4 Valuable DEI Recruiting Takeaways from Netflix’s trending documentary “White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch”
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I try to resist working over the weekend--especially while trying to binge Netflix, but this time, I could not help myself! 😉
Yes, I dedicated one hour and twenty-eight minutes over the weekend to watch the newest Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch. It had to be more than just me watching because, at one point, it was ranked #1 on Netflix in the United States.
Maybe you watched it too?
There were a lot of things that glaringly stood out to me through my lens of always thinking about increasing diversity. In this documentary, there are four themes that I want to make sure that you did not miss as your workplace is on its journey to increasing diversity. Let’s unpack them below.
Here are 4 lessons that we can all learn from this documentary:
Lesson #1: You cannot fix the problem of inclusion with a diversity hiring binge. Inclusion is not a one-dimensional activity. It must be interwoven into the fabric of how you do business. More specifically in our field of diversity recruiting, inclusive practices must be included in how you hire, how you fire, AND how you promote. In the documentary, former A&F DEI Officer, Todd Corley, spoke highly about how the company was increasing diversity—yet most of their workplace diversity was found at the store levels only, rather than also at leadership levels. They saw the challenge as something that hiring could fix rather than also considering promotional practices.
Translation: I see this happen all the time within workplaces where leaders boast diversity metrics, but when we take a deeper look, we realize that the highest levels of diversity are isolated to retail stores, customer service departments, junior-level positions, etc. What about the rest of the organization—specifically among leadership positions? Workplaces must also review their promotional policies and practices to ensure equity. What does mobility look like within the company? Who gets access to internal opportunities within the company? Who gets a seat at the decision-making table?
Lesson #2: A brand that is happy and comfortable excluding customers will unintentionally (or very intentionally) create a culture that is also comfortable excluding job seekers and employees without fear of reproach. Any ideas around exclusion that start in the leadership mindset will permeate throughout the company via leadership philosophies and culture. At A&F, even in the rare instance when people of color were hired, they were intentionally not assigned work hours or were assigned late evening work hours and sometimes were even terminated. This mindset must be shifted away from whom we can exclude to a question of how we can increase bottom-line revenue by including more voices, images, and experiences, not by excluding them. Just like Robin Givhan stated in the documentary, “changes tend to happen when those who raise concerns can point out all the ways in which a company is leaving money on the table by its current actions.”
Translation: In many workplaces, we have been asked to speak to leaders about practices such as only recruiting from Ivy League universities, specific industry competitors, and specific organizations to the exclusion of others. I have even observed some hiring leaders go as far as saying do NOT recruit and hire from specific companies because their employees are low quality. Do not get caught up in such exclusionary practices.
Lesson #3: One of the most important questions you will ever ask as a recruiter and/or hiring manager is this: who is qualified for this role? The answer depends on what you view as a qualification. That is the challenge with bias. Bias impacts what we view as a qualification and whom we view as qualified. Most qualifications that were observed in the documentary had nothing to do with what it would take to be successful in selling clothing. According to the documentary, A&F viewed an “all-American” look as a qualification. They went as far as to define what an “all-American” look is and is not. As an example, an all-American look to A&F included a neatly combed, attractive, natural, classic hairstyle. That was acceptable. Dreadlocks were unacceptable for men and women.
Translation: I see this happen all the time in the workplace, except we replace the word “all-American” with “professional.” We say that we want to hire people with a professional look. Each workplace has its views as to what is professional and what is not professional and too few workplaces are linking the historical context of professionalism and how it is rooted in heterosexual, cis-gender, male-dominated norms and behaviors. Just like “all-American” was a code word for all-white, be careful with how you are defining professional especially as a qualification to work in your workplace. You could be just as liable as companies that exclude individuals who do not have that “all-American” look.
Lesson #4: Opting into one’s own Lived Experience Quotient (LEQ) first requires an inclusive environment. In the documentary, there was a conversation about the A&F Wong Brother’s Laundry Service t-shirt because the shirt had the following statement on it, “two wongs can make it white” with the kitschy font and Asian caricatures. It always leaves you wondering why someone didn’t speak up before printing these shirts to avoid major backlash. I liked how this documentary spoke to how there were two people on the main team (who printed this shirt) who identified as Asian American, and it had a lot to do with why the shirt ever got approved—and later trashed and burned. I tend to agree with Phil Yu, that environment always wins. It is not enough to have representation at the table, but employees must feel safe that if they do speak up and share an unpopular opinion or recommendation, they will not suffer harm as an outcome. It did not sound like this was the A&F culture.
Translation: Do you have an environment where it feels safe to share what can be perceived as unpopular opinions? Let’s take it to the next level. Do you have a workplace environment where people from historically underrepresented groups feel safe to share an unpopular opinion without getting a label or being perceived as stereotypical or without feeling gaslit as an outcome of sharing the reality of their experiences? Even if we think that we have a safe environment, it is still very eye-opening to learn what your most vulnerable populations are feeling and how they would respond when placed in a situation where the group wanted to go in one way, but this individual felt like it was not the right move.
“White hot brands always burn out,” said, Robin Givhan in the documentary as the show ended with Mike Jeffries being removed from the role of CEO. Abercrombie & Fitch, with its new CEO (as of 2017), Fran Horowitz, made many changes to foster more inclusivity, stating, “we are no longer the company we used to be.” They now promote The Abercrombie Equity Project dedicated to social and racial justice. Their site states that the intention is to create a sense of belonging—to empower all voices and make an impact by generating funding, enabling change, and sharing the experiences of underrepresented communities. Also, in light of the release of the Netflix documentary, their website has a banner that states, “This is Abercrombie Today: Today—and every day—we’re leading with purpose, championing inclusivity and creating a sense of belonging.” Good luck to A&F as they are working to create more equity and increase diversity within its brand.