Hispanic people represent a substantial portion of the workforce and consumer base, but continue to be underrepresented in corporate boardrooms and senior executive roles. In this episode of All Things Work, host Tony Lee speaks with Esther Aguilera, president and CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) on achieving greater representation among Hispanic professionals in senior leadership roles.
Hispanic people represent a substantial portion of the workforce and consumer base, but continue to be underrepresented in corporate boardrooms and senior executive roles. In this episode of All Things Work, host Tony Lee speaks with Esther Aguilera, president and CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) on achieving greater representation among Hispanic professionals in senior leadership roles.
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This episode of All Things Work is sponsored by ADP.
Music courtesy of bensound.
Speaker 1:
Business success requires thinking beyond today. That's why ADP uses data driven insights to design HR solutions to help your business have more success tomorrow. ADP, always designing for HR, talent, time, benefits, payroll, and people.
Tony Lee:
Welcome to All Things Work, a podcast from the Society For Human Resource Management. I'm your host, Tony Lee, head of content here at SHRM. Thank you for joining us. All Things Work as an audio adventure, where we talk with thought leaders and taste makers to bring you an insider's perspective on all things work. Today, our focus is on the C-suite, specifically Hispanic people in the C-suite. Hispanics make up nearly 20% of the us population, and that will grow to almost 30% by 2060, yet the Hispanic population is woefully underrepresented in corporate boardrooms and senior executive roles, despite being an ever growing part of the workforce and the consumer base. Now, companies are attempting to bridge that gap by adding training programs or launching scholarship initiatives. But still, Latino leaders caution that companies must do more to advance Hispanic workers' careers and do it quickly if they want to be viable and profitable in the years ahead.
Now, to be sure Hispanic workers face many of the same struggles as their brethren, an ingrained culture that favors white males. And like Asian Americans, Latinos come from cultures that often shy away from boasting about their accomplishments. My guest today, joining me to discuss the efforts being made to promote Hispanic managers into the executive suite is Esther Aguilera. Esther is the president and CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association in Washington, DC and the former president and CEO of the congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Esther, welcome to All Things Work.
Esther Aguilera:
Tony, thank you so much for having me great to be here with you.
Tony Lee:
Well, thank you. It's great to have you. So, let's start off by talking about where we are. I mean, we know that last year, 4% of large US companies' top executives were Hispanic, even though Hispanics represent 19% of the population. Why do you think there's such a discrepancy?
Esther Aguilera:
Great question. So, Latinos face a lot of discrimination and microaggressions in the workplace. Oftentimes, things like an accent or culture get in the way from others really relating to Latinos. An accent does not define someone's strengths and someone's qualities in the workplace, and yet oftentimes there's a lot of microaggressions that impact that. I've heard from many Latinas and Latinos about some of their experiences. And in one case, we had a Latino in financial and investment world who built a $2 billion portfolio, grew her business within the company, and yet still, when she walked into some key manager meetings, she was asked if she can clear off the table. There is these misperceptions, these deep misperceptions that oftentimes impact both their conscious and unconscious biases. That influence, unfortunately, how managers, if they're not tuned in, how it influences their perceptions of the quality and the worth of this individual.
Tony Lee:
So, let's focus for a minute on managers who are Hispanic now. They've gotten to a place in the company where they've risen to a managerial role, maybe they're a director, and they think they should be considered for a higher level role, something in the C-suite. What's stopping company CEOs from rewarding that promotion? Is it these same biases?
Esther Aguilera:
I think so. So, we did a public opinion poll that looked at the perceptions of Americans towards us Latinos. And the findings who are striking. Latinos are perceived that one third of Latinos are undocumented, when in fact, 80% of Latinos are citizens and 90% are citizens or legally permanently here. And so that, coupled with another misperception, Americans perceive that 47%, nearly half of Latinos are farm workers, laborers. And so going back to the perceptions and biases, what we're seeing is Latinos become invisible. Literally, you can have great talent right in front of you, or let's say that manager has brought certainly a lot of quality work, but their leaders are not recognizing them or are invisible to it. That's one factor. The other factor is really, for that manager to find ways to ask questions about, "Hey, I'm ready for the next step." So, I think there are roles for both to play, but the biggest hurdle are these biases.
