With the words diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging being thrown around in boardrooms, how important is it really?
A recent study by Deloitte indicates that millennials are 83 percent more likely to be engaged if they work at an inclusive company. According to Harvard Business Review, companies with high levels of diversity are 70 percent more likely to capture new markets. Additionally, a Glassdoor study revealed that 76 percent of people consider a diverse workforce to be a significant factor when evaluating companies and job opportunities.
As learning and development leaders, people are paying close attention to the work we are doing in this space. McKinsey found nearly 70 percent of organizations consider the work done by employees to promote DEIB to be very or extremely important.
Unfortunately, many DEIB learning initiatives fall short. While most people can agree that fostering an environment of inclusion is a good thing, it can be challenging to connect concepts that people have learned in a training session to actions they can implement back at work.
How can we move from a lot of feel-good language and promises, to tangible and impactful action? How can we empower our leaders to create lasting change on their teams and throughout the organization?
In this article, I will discuss strategies that L&D leaders can use to drive DEIB outcomes through training.
Identifying privilege and unconscious bias
The first step in addressing unconscious bias and microaggressions in the workplace is raising awareness and understanding of the privilege that each individual can possess, how it can look in the workplace and how it can manifest in unintentional harm. Many people who have not been exposed to these concepts yet may not be aware of the privilege they hold. Incorporating exercises that assist individuals in recognizing the areas of unearned privilege and understanding how this privilege has positively impacted them both personally and professionally can be a powerful experience.
Training can also include demonstrations of harmful bias and microaggressions at work and in the larger societal context through real-life scenarios. By recognizing and confronting these biases head-on, leaders can begin to reflect on their own unconscious biases.
This is a great first step but seems to be where most training ends, often concluding by making vague commitments to DEIB without establishing concrete action plans or mechanisms for accountability. So, what would these next steps look like?
Setting team norms for calling out bias: A framework for change
In a video from The Way We Work, a TED Series, speakers Trier Bryant and Kim Scott introduce a framework for identifying biased language and behaviours at the team level. This framework can be a useful concept to present in a training context. The video walks participants through steps for holding a team meeting and defines some common language for calling out unconscious bias. For instance, during a meeting, if someone were to say something biased or make a microaggression, the team could collectively agree to use phrases like “purple flag,” “time out” or “learning moment” to call out such behavior. It doesn’t matter what words are chosen. What matters is the whole team has agreed and understood that when someone uses those words, something potentially harmful has been said. This creates an opportunity for the behavior to be called out in a respectful way that the whole team can learn from. The key is that everyone understands what the identified phrase means and agrees to use it.
Once a behavior has been called out, individuals have two options. If they have understood what is being called out, they can respond with something along the lines of “Thank you for calling that out. I see what the issue was and will avoid using that language in the future.” If they are not sure why something has been called out, another response could be “Thank you for calling that out, but I’m not quite sure what the problem with that statement was. Can you please clarify so that I can learn?” In both situations, there is space for learning and reflection. Regardless of the situation, team members should be encouraged to address and confront inappropriate and harmful behavior.
Applying the knowledge for meaningful change
Other options for hands-on work and accountability could be attending a conference or event on DEIB-related topics, or reading a book or article and preparing a presentation for their team on what they learned — including any actions they would like to implement. Another example could be coming up with a list of allyship behaviors they would like to apply — personally and on their teams — and creating an action plan explaining how they will complete their plan and hold themselves and each other accountable.
In each case, participants are expected to submit a concise written reflection detailing their experience, highlighting successes, challenges, lessons learned and outlining their envisioned next steps.
These submissions provide a valuable opportunity for participants to explore the impact of their interventions, identify encountered challenges, share what they’ve learned and highlight any positive changes they have witnessed. This documentation can serve as a testament to the progress made and can offer valuable insights to senior leadership or DEIB boards to inform decision making.
Unpacking learning through group discussions
After the participants have had time to apply their learning and new strategies, it can be helpful for them to reconvene for a facilitated group discussion. This discussion can be facilitated by the L&D team, a member of the DEIB board or a senior leader. The sessions serve as a place for leaders to engage in conversation, exchange ideas and best practices, discuss any challenges and reflect on their experiences together. The key is to provide them with a safe space for these conversations, as well as dedicated time to review their learning and growth.
It is advisable to establish a predefined structure for these conversations. Consider using prompting questions like:
- What did you do for your assignment and what were the outcomes?
- Have you observed any behavioral changes on your team?
- What did you learn through this process?
- Has doing this work changed your perspective? In what ways?
- What are your plans for maintaining a focus on DEIB moving forward?
Keeping the momentum going
Now that the participants have had a chance to learn and have some success in this space, the question becomes: How do you keep this momentum going? One way is to issue a new challenge — to have them integrate their DEIB learning into their everyday work.
Participants can create a personal action plan outlining the steps they will take to move forward with this work, and L&D or DEIB groups can support periodic check-ins where participants report back on their progress.
Additional challenges could include:
- Examining their language and communication patterns to use more inclusive language and challenge microaggressions.
- Creating structures that allow people from marginalized groups to have their voices heard and their contributions recognized.
- Becoming allies and mentors for colleagues from underrepresented groups.
- Committing to continuous learning including attending conferences and events, reading books and joining employee resource groups.
Making progress on DEIB initiatives is not something that happens overnight, but with the help of a well thought out approach, training can be an effective driver of key DEIB outcomes.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are all essential factors that significantly contribute to organizational success. DEIB initiatives unlock a wider range of perspectives, experiences and talents, leading to innovative problem solving and improved decision making. Embracing diversity and promoting equity allows organizations to attract and retain top talent, enhance employee engagement and productivity and establish robust relationships with a diverse customer base, leading to long-term success and sustainable growth.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
