Written by Dr. Brandy Lovelady Mitchell

The account of Mercy Health’s incredible journey of strengthening and diversifying their workforce has graced multiple platforms over the last several years. It is a story of triumph rooted in visioning, reflection, intentionality and alignment.

Recently, I had an opportunity to hear several of Mercy Health’s employees reflect on their journey, and in addition to the previously mentioned descriptors of their success story, a phrase Jill McFarlane used activated my thinking. McFarlane provided refreshed language and stimulating rationale for a cognitive shift that I hope my beloved profession wrestles with as we enter another intense season of hiring. McFarlane talked about “cultural fit”.

Cultural Fit

McFarlane talked about cultural fit in the context of hiring. This is where I typically cringe, as the word “fit”, as I have said before, is generally rooted in an affinity bias. A bias that does not serve the end user.

Like many others, I have experienced hiring for fit as an exclusionary practice. Being or not being a cultural fit can be traced to employment barriers for some groups! McFarlane’s focus honored current culture and extended her vision to what her company knows might fit their targeted customers.

This not only honored her organization’s brand, but it illuminated her company’s responsibility to their customers and their community. What radiated from her message for me was a clear case as to why Mercy’s evidenced-based hiring processes are strategically designed to be inclusive of the customers whom they serve.  

While her story was not about quotas, it was a well-argued case for casting the talent net wide, where career on-ramps are accessible and equitable. Their story beams with strategic and reciprocating partnerships that provide exposure, experiences and skills early on and continuously to new generations of professionals. (This speaks to both short-term and long-term goals!) There were rays in the story that reflected the intentional acknowledgement of a multi-generational workforce with different needs, desires and attributes.

It is important to note that Mercy asserts that their initial intent was not to launch a diversity campaign, yet their transformation and research has diversified their workforce. It is taking them closer to mirroring the community they serve. Mercy transparently shares what they have learned, how they are leaning into their values and how they are invested in continuous improvement.

The professionals didn’t hold back on the pain that comes with change. However, they seemed to delight in the fruit of their labor through narrative and stats. The qualitative and quantitative data gave glimpses of the workplace culture and climate that comes along with this transformative work.  The shift in the organization is from operating as an entity solely focusing on cultural fit as an opportunity to continue to replicate their past to becoming an organization which engages in innovative hiring practices that help situate them in becoming who the community needs them to be.This has benefited their business and those whom they endeavor to serve. What an amazing story right here in our own backyard!

I admire the work that this complex, old system continues to engage in to remain viable, responsive and relevant.  I am grateful that Mercy serves as a lamp to the possibilities for my beloved education ministry/industry. While I do not think our systems identically overlap, we do have the commonality of situating people in maximizing their potential and, in many ways, our systems literally or figuratively share work that is about life or death.

I better understand that cultural fit is not about doing the same thing, but perhaps cultural fit is about asking some of these questions: What gaps might we have in our products and services based on who is missing from our team? How might we control for bias? Who within and outside of our sector is engaged in innovative practices that is yielding impactful results that we can learn from? Who needs to be added to our instructional teams for us to be a cultural fit for our students and the communities we serve? How might our workplace culture and policies support this type of inclusion? How might our workforce climate construct barriers for these groups?

I am happy to remind readers that Mercy Health, among many other brilliant institutions, will join us on the campus of Kent ISD on March 19 for the Fierce Urgency of Now: Strengthening and Diversifying the Pipeline. You are invited to form your own opinion of Mercy’s story by joining us on March 19, click here to register today!

Here are some additional questions to ponder:

• Who do our customers and community need us to be?
• What mental models might we need to abandon related to cultural fit?
• What bite-sized action steps might you take to assist your organization in being a more inclusive organization? What might this mean for you? Your customers/stakeholders?
• How might your workplace climate, policies structures and procedures need to change in order to produce your desired state?
• How might practices/behaviors support your new identity?
• What insight might you gain from wrestling with this topic?
• Have you signed up yet? What are you waiting for?

This blog post was written by Dr. Brandy Lovelady Mitchell, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director at Kent ISD, and edited by Amanda Walma, Professional Learning Coordinator at Kent ISD.