Founder of Leading With Courage Academy who facilitates leadership development & succession planning programs mainly in ESOP organizations.
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Since last summer, each of us has probably been in multiple conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion. But how many of these have led to tangible differences in the way you are managing your initiatives and making the desired changes? If you're struggling to get the results you want or need, here's a list of ideas for addressing DEI challenges for next to nothing. You just need to be curious, have an open mind and be willing to ask, "What do you think?"
1. Create a solid foundation of understanding you can build upon.
• Acknowledge the fact that most of the systems in organizations weren't designed to meet the needs of nonwhite and female employees, nor were they designed to provide equal opportunities. Our systems are broken and need to be fixed.
• Assume nothing. Making assumptions about a perceived issue can mean you miss a valuable opportunity to engage and understand the varying components at play. You need to become comfortable with asking questions and really listening to the answers.
• Know that not everyone will be supportive of your efforts. Recognize when it's better to retreat rather than push harder. Prioritize progress over perfection.
• At the same time, don't shame or humiliate anyone to get compliance or buy-in. Don't be afraid of getting it wrong or ashamed that this hasn't been done already. Assume positive intent. Be open to being wrong and being vulnerable.
• Recognize that just appointing an African American as your Chief Diversity Officer won't fix things. One person can't do it all. It's too big a job with too much to do.
• Rest assured that all the answers and tools we need to address DEI challenges are right in front of us. There's nothing "new" we have to create.
2. Communicate the compelling business case.
• Start by creating a clear and compelling business case that shows people what winning on DEI looks like. You don't have to start from scratch — there's already been a lot of research done, from which you can draw inspiration and insights. For example, a recent Citi Group study revealed how DEI in the workplace leads to increased revenue, reduced costs and greater innovation, as well as increases in employee engagement, productivity and commitment.
3. Make it personal.
• Ask yourself this: What would you do if someone you loved or cared deeply for was marginalized? That's probably what you should be doing.
• Grow yourself by expanding the diversity of your own network. Listen to the experiences of others.
4. Examine your talent management practices.
• Do an annual audit of pay equity, performance ratings and the exit interviews of marginalized employees. Look at the salaries of employees for patterns — among women, seniority levels and employees of different races.
• Insist on standardized talent acquisition processes. Provide interviewers with training on unconscious bias and the dos and don'ts of interviewing. Use structured interview guides.
• Require at least two people of color and/or female candidates on slates (i.e., the group of candidates who are interviewed in-person for the position). Reject the slates that aren't diverse.
• Design your interview panels to include people of color and female employees.
• If the interview takes place virtually, provide candidates with Zoom backgrounds they can use to help mitigate any unconscious bias introduced by their surroundings.
• Send a post-interview survey to all of the candidates, not just the one you hire, to ask if they felt the process was fair and inclusive.
5. Consider how your company is perceived.
• Conduct an audit of your internal and external messaging. Is it inclusive, compassionate and fair? Managers and leaders of communications departments should use their power to amplify underrepresented voices. Procurement managers should influence the procurement policies of their organizations and engage with minority-owned businesses.
• What is your business footprint in economically disadvantaged communities? How could it be improved?
• Establish a mentoring program for marginalized employees. Who are your gems that need to be noticed?
Perhaps the biggest change you can make is to give equal airtime to reviews and discussions of progress against diversity objectives and key performance indicators. Don't make it an afterthought or only "as time permits." You don't do that for sales, profit margins, market shares, cost savings and other initiatives that are essential to your organization and business. Why do it for something that is the foundation for a healthy, sustainable enterprise?
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