Embed Inclusion Into Your Culture
Diversity on its own will not create inclusion.
View Storyboard
Contributors
- Aaron Barth, Founder & President, Dialectic
- Caroline Codsi, Founder & President, La Gouvernance au Féminin – Women in Governance
- Lori Kantymir, Director of Learning and Development, Info-Tech Research Group
- Alan Richter, Founder & President, QED Consulting
- Diana Samu-Visser, Instructional Designer, McLean & Company
- Sarah Saska, Co-Founder & CEO, Feminuity
- Katee Van Horn, CEO, VH Included Consulting
- JoAnne Wehner, Research Associate, VMWare Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab, Stanford University
- Anonymous Contributor
- Anonymous Contributor, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, Multi-national financial institution
Your Challenge
- Although inclusion is key to the success of a diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy, the complexity of the concept makes it a daunting pursuit.
- An individual employee has many diversity dimensions that cannot be categorized, meaning that narrowly defined inclusion efforts won’t be enough.
- This is further complicated by the fact that creating inclusion is not a one-and-done exercise. Rather, it requires the ongoing commitment of employees at all levels to drive a cultural shift.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Realize the benefits of a diverse workforce by embedding inclusion into work practices, behaviors, and values, ensuring accountability throughout the organization.
Impact and Result
- Conduct an assessment to understand the current state of inclusion.
- Embed inclusion into organizational values and adapt competencies to promote accountability at the individual level.
- Use inclusive design principles to modify organizational work practices to demonstrate a more inclusive culture.
1. Determine the current state of inclusion
Emphasize inclusion as a priority, then collect quantitative and qualitative data to assess the current state of inclusion and shared challenges.
2. Frame inclusion for the organization
Ingrain inclusion into organizational values, competencies, and behavior to realize the future state of inclusion.
3. Mobilize inclusion efforts throughout the organization
Communicate the inclusion competency and expectations to managers, shift employee mindsets towards inclusion, and examine work practices using inclusive design principles.
4. Equip managers with tools to create an inclusive environment
Understand what it means to be inclusive, examine biases, and learn how to apply leadership behaviors to create an inclusive environment.
Guided Implementations
This guided implementation is a six call advisory process.
Guided Implementation #1 - Determine the current state of inclusion
Call #1 - Review why inclusion is a priority and how it will be communicated to the broader organization.
Call #2 - Plan how the organization will assess the current state by identifying data and conducting focus groups.
Guided Implementation #2 - Frame inclusion for the organization
Call #1 - Identify and set goals for how inclusion progress will be measured.
Call #2 - Review the inclusive behavior model and identify how to assist leadership with modeling the behavior.
Guided Implementation #3 - Mobilize inclusion efforts throughout the organization
Call #1 - Determine how to embed inclusion competency into talent programs.
Call #2 - Review inclusive work practices and plan how inclusion will be embedded into the organization.
Book Your Workshop
Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Frame Inclusion for the Organization
The Purpose
- Communicate inclusion as a priority.
- Collect quantitative and qualitative data to assess the current state of inclusion.
- Envision the future state of inclusion.
- Ingrain inclusion into organizational values and competency model.
- Assist executives in reflecting on their current behaviors.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Shared understanding of inclusion as a priority.
- Current state assessment.
- A vision of the future state of inclusion.
- Inclusive organizational values and competency model.
- Executives' behavior changes.
Activities
Outputs
Determine why inclusion is a priority.
- Inclusion is a determined as a priority
Review organizational data and reflect on the current state of inclusion.
- Organizational data and the current state of inclusion are reviewed
Envision the future state of inclusion.
- The future state of inclusion is envisioned
Set goals and metrics for inclusion.
- Goals and metrics for inclusion are set
Ingrain inclusion into organizational values.
- Inclusion is ingrained into organizational values
Identify tactics for modeling inclusive leadership behavior.
- Tactics for modeling inclusive leadership behavior are identified
Individual reflection of inclusive behaviors.
- Individuals have reflected on inclusive behaviors
Organizational work practice evaluation.
- Organizational work practices are evaluated
Module 2: Mobilize Inclusion Efforts Throughout the Organization
The Purpose
- Communicate the inclusion competency and expectations to managers.
- Incorporate employee learning opportunities to shift mindsets towards inclusion.
- Launch an examination of work practices using inclusive design principles.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Organization-wide inclusion competencies and expectations.
- Inclusion-focused learning opportunities.
- Actions to implement inclusivity into work practices.
Activities
Outputs
Embed inclusion in competency framework.
- Inclusion is embedded in competency framework
Plan learning initiatives for knowledge, awareness, and new expectations.
- Learning initiatives for knowledge, awareness, and new expectations are planned
Align HR practice areas.
- HR practice areas are aligned
Prioritize and plan for action.
- Inclusive actions are prioritized and planned
