Middle Management May Hinder Diversity Initiatives

Middle managers focus on long-term strategy and the status quo. Because they're generally rewarded for maintaining current results, they often become roadblocks to inclusion initiatives. There are many barriers to engaging middle managers. "Beneath the headlines are layers of complexity," notes the report, "including a lack of understanding for the business case for diversity, competing priorities, time pressures, legitimate questions about how they'll be rewarded for their efforts, measurability, lack of authority to make much of a difference, and a sense that they're at the mercy of the candidates recruiters provide them."