Community Building Through Cultural Understanding at Daymon

Imagine you’re sitting in a meeting room with senior executives present.  The group in the room has been called together to put out a fire.  There’s an expectation that you offer opinions and solutions on the spot, no time to fully analyze the situation, form your own questions or collect your thoughts.  Now, also imagine that you grew up believing that it is rude to just blurt out your thoughts with senior leaders in the room.  You were taught to listen when someone with authority or an elder speaks, to digest the information and come back with well thought-out options as a sign of respect.  You were taught it’s good not to stand out.  How do you think that silence is perceived by those leaders?  Will it be seen as just not having an opinion or solution?  Will it be seen as outright disinterest?  Could these perceptions lead to fewer opportunities to advance in your company?

The situation described is one that we’ve all probably been in at one time or another.  It may surprise you or annoy you at being put on the spot, but most of us have been taught that the “right” thing to do is speak up, to be seen.  For an Asian American, this situation can be much more conflicting.  “Our communication style can be very different,” explains Michelle Tonner, Director Client Services, Fresh Foods, Daymon.  “Generally, in the workplace we’re quieter; we’re thinkers; we may not speak out.  We may need an hour to think about a situation and then come back.  Our communication style is more often different than a traditional Westerner.”

Michelle, a 30-year Damon veteran, is the co-chair of Inspire, Damon’s Asian Employee Resource Group.  She is also Korean-American.  “With over 50 countries and 2,300 plus dialects, it’s tough to say we’re an all-encompassing Asian ERG,” explains Michelle.  “So, we’ve tried to find intersectionality between  countries and cultures.”  There are some important commonalities among these different groups.  Perhaps one of the most profound is that Asian families are often multi-generational.  They often live with and care for their elders.  There is a tremendous amount of respect for that relationship. A strong work ethic ties to the respect for family.  “In Asian culture, it’s important for us to contribute back to the family as a whole,” she explains. “It’s in our nature to want to work and want to contribute in that way.”  Also, food is very important across Asian culture as a means of connection to family heritage and in recognizing important cultural traditions and celebrations, such as Lunar New Year.

In leading Inspire, Michelle and her fellow leaders have decided to focus the ERG’s activities and education on four key pillars:  Community, Career, Culture and Commerce.  Often, education in DEI efforts focuses on the Culture aspect, identifying important customs and mannerisms that a population holds sacred.  The other of the Four C’s for Inspire take this cultural understanding a bit deeper.  “In creating Community, it’s important to emphasize that our goal is in creating that sense of belonging for our people, not assimilating,” stresses Michelle.  “Belonging has a different definition for every group.  Looking inward, we try to focus on such areas as communication.  How can we create an environment where communication works so that people can contribute in a way that makes them comfortable?”  For its members, Inspire talks about how to better communicate and contribute while recognizing the intrinsic desire to be respectful, polite and not stand-out.  But, this communication adjustment that’s key to developing community isn’t just in coaching members of Inspire; it’s also in coaching management and peers.  Conversations about these fundamental communication differences leads to understanding that there is a cultural barrier and to question how we can foster a better sense of community in the workplace.  It can be as simple as asking managers to evaluate meeting agendas to identify if a topic is truly an issue that needs to be triaged on the spot, or is there opportunity to provide people information about the situation, allow for brainstorming and then provide time to process and provide feedback.  It can be similar in a performance review.  Traditionally, the manager provides performance feedback on established objectives.  It is natural for us to listen respectfully and not provide return commentary.  But in Western culture, a dialogue is expected.  These are small ways that communication style can be dramatically different.

This kind of reflection from management not only promotes a sense of community, but also feeds into another focus of Inspire, Career.  Without a strong connection to colleagues or with a lack of Asian American leadership to emulate, it can be difficult to navigate what opportunities are available for advancement.  It also makes finding mentors incredibly difficult.  Michelle explains, “It’s not natural for us to raise our hands and say “Pick me!.” We are taught that if we work hard and do well, our work will be recognized.  We can be plagued by fear of failure or not possessing the knowledge we need to be successful.  Networking can also be a barrier for us.  And when we don’t see people who look like us in leadership, it’s even more daunting.”  Knowing this, Michelle encourage leaders to identify high performing Asian American employees and guide them into mentorships or positions and projects that can ultimately bolster their career.  Inspire partners with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) in trying to gain an understanding of how companies can continue to promote Asian Americans into senior and executive leadership positions.  “We have high levels of success being hired out of college.  We work hard and move up the ladder quickly in many cases.  Then you look at a certain level of management in most companies and we just aren’t there.  It’s like we disappear.  You rarely see us as members of the C-suite.  We need to understand more about why this is the case,” says Michelle.

Of course, the connection to Commerce can be a vital tipping point for support and adoption of any DEI effort.  Michelle acknowledges that Inspire works actively to reinforce that connection.  “When we present to leadership, we focus on who we are as members of Inspire, but we also make sure that we are tying our efforts to the business.  We say ‘Because you support our group, here’s how we can bring value to the company.’”  A large part of capturing that value is learning how to actively leverage this diverse group.  Think about your company’s recruiting efforts, “We can assist with education to find candidates in non-traditional lanes.  We can coach on how to approach them in a manner that is respectful in that community.  And, we of course, suggest that when you connect with them that you take someone who looks like them – take one of us.”  Another example, when recruiting at a university, it doesn’t just have to be a booth at their career fair.  Reach out to Asian American student organizations on campus.  Communicate with them prior to the career fair.  Make sure that you have someone of Asian heritage as part of your recruitment team that day.  Another suggestion Michelle offers is, “When you’re developing your sales and marketing campaigns and pitches, ask an internal focus group how the message lands with them.  Ask us if we like it or is it true to the way we live?  Does it offend in some way you might not recognize as a non-Asian?”  You can also use close community ties to uncover important information.  For example, if there is a large Asian community important to your market, reach out to them.  Find the community organization that they belong to such as community centers or churches.

One final, but important, topic that Michelle often addresses with leadership and colleagues is how to be an active ally when you don’t identify as Asian America.  “Spend time with people in their space,” she encourages.  “It’s about learning the little nuances.  When you spend time with people and you really listen, they talk about the things that are important to them even if it’s not in a direct manner.”  Take time to attend an Inspire ERG event or join the ERG.  Go on the TAAF website and read about how they are changing the narrative.  She also suggests getting to know an Asian American colleague. “Opening the conversation about why you want to get to know someone who you haven’t interacted much with in the past can be difficult,” Michelle acknowledges.  “I suggest approaching the conversation openly; be honest about wanting to be a better ally.  Let them share their story.  Ask them about their career goals and their experiences in the workplace.”  Finally, Michelle reminds us that being a good ally means being accountable.  We cannot sit by when statements and actions marginalize people.  If our first reaction to an undesirable comment is “She didn’t mean it that way,” then we are not holding ourselves accountable.  Our own actions go a long way in creating an inclusive environment.  A good ally recognizes and corrects even the smallest microaggression.  Michelle stresses, “We have to be mindful.  We have to have every day, real conversations with our associates.  That’s where we build bridges and connections with each other.”