In Quebec, as we like to say, “the world is small”, probably more so than anywhere else in North America, a consequence of our unique cultural and linguistic situation. In the business world, this reality encourages regulars to be cautious in expressing opinions. For fear of offending someone we meet again, we publicly stick to consensual formulas welcoming living together and the spirit of the times. This caution, going beyond the essential politeness, is often necessary.
Lately, we notice that this dynamic, accentuated by the ambient hypersensitivity, is in the process of going beyond the status of propriety and mutating into obligatory conformism for the various services of the organizations. American social tensions, a worrying global geopolitics, misinformation and the omnipresence of activists and online activists are not insignificant factors. At the Davos Economic Forum, where a globalized liberal elite gathers annually to celebrate happy globalization with pomp, there was rightly concern about “societies polarized by misinformation and misinformation”.
For our organizations, especially those communicating with the general public, the challenges are many.
In the past, marketers could target one customer without fear of alienating another. The possibilities offered by artificial intelligence and big data allow more precise targeting. This use of data and the debate around consent, however, arouses the mistrust of a large part of the public. Messages and advertisements from companies, especially large ones, come under the scrutiny of vocal groups and activists, especially online.
An advertising slogan that strikes a chord, the targeting of a particular community group or simply badly perceived communication could backfire on the company. And perceptions sometimes triumph over reality.
Within organizations, the dynamic is also influenced by the current context. For example, the calls for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) coming from the Anglo-Saxon world, relayed by powerful lobbies and activists, are prompting many of our organizations to hastily comply with EDI programs. of our neighbors to the south.
We forget that these are the subject of serious criticism, American observers in favor of diversity going so far as to denounce the inauthenticity of a certain identity capitalism generating feigned behavior born of badly polished programs. Instances of tension are also making headlines here, in academic and media circles, suggesting that the reported cases are not isolated.
A Quebec executive from a large global company recently told me that she had stunned her colleagues and human resources managers by asking how linguistic diversity fits into their local EDI strategy. Thus, it was also observed that the emphatic commitment to diversity in some large organizations could serve as a screen to mask an obvious negligence in ensuring a workplace in French in Quebec.
How many Quebec employees will have to resign themselves to undergoing poorly targeted EDI training, often in English? How many managers will be evaluated on their ability to replicate the behaviors required in the playbook ?
We will comply, we will keep silent, to continue to be well seen internally. However, diversity is essential to fight against a shortage of talents which will eventually overcome the resistance of the last management boards composed of men born in the same rank. A clear majority of Canadians support the principles of diversity and inclusion, but say they are concerned about the way they are implemented here. Well Named.
Some will conclude that our era navigates through its contradictions. Social networks were supposed to provide a window on the world, we are sorry to discover a platform where information is often twisted, emptied of all meaning, arousing well-founded fears and great caution in our organizations. Within these, calls for openness, inclusion and dialogue, legitimate and desirable, sometimes take the form of a steamroller in the face of existing local diversity. We must continue to encourage ethics and dialogue, while avoiding plunging organizations and employees into a parallel, conformist and sanitized universe.