For a Head of Engineering role where I have zero qualifications and zero experience – the answer is Yes.
For a Head of Delivery or People Engagement/Culture/Transformation – where I have a whole lot of experience – the answer is No.
Many people say that being a token hire is not great for the following reasons:
- Affirmative action tarnishes all people from that group with the false perception that they were only token hires and they did not have the ability to get the role on their individual merits
- the impacted individual will question whether they got the role because they deserved it or whether they got it due to their status as a minority – and this could impact their confidence.
- others will claim there is unfairness.
Meanwhile, here is my position on the subject. If I am a token hire for a role that I have experience in, I will go into the role wholeheartedly, knowing full well that within 2-3 months of me landing in that role, no one will be questioning my ability to do the role.
And as for those folks who will always see me as the token hire – this will be on them. If they only see me as token hire, they probably have a whole bunch of issues they already have with me in the first place – and this label will be yet another thing they can pin on me to satisfy their own judgements about me.
But here is the caveat. Token hires in the workplace will work under certain situations (like not having adequate people in the pipeline for diversity purposes) and with certain individuals (those who want a seat at the table – and who will not let labels get in the way of getting on with the job).
So, controversial topic friends. But one that warrants further contemplation.
#diversity #inclusion #affirmativeaction #leadership