Tony Lee:
No, it makes sense. We've seen research as well. A thousand Hispanic leaders found that 87% say they've experienced prejudice in the workplace. 63% said they feel like they've had to work harder because of their identity. So, if you're advising a Hispanic manager, how would you advise them to help dispel this myth to show that they are capable and able to handle a higher level position?
Esther Aguilera:
Well, Latinos, we are very adaptable, resilient, really perceptive. These are all qualities that are needed in leadership roles. And I think in that talking to executives, really talking up those strengths. I mean, we are team leaders. We bring teams together, which are needed. So, I think learning to talk about some of those strengths in unique ways that you can continue to add value. One of the books that I love is a book that's called, "Hey, What Got You Here is Not Going To Get You There." And the other thing that's important, for both the employee and the managers, is when you see a high performing individual and what got them there, and you see the potential, is everyone needs an additional training to get them to the next level. But Latinos have to be able to say, "Hey, not only am I ready for the next challenge and the stretch goals, this particular training would really help me along the way."
It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes to say, "Yes, I'm ready. I have what it takes. And by the way, this is an additional thing that will help in that journey." And I think that's something that doesn't always factor in when you're talking about your next move. I always say you have to take stretch assignments, as well as go into areas that are not your comfort zone. What I'm finding as trends, and I don't know if you're seeing it as well, is too often, Latino and Latinas get kind of pushed into the D&I space, which is very important, yet they have qualities that they can develop elsewhere. For example, I have one woman I'm mentoring, and she's such a dynamo. She started in a consumer facing role and they really liked her and they put her into kind of more of a D&I space.
And so she started asking questions. And she asked me, "I'm ambitious. I want to get ahead. Is this the right path for me?" And again, too often, people get pigeonholed. This is a woman who has a Harvard MBA. She's Afro Latina. And she has to remind them. And she did. I said, "You should remind them of what you bring to the table, because too often, it'll get comfortable and put you going into this space." So, these types of examples are so important. Oftentimes, don't assume that they remember that you're a Harvard MBA grad. You have to call it out and say, "Hey, I'm ready to go into, or I want to go into a P&L role, and I've got the background and the training that can get me there." Step by step. Don't get pigeonholed.
Tony Lee:
It's fascinating you say that because one of the things I mentioned in the intro is cultural modesty, the idea of not tuning your own horn, and yet it's really critical that Hispanic managers do that, or they're just not going to be seen or recognized. Don't you think?
Esther Aguilera:
I do. And something that you mentioned, there's another study that found that 85%, in this case, it was Latinas, don't feel they can bring their whole selves to work. And that is something that impacts individuals. The other thing that I see happen is Latinos kind of get steered into positions that are somewhat dead end. I had one young mentee, got a call from the HR department. And they said, "Well, we have a possible promotion for you in a different job role. It's related, but it is a step ahead." And they explained the role to her. And the smart thing that she did was she said, "Wow, well, thank you. Let me think about it." She went to a trusted mentor and advisor, more senior at the company, and she asked them. She said, "Is this the right move for me?" And the colleague, a mentor said, "Well, how ambitious are you?" She's like, "Well, I'm super ambitious. I want to get ahead and get into the C-suite." And she told her, "Well, that role is not going to get you there."
You're going to grow a couple steps, but then it plateaus. It doesn't go anywhere else. So, you're kind of led into some advancement, but it's somewhat of a dead end." And so with that information, she went back to the HR individual and said... Well, clearly she's valued at the company. And she asked the right questions after she did her research to say, "Is this role going to allow me to do some of the things that I aspire to?" Again, which is running a P&L et cetera. And the HR manager was very kind. They said, "Well, you're right. If you're interested in that direction, what I'm proposing is not your right path." And so that helped her a great deal.
