“Leaders need to understand that this approach changes everything,” says Clark. “From acquisition and recruiting to hiring and onboarding to the day-to-day aspects of work, team building, culture, successes and failures, performance reviews, succession planning, mentoring – everything.”
Companies must adapt their processes to promote diverse and inclusive behaviors. For example, at meetings you should ask yourself: Who is being invited? Who is allowed to speak and how often? Is someone whose contribution would be valuable overlooked?
“You have to look at everything from the perspective of whether you have created conditions in which each person can make their unique, meaningful contribution while feeling safe and protected. If you find that this is not the case, you have to have the courage to admit it and work to change it,” emphasizes Clark.
This also means understanding how teams work best and when tensions and disagreements are actually beneficial. “It’s important to know that the quick and easy way isn’t always the right way, and that sometimes teams work best when there’s tension and back-and-forth,” she explains. “Of course, you can’t allow things to degenerate into personal attacks, so it’s important to know the difference between a healthy, stimulating exchange of ideas from everyone involved and a situation where your co-workers only further antagonize each other.”
5. Integration is an ongoing task, not a one-time thing
It’s not enough to teach employees what it means to include someone. Like any form of behavior change, inclusion requires individuals to identify key moments in which they develop new habits or “microbehaviors” (daily actions that can be practiced and measured). And when these habits are implemented in an environment that encourages honest conversations and healthy tensions, real change becomes possible.
“One way to do this is to identify groups within the organization who are committed to change but are not senior management,” explains Clark. “Then you equip them with the skills and information to help them drive change in their departments, teams and workgroups. This method is much more effective than one-off training that does nothing. The goal is for employees to incorporate these ideas and beliefs into their daily lives.
6. Maximum joy, minimum fear
People are programmed to react with fear and distrust when their beliefs are challenged. Although fear can be a powerful motivator, it also causes people to narrow their perspective – the opposite of what you want when developing an inclusive workplace. Finding ways to view challenges as opportunities, harnessing the power of shared experiences, creates greater potential for positive change.
“Then you can concentrate on creating impulses that keep the momentum going,” says Clark. “Not only do you have to point out where there is room for improvement, but you also have to highlight the moments of success and celebrate them. One of our clients decided to create an engagement tree. Each employee wrote down their personal, individual commitment to diversity and inclusion. The tree was then placed somewhere where everyone could see it. Over time, this allowed everyone to see the progress and celebrate it accordingly.”
7. Focus on individual support
Norms, power structures and injustices can easily be anchored in an organization that is designed to hire, train and reward only “suitable” employees. In order to create an open and diverse culture in which every individual can contribute their full potential, companies must put their systems and processes to the test. This is the only way to discover weak points and blind spots and ultimately find new paths.
“Who fits and who doesn’t? This attitude can be dangerous because it excludes people,” says Clark. “You must first be able to identify and bring to life the organization’s values, mission and purpose, and then define the ‘fit’ to align with those values.”
8. Consider your brand
As with all transformation efforts, brand and culture are closely linked. The products and services that companies put out into the world reflect their values – and their prejudices.
As we move towards a more diverse company, it is important to consider the relationship between what happens inside and outside the company. What does the brand say about the company culture? To what extent are employees and customers perhaps incongruent? What experiences are left out or misunderstood?
“We see working with D&I as a transformation that is necessary,” summarizes Clark. “It’s not just an initiative or a program. What’s important is that everyone from senior management to the newest employee is involved.” A real change in behavior is needed, says the consultant: “It’s about how the entire company operates and how each individual works, communicates, makes their contribution or is simply part of the world.”
