Recognizing and embracing diversity of experience is integral to being a thoughtful and successful organization today. Not just for your employees, but also to grow your market share. Companies that do embrace diversity of experience have higher innovation revenues; and are 45% more likely to capture a larger portion of the market. (Harvard Business Review) Your organization is also more likely to retain employees from different backgrounds and experiences, while maintaining continuity of knowledge within the organization. Rather than it be met by perpetual turnover often caused by low employee morale or a lacking sense of belonging.
We’re at a crossroads where organizations that have made embracing diversity more of a checkbox exercise are viewed as inauthentic in their diversity practices. When there is less of a push to put in place practical frameworks that truly consider the whole spectrum of the human experience, an organization’s DEI explorations will remain inert. After 2020 and the increased consumer buying behaviors to buy from brands that address social inequalities, it is now more important than ever for companies to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in a more human-centered way. This means considering your company’s definition beyond gender; and include: racial diversity, ethnicity, socio-economic, sexual orientation, ability, and other cultural diversity as well.
What Are The First Steps To Embracing Diversity of Experience?
Organizations must start by identifying their shared definition around diversity. This definition will likely go beyond your current HR policies and procedures, that may only be considering diversity from the organization and leaderships’ perspectives, i.e. attempting to preclude litigation from employees; or, only considering diversity from the perspective of hiring more women. Rather, your organization should consider defining diversity from what may actually be important and considerate to your employees and the diverse talent pool you wish to attract; and what standards may support them to feel included in your company’s culture. Creating this shared vision around diversity, from a human-centered perspective gives clarity on the direction forward and allows your organization to thread diversity into everything you do.
Your organization should consider defining diversity of talent separately from diversity of thought and perspective. A lot of the messaging I have seen from companies around diversity often conflates these two very different concepts. Diversity of experience is more about considering all your employees’ lived experiences, in order to create a culture of belonging within the workplace. This sense of belonging is reciprocated across all employees, rather than simply creating a culture that is about belonging in accordance with the dominant group, or what’s been regarded as mainstream tradition. Diversity of perspective is more about embracing employees that have different expertise, thought processes, and professional experiences. Diversity, in terms of experience, considers lived experience before career and professional skill sets and/ or accomplishments.
I consider it imperative that your definition of diversity also be infused with empathy. Your efforts must come from a place of human understanding, and have policies and procedures around keeping the organization and its leadership held accountable and aware of this shared definition that informs the company’s DEI vision at all times.
How Can Your Organization’s Leadership Contribute to Embracing Diversity?
Empathy must be a shared and proven value amongst your leadership. You can ask your leaders to consider if:
They create a culture of belonging for all of their employees?
Do they take responsibility and accountability when a legitimate concern is raised to them by an employee who may be feeling that they are experiencing inequality?
Do they come from a place of understanding in order to support their employees of different backgrounds?
Do they take part in forward-moving DEI training and educational development as a learning continuum?
Leaders should have it as part of their performance reviews to demonstrate the ways in which they are reflecting the diversity definition within your company. These practices can vary; but one of the practical steps is to require leaders to initiate executive sponsorship of the company’s diverse talent. This is a helpful way to retain employees of different backgrounds who are often overlooked and don’t get the same learning and advancement opportunities in the company.
Leaders should also be required to work with external DEI coaches and consultants on a regular and consistent basis to receive mentorship through uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory.
Leaders can also take part in regular meetings with their employees to listen to their lived experiences without it feeling sensationalized, staged, or creating a situation where their employees may feel judged.
What are some other practical tools for your company to embrace diversity?
Organizations often lead with “we are a family” in order to create a toxic sense of belonging. This can create a culture where “as a family”, employees are often discouraged, or even harassed, from speaking up because they are speaking against “the family”.
Therefore, it is important to shift current narratives that preclude accountability and create a negative impact with employees of different backgrounds. There are naturally going to be missteps and possible mistakes when initially shifting your company’s definition of diversity. And there may be mistakes on how that definition is practiced throughout your company’s culture. However, your organization and its leadership should have processes that open up space for feedback; and you have a culture equally open to take accountability and have set processes in place to amend past behaviors.
An equitable solution to this may be to hire a third party consulting firm, to create assessments, test whether your company’s culture reflects DEI; and review potential cases of “whistleblowing”. This allows your organization and leadership to then receive practical tools and metrics in order to implement changes on an ongoing basis without being its own judge and jury when wrongdoing is highlighted.
These are just some of the ways your organization can embrace diversity authentically, as a part of its culture. However, these practices are never stagnant or static. Your company should always be open to growing and evolving its efforts over time, in order to be a truly diverse and inclusive organization for all.
