Leveling the Playing Field

Recently Black Enterprise Magazine posted an article entitled "New Study Delivers ‘Overwhelming Evidence’ of Racial Discrimination in the Job Market."  What I found most interesting within this article was "a Chicago-based consulting firm found that 60 partners at law firms rated the same legal brief consistently lower when told the author was black (3.2 out of 5), compared to when they were told the author was white.  Reviewers were also more likely to point out spelling, grammar and technical errors when under the impression the author was black."  My first thoughts were wow this still exists in 2014!  Now lets apply these same statistics to a small business trying to garner business, but instead of it being a legal brief it's a proposal response to a Request for Proposal (RFP).


Small businesses in general are struggling for survival!  In particular, minority and women-owned businesses are struggling, but for a different reason.  These groups have to overcome barriers of economic inclusion in contracting.  In an area where contracting to minority and women-owned business enterprises are low as compared to the overall population establishes a basis for inclusion programs.  Barriers to inclusion can be seen in access to capital, bonding and insurance, and also in contracting.  However, when barriers to inclusion are unfairly added in the selection criteria of a procurement process it makes business impossible to obtain.  Barriers to inclusion can be evidenced in the drafting of RFPs, selection methods, scoring/ranking criteria, and even in the selection committee (staff participating).  Which brings me to the point of this blog post of "Leveling the Playing Field."


A level playing field as defined by Wikipedia Online - is a concept about fairness, not that each player has an equal chance to succeed, but that they all play by the same set of rules.  I was told a few years ago that "you live in fantasy land" and that's partly true in a sense.  That statement from a former colleague still pops up every now and again.  It's true that I believe people will do the right thing in business and life!  Yeah I know that's wishful thinking right?  A foreign concept for many to treat people fairly and not deliberately place barriers in contracting documents.  Yes it's true in 2014 we are still talking about these types of issues, but we can't move past it unless there's recognition.  How do we level the playing field?

The answer...We level the playing field by eliminating barriers to inclusion.  A good start to eliminating those barriers to inclusion is by being fair and impartial in your procurement practices.  Secondly establish programs that specifically address these issues that minority and women-owned small businesses face.  A third way is to accurately establish goals for not only construction contracting, but also professional services.  Finally, establish specific programs that include management & training for small business concerns.

That's just my take on it......Lets make Leveling the Playing not only a catch phrase, but a reality.   

Brenda Brown is the Business Development Director of Patterson-Brown & Associates.  She is a small business advocate with a passion for diversity & inclusion.  Ms. Brown can be reached at (706) 834-4207 or email bbrown@pba-diversity.com.  You can also find them on the web at www.pba-diversity.com.
 
Please read the article from Black Enterprise Magazine here.