Agency director believes diversity, collaborative management, go hand in hand
By Janna Charles
Diversity and inclusion is like "a spark in a haystack," alludes Randy Snowden, Director of Napa County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) in California. The allusion suggests the infinite potential of a diversity initiative within an organization.
It is perhaps this kind of mentality that makes Snowden a definitive leader and diversity champion. In fact, many of his colleagues at Napa HHSA seem to think that Snowden's passion and foresight was the "spark" that ignited the Agency's commitment to a diversity initiative.
"Randy spoke and continues to speak to our organization about a diversity initiative as part of a good business model," says Hannah Euser, diversity coordinator and chair of Napa County's HHSA's diversity committee. She cites Snowden as the source of the Agency philosophy, which circulates around the goal of "reducing barriers that impede access to services and improving the effectiveness of the services that [Napa HHSA] provides."
Julie O'Mara from Amistad Associates, the management consulting and organizational development firm that has guided Napa HHSA's diversity initiative, also talks about Snowden's diversity leadership qualities. "He was brought in to set things straight because [the agency] had gone astray. A collaborative manager and an organizational development person at heart, he is very knowledgeable about diversity."
A CHAMPION IN THE MAKING
Snowden claims that much of his knowledge and passion for diversity was cultivated by years of experience with other programs. The years that he spent as director of a program for drug-addicted teenagers in Oakland were especially formative and established his now deep-seated belief in the value of diversity and inclusion. Oakland itself has a long history of racial politics and tensions, specifically between African American and Caucasian people. Like many organizations serving multiracial clientele, the program's effectiveness was tainted by what Snowden refers to as a "racial gridlock."
"We knew we had to do something," says Snowden of the problem, "but we didn't know how." After about a year of struggling to resolve the issue internally, a group of African American managers approached Snowden and other directors about the status of diversity efforts within the company.
"They told us we didn't have a clue, though they could see that we were trying to be successful," says Snowden of the confrontation. "Pointing out our ignorance about the issue of racial diversity was incredibly courageous on their part." They proposed that, if Snowden and the other leaders were interested, they would like to go about confronting diversity challenges more constructively. This meant bringing in outside consultants instead of attempting to solve the problem without sufficient training from within.
Snowden shared an anecdote to illustrate the evolution of his appreciation for diversity and inclusion. A defining moment for him came in the form of an elevator conversation with an African American counselor, three years after the new initiative commenced.
"We were talking about a couple of teenagers in the program that had escaped with their parents on boats from Southeast Asia and had developed drug addictions. In the middle of the conversation, she looked at me, started shaking her head and said, 'We really don't know what we're doing with this family do we?' In that moment, we were absolutely on the same page. Go back three years and we would've been on different pages -- entirely different axis. That is the liberating thing about the diversity paradigm. It gets you off the two-sided approach of Latino v. Gringo or African American v. Caucasian and you realize that it's an infinite-sided paradigm and that we're all clueless." Recognition of this fact is an important part of finding resolutions, he believes.
AN ADVOCATE OF COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT
Snowden got hooked on collaborative management during the diversity and inclusion work in Oakland. "The first thing [the consultants helping us] said was that we needed to tackle collaborative management as a means of establishing trust and goal-sharing among employees." With this approach, power and responsibility are shared across an organization, instead of concentrated among one or two individuals at the executive level. Snowden realized it would be difficult to make progress on diversity if the executive team didn't operate from this collaborative mindset.
Witnessing the success of collaborative management in the Oakland program is one of the reasons why Snowden advocated the model as a component of Napa's own diversity initiative. "Instead of an old fashion hierarchical structure, in which power is exercised downward, we make decisions collaboratively amongst us. You think of it in terms of 'In exchange for sharing my power, you also share in my responsibility.' Then bingo, eleven or twelve of us are responsible for conducting business and outcomes of the agency rather than one."
This model is especially useful when paired with diversity. A strong advocate, Snowden characterizes the combination as, "an evidence-based model for an agency to do business." "There is no question that collaborative management and diversity are elements that a well-run business is going to embrace," says Randy.
He claims that it not only effectuates the human being, but also lowers absenteeism and improves employee satisfaction. Not to mention the natural diversity benefits that arise out of collaboration such as, "breaking through the glass wall and creating a culture in which people feel included and empowered. People take pride in having that responsibility and partial ownership."
CONFRONTING CHALLENGES HEAD ON
In addition to being knowledgeable about diversity, Snowden's ability to stay committed to an initiative in the face of adversity sets him apart from other leaders. O'Mara notes that Snowden has worked tirelessly to keep the initiative going in spite of budget cuts, layoffs and other challenges stemming from the current economic climate.
"Though there is no question the recession has slowed us down, we are making progress toward our [diversity] goals," says Snowden. Over the last 6-12 months, he has overseen the development of a cross-organization steering committee and other processes essential to fulfilling the agency's objectives. "There are piles of things we can do without money," says Snowden. "What we are trying to do is focus on education -- getting people on board with what diversity is and then building on our diversity capabilities."
ADVICE TO OTHER LEADERS
"Keeping an initiative going boils down to the question of what's important to your organization," says Snowden. "It's easy to manage a diversity initiative when you're making money. The true stripes of an organization come out when you're managing in an adverse environment." Though Napa County HHSA faces layoffs and other challenges in the recession like any other organization, Snowden emphasizes the importance of "stick[ing] to it, now more than ever. It doesn't have to cost money as long as you devote staff and management time to the diversity initiative. You have to prioritize what your strategic goals are."
For Snowden, diversity and inclusion is not optional -- it is a business essential for Napa County HHSA. "If you are serious, you will continue to prioritize and use whatever tools you have available," he says. For instance, one of Napa's current diversity shortcomings involves serving a clientele base that is about 40 percent bilingual with a staff that is only four percent bilingual. Finding a solution to this problem may be as simple as hiring strategically when a job opens up. In any case, there are many ways to meet diversity goals on a tight budget.
"Putting energy into creating a positive corporate culture makes us more productive and efficient in the long run. It's about getting people to understand that there is a business value in investing into this kind of process-related stuff," Snowden emphasizes. "The workplace can create itself, or we can do the creating."
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