Sometimes you get excited. "Hey, I'm getting offered a promotion." Take the time. It's okay to... You don't have to answer right away. Just search for advice. You might find that it is the right one for you, but it's hard to know. I'm an immigrant from Mexico. And my parents couldn't advise me on things like this. And so when you don't have either the family history and family network that has been in these types of roles, it is really hard to navigate.
Tony Lee:
And you've mentioned several times, the importance of having mentors and a trusted advisor, someone you can go to speak to. What advice do you give for helping to find that type of guidance within a company structure?
Esther Aguilera:
Well, don't be afraid to ask. I mean, everyone's very busy, but if you make a connection with someone and you just say, "Hey, can I call you?" I think the word mentors could be very loaded because people feel that there's so much of a commitment with it, but professional advisor maybe is a better way to say, "Can I call you as I'm navigating my career?" Just ask. Don't be afraid to ask. Oftentimes, people don't ask. And so think about that. Sometimes peers could be really good people just to talk to. So, think widely about peers, and then others that can guide you on some of your next paths. McKinsey does a report on women in the workplace. And we partnered with them. They did a... They took a look at that data for Latinas. The workforce and the entry levels is very diverse.
And in that study, they also interviewed some of the women. And the other misperception, in this case about Latinas, is even sometimes in our own community, we say, well, culturally, we care deeply about family. That comes first, which is true, but the perception becomes that Latinas aren't as ambitious. And what the McKinsey study found is quite the opposite. Latinas were actually more ambitious, because you hear sometimes women drop out of the workplace because of wanting to focus on family, which by the way, is a great thing. But the stereotype is that Latinas drop out because of that reason, and this study found that, in fact, Latinas are very ambitious. And that drives that perception and biases as well. "Well, this person is not really interested in advancing," which has been a narrative that we need to change.
Tony Lee:
Clearly. One last area I want to ask you about, I mean obviously it makes smart business sense for companies to be diverse and to be promoting diverse employees. And in the case of Latinos, it's interesting because as a consumer base, the Latino population in the us is growing so dramatically that companies, pretty much no matter what they do, are catering to a clientele that includes a large percentage of Latinos. But you talk to CEOs about hiring Latino executives in the C-suite, and the answer you often hear is, "Well, I can't find any. I can't find anyone who's qualified for this position." What would you say to that CEO?
Esther Aguilera:
There is ample talent. There's plenty of talent. And many of it is right under your nose, but 72% of new entrants to the workforce are Latinos. So, this is your current and future customers and employees. And our organization, the Latino Corporate Directors Association, we were formed because a group of corporate directors, Latino directors said, well, the numbers were very low and we kept hearing the excuse that they can't find them. And so we took it upon ourselves to address this. We have now the, for the first time, the largest network of accomplished and respected Latinos in corporate leadership and corporate governance. And as the organization numbers have tripled, we're here to take away the excuse that you cannot find them. There is ample talent. There's so many tools these days that make it so easy to find people if you want them. I mean, LinkedIn is one of them. Plus, you have great organizations, professional organizations like alpha and others. So, the tools are there and the business case is there.
Tony Lee:
Absolutely. Well, that is going to have to do it for today's episode of All Things Work, but a big thank you to Esther Aguilera for joining me to discuss how employers can make progress by promoting Latino employees to the C-suite. Before we get out of here, I want to encourage everyone to follow all Things Work wherever you listen to your podcast. And also, listener reviews have a real impact on a podcast's visibility. So, if you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to leave a review and help others find the show. Finally, you can see all of our episodes on our website at shrm.org/atwpodcast. Thanks for listening, and we will catch you next time on All Things Work.
Speaker 1:
Business success requires thinking beyond today. That's why ADP uses data driven insights to design HR solutions to help your business have more success tomorrow. ADP, always designing for HR, talent, time, benefits, payroll, and people.