INTRO

How do you tell the difference between a Good and Bad Plan?

Whether you’re beginning the MLT Black Equity at Work Certification or working to strengthen your plan, we’re here to help, and want to first say congratulations for taking this step. You’re on your way to building a personalized, effective, and rigorous plan that creates real improvement in Black equity both inside and outside your company. We know it may seem like a lot, but that’s why we wanted to show some examples of how to tell the difference between a good plan and a bad plan. Once you see the differences outlined in this article, you’ll quickly realize that creating a good plan is not only possible, it’s within reach.

As part of the MLT Black Equity at Work Certification process, you’ll be asked to identify indicators and their root causes. Properly defining root causes is a critical step to a successful plan and directly impacts the activities and goals you set. Like any goal-setting process, it’s important for the goals to be SMART, an acronym you may have heard of before, defined as goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. However, in this case, a rigorous plan requires something more. You’ll need evidence-based root causes to identify outcome-focused activities, so you can clearly define owners, create achievable KPIs and set goals for the next 3 years. That’s why we’ve created a different acronym that we like to call REFORM. Here’s how it’s defined:

• Rigorous plan includes
• Evidence-based root causes
• Focused activities
• Owners clearly defined
• Realistic KPIs
• Measurable goals

SMART goals are, of course, smart, but we wanted to take goal setting and create meaningful change. That starts with REFORM. Each step in REFORM is designed to help you build out a plan that brings you closer to achieving the MLT Black Equity at Work Certification. Let’s look at some examples of a good plan vs a bad plan so you can see firsthand what works, what pitfalls to avoid, and how it all starts with properly defining evidence-based root causes.

ENSURING ACCURATE ROOT CAUSES

How do I know if my root causes are solid enough?

The data doesn’t lie. The first step in identifying root causes within your organization is to look at the data. The more specific you can be, the better. This can be based on employees surveys, attrition data, salary data, [other examples here], and more. The key here is to write the root cause in such a way that it is both evidence-based and specific. A root cause that is too broad or high-level will make it more difficult to build out specific activities and goals.

EXAMPLES

Examples of Good vs Bad – Root Causes

Indicator: 10% of Black representation at the middle management level.

For example, if your indicator is that your company has 10% of Black representation at the middle management level, the root causes should really drill down as to why that number is so low. What is truly causing it? Should you identify a root cause that is a symptom not a cause, or too high-level, the activities, KPIs, and goals you ultimately set will be disconnected.

Here’s an example of a poor root cause:

• Example Root Cause 1: High turnover of Black employees at Middle Management.

This root cause is a good example of not getting deep enough into the why. High turnover is a symptom, but why is the high turnover happening? Always ask yourself, what is truly causing it? And get specific, even if it’s uncomfortable. And if you don’t have the information you need to get specific, then your first step is to find a way to get that evidence-based data.

Here’s an example of better root causes for the symptom of high turnover:

When you really dig deeper, the turnover is a result of what?

• Example Root Cause 2, (REFORMed): Employee engagement survey shows Black employees feel they aren’t receiving adequate support from managers
• Example Root Cause 3, (REFORMed): Black employees on sales track unsure how to access available career paths, revealed in a listening session

You can probably already see why these root causes are more effective, evidence-based, and specific. Let’s break it down further. Both of the REFORMed root causes have identified specific concerns based on either a survey or listening session. They not only identify the problem that needs to be addressed, but they also note how that problem was identified–and in both cases this was done by turning to the employees themselves whether it’s through a survey, listening session, or one-on-one conversation. The root cause should not be based on assumptions or overly general. Listen, learn, gather data, and identify the real cause behind each indicator. A strong root cause will lead to focused activities, better KPIs, and achievable goals. It’s an essential foundation to creating a successful plan.

ENSURING EFFECTIVE ACTION ITEMS

How do I know if my action items are going to be impactful?

Let’s take a look at how different root causes can lead to very different activities and goals. Consider the same indicator and Root Cause 1 from the previous example. If we were to create an activity based off of Root Cause 1, it would lack clarity and be difficult to action on. Essentially, it doesn’t qualify as an activity at all.

EXAMPLES

Examples of Good vs Bad – Action Items (Part 1)

If you start with a poor root cause, you’re not going to be able to create effective action items:

Root Cause 1: High turnover of Black employees at Middle Management.

• Activity: Work on a plan to help decrease turnover.

It may sound great on paper, but where would the owner of this task even begin? It’s unlikely to lead to achievable results. An evidence-based root cause lends itself to activities that are detailed, focused, and clear, which in turn, translates into actionable KPIs.

Examples of Good vs Bad – Action Items (Part 2)

Here’s an example of good action item:

Let’s try it again with the REFORMed root cause.

Root Cause 2, (REFORMed): Employee engagement survey shows Black employees feel they aren’t receiving adequate support from managers

Now, the activity can be adjusted to be much more specific:

• Activity: Hire career development coach to be individually paired with Black sales employees.

See the difference? The point person knows exactly what they need to do to achieve this activity, and the KPI can be written appropriately to be realistic, aligned, and measurable within a specific timeframe, too.

• KPI: New role hired by EOY & paired by Q1 2022

Examples of Good vs Bad – Action Items (Part 3)

Here’s an example of a poor action item:

Let’s look at another example based on the same indicator where the root cause is too broad, resulting in activities that aren’t clear or actionable enough.

Indicator: 10% of Black representation at Middle Management level

Root cause 4: Black employees getting less effective career guidance.

• Activity: Create employee resource group
• KPI: Decrease employee turnover of Black employees to 0%

As you can see, the root cause is a symptom, not a cause. There is no evidence to back it up, and the activity in this example is no longer connected to the root cause at all. Furthermore, the KPI is too ambitious to be relevant. Let’s try this one again with a REFORMed root cause and see how the activity and KPI change as a result.

Examples of Good vs Bad – Action Items (Part 4)

Here’s an example of a good action item:

Root Cause 3, (REFORMed): Black employees on sales track unsure how to access available career paths, revealed in a listening session

• Activity: Host education series for managers to better lead & develop diverse teams
• KPI: 50%+ managers attend in 2021; 100% by Q2 2022

By updating to an evidence-based root cause, the activity is clearly connected, KPIs become specific and measurable, and the goals for this indicator are now incremental and achievable by year 3.