Archive for DEI

Supporting a DEI Culture Through Coaching

Creating a strong DEI culture doesn’t happen overnight.

Even when senior leaders implement all the suggestions I’ve made in my last two articles (catch up with them here and here) there will be those leaders and employees who have a hard time outgrowing baked-in biases and ways of communicating.

Such was the case with one of my coaching clients. Although his team praised him as a leader who supported them and had no problem pitching in to help when things needed to get done, they also described him as someone who was often insensitive and judgmental, making assumptions about people based on preconceived notions rather than actual evidence.

This is called unconscious bias. “Unconscious” because often we don’t even realize that we are making judgments about someone’s abilities, intelligence, experience, credibility, etc., based on factors that have nothing to do with those qualities. The first step in overcoming these biases is to be made aware of them and the impact they have on others.

In this client example, I was brought in to help my client develop awareness around his communication style, his leadership style and the impact that both had on the people who worked for him and with him. We used a 360-assessment tool, which gives stakeholders the opportunity to comment on the leader’s strengths and areas for development. The 360 is a very powerful tool because it helps leaders develop self-awareness while giving stakeholders (direct reports, colleagues, and the person’s leadership) the ability to provide feedback anonymously. Leaders need honest feedback from various sources to be able to learn and grow.

A key requirement for an effective leadership coaching engagement is for the leader to be coachable. In this case my leader/client was very responsive to the feedback. He recognized that he often made snap judgments and that sometimes his communication style could be interpreted as insensitive. In addition to our coaching sessions, he also completed a DEI training class.

At the end of our coaching engagement, I performed a follow-up assessment to determine (from stakeholders) how he was implementing what he’d learned and to identify and create a plan for areas for continued growth. I was pleased to learn that stakeholders saw marked improvement in his self-awareness and in better adapting his communication style. They also remarked that he had implemented practices that he learned in the DEI training.

Effective leaders continue to learn and grow and one of the ways to do that is through Executive Coaching. Contact me today at michelle@connecttohr.com and let’s discuss how my coaching services can help the leaders in your organization.

To Improve DEI, Choose Culture ADD Over Culture FIT

As I wrote in my last article, building a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) begins with leaders.

Leaders need to create an environment where ALL employees, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, etc. feel welcome, valued, and included. An environment where ALL employees have opportunities for advancement and where ALL employees are treated equitably in matters of compensation, development, and benefits.

Equity and inclusion don’t just happen on their own. They need to be intentionally woven into HR strategies, policies, procedures, and leadership expectations. DEI shouldn’t be focused just in the hiring practice.  It needs to continue throughout the employee experience. The commitment to DEI needs to be talked about at new hire orientation and reinforced at team meetings and at all hands meetings.

A recent Fast Company article – 5 Things You Probably Haven’t Thought of That Will Help You Be More Inclusive – provides some additional ways for companies to become more inclusive. Two of their tips stood out to me.

Focus on culture ADD not culture FIT. Too many workplaces are focused on hiring for culture fit. This framing is exclusionary and biased, especially when it comes to hiring for leadership roles. If your organization is made up of white men, then you’re consciously or unconsciously going to pattern match for a ‘culture fit.’”

As you do your workforce planning, think about hiring for people who aren’t already represented by race, gender, age, educational background, languages spoken – people who will add to your culture.

Cultivate cultural humility, not cultural competency. The difference is that cultural competency means learning about other cultures while retaining the idea that your culture is dominant. This approach assumes that the non-dominant culture’s way of doing things is often exasperating or exotic—a quirk to accommodate, not something to respect or learn from. Cultivating cultural humility means recognizing that you do not know everything about another’s culture, and that there may be a lot to learn from it.

The most inclusive companies evaluate their practices on a regular basis, collaborate with employees at all levels on how they can improve, and monitor their progress.  They celebrate and reward those who add to the culture and recognize leaders who see potential in employees who may be different than the established norm.

If you need help improving diversity, equity and inclusion in your organization, please reach out to me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – How to Lead the Way

Numerous studies have shown that a diverse workforce can have a positive effect on the bottom line.  But building and maintaining that workforce is more than just hiring people of color and from different backgrounds. Unless you follow through with equity and inclusion once they’re on board, your commitment to diversity is just lip service.

So how do you create a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion? It needs to be a concerted effort – starting at the leadership and systems level – that considers all activities – hiring, promoting, communications, company gatherings, development, team assignments, terminations, etc. – through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Here are some tips.

Regularly confirm your commitment to diversity and inclusion by ensuring that teams, projects, promotions, development, and other opportunities are open to the broader definition of diverse individuals – gender, ethnicity, points of view, sexual orientation, etc.

Encourage conversation to promote understanding. Consider organizing group conversations of diverse employees where participants share their different perspectives and experiences. Hearing personal stories about the impact of exclusion can be powerful in creating empathy and understanding.

Build awareness around microaggressions. Often, seemingly innocuous statements or questions can make others feel uncomfortable. “Where are you from originally?” “Wow! You are so well-spoken.”  “You’re strong for a girl.” Statements and questions that subtly imply assumptions based on gender or race do not promote inclusion.

Implement a mentoring program. Match peers one-on-one or in mentoring circles to provide a safe place to talk about challenges. Or consider creating affinity groups. A workplace affinity group is a group of employees with similar backgrounds, characteristics, or life experiences, such as: women, people of color, or Veterans.  The purpose of an affinity group is to provide diverse populations within an organization the opportunity to share ideas and experiences.

Learn more about the small steps you can take every day to implement a culture where everyone feels valued, heard, and included in this podcast from my amazing colleague, Lisa Duerre, CEO of RLD Group.

Building a culture of diversity and inclusion takes time and effort. It’s about changing mindsets and creating an environment that allows all to feel welcome and to thrive. It begins with you, as the leader, leading the way.

If you need help incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion into your culture, please contact me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Blog Categories

Want to stay connected?

Connect to HR | Strategic HR Advisors & Executive Coaching
Copyright © 2018 - 2023 All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Crafted by Reddington Solutions