Create an enabling environment where all employees are part of the solution
STEPS ACTIONS
Ensure that diversity equity and inclusion is
embraced throughout the organization.
Focus on the moral basis as well as the
business case, understanding that it can take
work for employees to fully value and
incorporate the unfamiliar. Emphasize that
inclusion benefits everyone—no one is excluded.
Help everyone understand how others can
experience the same workplace in very different
ways.
Build knowledge of unconscious bias: Why it
exists, how it manifests itself and its impact
and practical steps to address. Shape learning
around the idea that we all have blind spots.
Develop common framework to understand and
discuss how exclusion happens.
Use ongoing training and consistent follow-ups
to ensure that everyone can recognize exclusion
and microaggressions. Enable employees to
productively give and receive feedback about
exclusion.
Provide tools to help employees act. Focus on: 1) Learning about others, and ways to
build trust, 2) Listening and amplifying others’
voices versus acting and speaking for others,
3) Showing that this is a journey and opportunity
for growth.
As you strive to make your organization more
inclusive, don’t let the enormity of the effort prevent
you from taking small positive steps. You can use the
steps above as a guide, picking a starting point and
building from there. Set priorities for the near and
medium-term and evaluate by assessing progress
and refining your plan where needed. Communicate
what you are doing and seek feedback.
Remember to celebrate your successes and then
continue to set more goals. Let your plan grow and
change as the organization evolves. Then aim for
more, knowing that the work of creating a more
diverse, equitable and inclusive organization is an
ongoing journey with many steps, ultimately leading
toward a brighter future for both employees and their
organizations.
Natasha Nicholson is the Senior
Content Manager at Kantola
Training Solutions, an innovative
e-Learning company focused on
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and
Harassment Prevention training
solutions. She is responsible for
thought leadership, content strategy
and production. Her background
includes more than 20 years as
a content leader, communication
strategist and editor. Prior to Kantola,
she was the Content Director for
the International Association of
Business Communicators (IABC),
and served as Executive Editor for
Communication World and Catalyst
magazines.
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