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Rewiring The Workplace Mindset Of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion And Belonging

Forbes Human Resources Council

Chief Executive Officer of Numly, Inc. Improving employee performance & engagement through Peer Coaching on Critical Skills, enabled by AI.

Diversity and inclusion is the most sought-after business imperative today. During World War II, when there was an acute shortage in the workforce with men being on the military forefront, it opened up avenues for the entry of women into the labor spectrum at large. However, opportunities for women declined rapidly in the decades that followed.

The first government action that addressed diversity was President Truman’s Executive Order 9981, which opened corridors for cultural and ethnic diversity efforts across multiple sectors and industries. Since then, diversity initiatives have evolved with various movements paving the way for women into top management roles. Through the transformation of recruitment practices, the barriers of racism and sexism were weakened in an effort by some to deliver true meritocracy, which holds every individual to the same standards. However, this journey is not over by any means.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) efforts, though disparate, have increasingly become woven into organizational policies and practices to reflect the composition of society. A 2018 Gallup report describes diversity as representing “the full spectrum of human demographic differences,” which includes gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, disability status, race and culture. Inclusion is a nuanced approach that thrives on the cultural and environmental feeling of belonging. It is broadly the outcome of ensuring all people feel welcomed to elevate their sphere of influence in the organization. And equity is, essentially, the cognizance of every individual’s uniqueness and needs by promoting justice and impartiality within the practices, processes and systematic distribution of resources. 

McKinsey research has found that organizations in the top quartile for workforce diversity are 33% more likely to financially outperform their less diverse competition. Microsoft asserts that the advancement of accessible technology can unlock developmental opportunities for employees with disabilities. A Deloitte report describes how, after posting a record loss of AUD $2.8 billion in 2013, Australian airline Qantas embarked on a huge (and extremely successful) transformation. CEO Alan Joyce credited the company’s diverse and inclusive culture with aiding it through the difficult period, calling diversity a generator of “better strategy, better risk management, better debates [and] better outcomes.”

Clearly, organizations that drive diversity, equity and inclusion enjoy a boom in innovation, collaboration and employee engagement, which combine to deliver a distinct competitive and fiscal advantage.

In Reality, Efforts Fall Short

However, DEIB efforts in organizations to date have largely not delivered meaningful progress. The current pandemic-incited crisis of ill treatment toward Asian workers in the U.S., particularly those of Chinese descent, demonstrates the cracks in inclusive work environments. Asian Americans and African Americans, as well as other marginalized groups, remain vulnerable in workplace settings, an indicator that workplace inclusion must stem from an evolution of the mindset and a diverse way of seeing things.

Talent management experts and discerning employers generally agree that workplace inclusion requires a top-down approach. It is therefore imperative to advancing diverse talent that internal escalators encompass the complete spectrum of employee perspectives.

With the core business focus on learning and development, product knowledge and compliance training, and an otherwise meager budget allocated for measurable training, HR leaders tend to default to conservative and well-known practices such as diversity hiring, a mental template that provides a quick win but fails to truly disrupt the status quo. The part that is forgotten is the inclusion of the people who are hired. It is not easy to rewire the thinking process without a focus on acknowledging the issues.

This needs to change to really bring in a culture of DEIB. A sustained effort integrated with long-term research, an interrogation of an organization’s history and embedding of the learnings into developing employees is essentially the mechanism of diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Critical Skills Matter For DEIB Success

A meta-analysis study has found that the positive effects of diversity training were greater when training was complemented, such as when

The training is augmented by other diversity initiatives.

The training targets both awareness and development of behavioral and critical skills.

The training is imparted as a series and conducted over a significant period.

In its essence, diversity equals representation, and tracking mobility in place of representation is the new frontier. However, when it comes to behavioral transformation, training is merely a scene-setter. With DEIB training programs in myriad forms — educational versus experiential, voluntary versus mandatory, inspirational versus shaming — extreme cognizance of the way the skills proximate to one another is crucial for delivering targeted employee coaching. Companies need to invest in the rewiring of human connections, trust and behaviors to generate deep insight into bridging skills and diversity gaps.

One way to invest in this is through peer coaching, which I believe is critical for any DEIB program, in order to understand the middle management conundrum. Organizations that deploy a peer coaching or reverse mentoring program for manager cohorts can actively engage in innovative thinking and breakthrough inclusive leadership. Peer coaching and self-development help identify the critical skills required for reaching the goal of organizational equity by leveraging nuances of the workforce, both in thought and action across diverse teams and cultures.

This is a challenge to the current practices associated with diversity metrics, events, training and coaching. Consequently, a culture reset, elevation of awareness and deconstruction of critical skills are paramount for delivering a shared vision and broadening the narrative of DEIB. Substantial progress demands that leaders internalize the need for change and embrace the reshaping of behaviors. Skills matter to deliver a DEIB revolution.


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