Minority Friendliness Quotient
How Minority Friendly is an Organization?
By Pete Lorins
Most organizations tend to portray themselves as minority-friendly, or racially and ethically tolerant organizations... It's been said that image is everything, thus it seems that most organizations would love to be associated with this positive image... we are probably familiar with the following:
"Equal Opportunity Employer"
"Women and Underrepresented Groups are Encouraged to Apply" etc.
However, how committed are such organizations to such ideals? Indeed, we have all heard about individuals like Sterling and Paul Deen who have made ample money through the hard work of Black bodies or from Black innovation, yet seemed to have held very racist views of Black people. But most corporate leaders are not as reckless as Sterling and Paula Deen, thus we may never know what their true agenda are. Nonetheless, their level of minority-friendliness does remain measurable based on how actionable they are on some key metrics that we'll call a Minority Friendliness Quotient (MFQ). At LorinsPOST, we measure a company's minority friendliness quotient by using : the LorinsPOST MFQ 5-prong test
It treats its employees or learners the same way regardless of ethnic or cultural background. And although that does not in of itself imply that such an organization is “minority friendly", it is nonetheless a condition precedent to actually becoming a minority friendly organization. (20 MFQ Points)
It acknowledges and respects differences in its employees' or learners' ethnic and cultural backgrounds and takes these differences into account when hiring, and promoting them. (20 MFQ Points)
It takes steps towards hiring a culturally diverse staff or student body, providing forms and materials in different languages not only for the staff or student body, but also any customers that they have from any existing minority populations. (20 MFQ Points)
It creates paths towards upward mobility for both existing and prospective minority employees or learners. (20 MFQ Points)
It creates incentives to maximize the diversity of their staff members and/or that of their clientele or learners, all while making them feel as comfortable as possible. (20 MFQ Points)
An organization's MFQ score is measured as follows:
0 MFQ Points = F = Failure (i.e., failure to provide any indicator of effort towards MF)
20 MFQ Points = D = Poor (minor sign of existing effort to become minority-friendly)
40 MFQ Points = D+ = Fair (reasonable sign of existing effort towards becoming MF)
60 MFQ Points = C = Good (i.e., good indicator of effort towards MF)
80 MFQ Points = B = Very Good (i.e., very good indicator of effort towards MF)
100 MFQ Points = A = Excellent (i.e., excellent effort towards becoming MF)
Organizations that achieve a MFQ score of D or F will be published in our eventual Minority Unfriendliness List, while those that get a score of D+ or better will be published in our Minority Friendliness List. It's been said that prevention is the best medicine. However, sometimes, damage control is necessary. Should your organization happen to be experiencing a minority-friendliness issue and thus require Minority Unfriendliness Damage Control (e.g., post-racism PR needs), we have associates who are experienced to help your organization deal with both existing issues and prevent future ones concurrently. You may also contact us if you need clarification as to why your organization has been listed under the wrong list.
You can reach one of our associates at the following:
Email: recruit@rapidgigsplus.com
Phone: (407) 955-3534
Minority Friendliness is very important issue. We urge all organizations to take it very seriously and as always it is prudent to realize that "prevention is", indeed, "the best medicine". Please stay Minority Friendly and give us a call should ou need any assistance on that end.
Dr. Pete Lorins is the Chief Editor of LorinsPOST.com. This article was sponsored by LORINS.biz a multi-industry consultancy firm providing services in engineering, law, education, business, and medicine.
