Why We (Still) Need to Think About Internal Resistance
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I published a newsletter last year on diversity recruiting’s #1 prerequisite that organizations don’t talk much about. Internal resistance. In the newsletter, I touched on overcoming internal resistance as a prerequisite for diversity recruiting, and many people reached out to me, asking if I could do another one that further expanded on that topic. Therefore, you asked, and I am here to answer.
I want to start by reframing my original question: “How and when is my internal resistance affecting my performance in diversity recruiting?”
Internal Resistance vs Unconscious Bias
There can be some overlap, for sure, but there is also an important distinction we must be clear on. Put simply, identifying unconscious bias in recruiting focuses on flattening out the “obstacle course” experienced by historically underrepresented populations. In other words, overcoming institutional or systemic bias to create a more inclusive and equitable hiring process at your organization. However, by its nature, identifying unconscious bias in the hiring process does not dig deep enough to uncover all of our OWN personal biases. Internal resistance encompasses those much more personal and nuanced biases and internal barriers; those that are unique to us individually. And they inevitably affect how we put diversity recruiting into practice.
As an article from Forbes astutely observes, “Diversity and inclusion efforts struggle because they often attempt to find a one-size-fits-all solution to eliminating bias. The truth is, there is no effective one-size-fits-all solution because we all come with different backstories and different views of the world.” Those can affect your work as a recruiter just as much as the common sources of bias you’ve already been trained to recognize. And while it’s great to be aware of that as a prerequisite, our natural human tendencies toward bias, or to react to our experiences in certain ways, will not disappear.
“If we respond to any sort of change with small internal pushbacks such as hesitancy or reluctance, even for a moment, we need to ask ourselves, is there some internal resistance at work here?”
Overcoming Internal Resistance
As leaders standing on the front lines of increasing diversity, we need to work to identify and overcome areas of inner resistance regularly, because it is easy to slip back into old habits. Moreover, new aspects of internal resistance can also manifest, as working practices or circumstances change, for example, or as we increasingly interact with new groups of people. Internal resistance can therefore surface at any time in our work. If we respond to any sort of change with small internal pushbacks such as hesitancy or reluctance, even for a moment, we need to ask ourselves, is there some internal resistance at work here?
It will not automatically go away simply because you already had your unconscious bias training, and this should not be overlooked. One great comment on the previous article made me realize that internal resistance is often misidentified as an intuitive feeling. Sure, it will seem that way if we don’t know any better, but that is also how it can be missed. And if it is missed, it might even usurp those more formal efforts to eliminate bias that we have all been trained on.
This is Beyond How You Treat Jobseekers
Internal resistance is not only about how we interact with job seekers, though, as it can also affect other areas of our work. Were you ever reluctant to report a case of bias to your hiring manager? Have you been reluctant to explain why a particular hiring decision was not the best choice for the organization? You might have said to yourself: “I do not want to be a troublemaker.” or, “I want to avoid confrontation.” That is your internal resistance at work here.
At the organizational level, diversity recruitment needs to facilitate transformative change. To be successful, it is so much more than just some procedural changes. If it was about “box ticking” and that is all there was to it, internal resistance would barely come into play. But when we appreciate that fully engaging with diversity recruiting means completely rethinking how we go about sourcing, for example, this is likely to present a personal challenge. It may mean reinventing established attitudes and behaviors.
Ongoing Training is Key
So, what do we need to bear in mind about internal resistance? It is a prerequisite to be an effective diversity recruiter, and we should not forget that. But equally so, overcoming it is not a one-time thing. We can struggle with it at any time, regardless of experience level, and it is prone to surface when we face unfamiliar situations, or when “the way we have always done things” changes. Ongoing training and development, changing recruiting practices, or switching roles can all bring new aspects of internal resistance to the surface.
Speaking of training, we talk about internal resistance in our Qualified Diversity Recruiter (QDR) Certification Program. In this program, I walk with you to identify and overcome internal resistance. Consider joining our upcoming cohort.
