you and disagreeing with something you say? It is someone who has never been at this table, who has always been seen in a position to respond socially, who has always been the employee, the doorman, the cleaning lady. From what I’ve seen, it’s hard.

In practice, the subject is raised, but is it still insufficient?It sounds like a cliché: we can talk but we can’t act. Because your action will make the different one be with you, making the decision with you. That transgender person, transvestite, wheelchair user, black person. It’s dealing with someone who is different and, historically, an assumption that would not be at the table.

It is common to hear from large companies high percentages of black people in what is called a leadership position, but they are low positions. Why? I always make this cut and ask the company: what do you consider leadership? Some say that a supervisor is a team leader, but certain points need to be noted. In the international and national parameters of the sustainability guides, they are managers above. And from which position do people really have a leader status when it comes to salary, hierarchy and strategic decisions?

When we go to the manager’s cut above, we don’t reach 10% diversity. Every time someone says that they have 30%, 50% of women, blacks, in the leadership, we already know that the person is showing the coordinator and supervisor above.

We have seen many companies positioning themselves as anti-racist, but others are taking the issue off the radar. Can they be considered racist?I would look at the company data. It may be that she is not saying anything about it but has better data than the ones who are talking. Since 2016, I’ve been working a lot with the issue of diversitywashing, of washing diversity.

A company that communicates diversity and is anti-racist, but from the inside is not doing anything, it is worse than one that does not do or disclose anything. Anyone who is publicizing it, but not doing it, is being unethical, lacking the truth in the information, because it may just be attracting the trust and money of the consumer who values ​​it.

Not always, not taking a stand is bad. More racist is the one who puts a lot of black people in the commercial, but the company doesn’t have a director, a black manager. And the blacks who are there are experiencing racism, having to straighten their hair, without being able to use their expressions and their clothes.

Liliane Rocha

Founder and CEO of Gestão Kairós Consultoria de Sustentabilidade e Diversity, she is also a diversity consultant at companies such as AmBev and Novelis do Brasil and at CEO’s Legacy, at Fundação Dom Cabral, as well as a professor in the sustainability and diversity post at FIA/USP and on Senac