The Roaring 2020s Speakeasy Team – Authors Kimberly Layne Roberts, Twiana Armstrong and Matt Schlegel – reflect on the changing landscape of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives in organizations.
Find more about Kimberly, Twiana and Matt here:
Kimberly Layne: https://www.kimberly-layne.com/
Twiana Armstrong: https://linkedin.com/in/twianaarmstrong
Matt Schlegel: https://evolutionaryteams.com
#DEI #DEIB #Leadership #Roaring2020s
[Video Transcript]
0:00 [Kimberly Layne Roberts]
1:18 [Twiana Armstrong]
What’s occurring in workspaces in which we see institutions and organizations contorting or eliminating their DEIB initiatives is a contrived conflation set in motion by outside machinations. Such conflating has these same institutions and organizations undermining their most valuable asset, their employees, while also failing to profitably penetrate new or obscure markets and not fully understanding the needs of their consumers. Making decisions not in the best interest of the company, but in the interest of risk management and partisan public opinion in an attempt to stave off potential monetary liabilities, lawsuits and litigation. Even in the face of proven success. Strategic plans that maximize profits through leveraging DEI and B initiatives should not be thrown out with the proverbial bath water. Leaders should invest in a cultural competence assessment to determine how well you understand not only your workspace environment, but also your stakeholder and consumer environments. Opportunities and profits abound when you are fluent in operating and working in diverse cultures. Assessments will collect data about cultural awareness, knowledge, skills, encounters and desire. I’m encouraging leaders I work with to complete a cultural competence self-assessment. Analyze the data and construct a strategic plan that achieves your goals whether it’s increasing revenue, reducing expenses, recruiting or workforce management.
3:19 [Matt Schlegel]
First of all, I love Kimberly’s story about how building a diverse and inclusive group can be so exhilarating. That’s certainly a great benefit. And Twana, as you point out, the backlash that we’re seeing to DEI efforts lately is quite remarkable.
I would encourage people in DEI leadership roles to be sensitive to your organization’s culture and understand how to really demonstrate the value of DEI initiatives in your context.
Remember, company boards of directors are becoming more diverse at a much slower rate than organizations themselves, and DEI leaders must be sensitive to that dynamic and be able to demonstrate value to their leadership. Especially the financial benefits and positive impact to company profits, both on the cost side and the revenue side.
Your organization will reduce costs if you have a culture where people feel included. It’s going to lower turnover rate, and you will reduce your recruitment fees. Also, if you have a welcoming, inclusive environment, you have a much bigger pool of people to draw on and will make it just that much easier for your organization to find extraordinary talent to help it grow and thrive.
On the revenue side, having diverse staff will help you better position your products to address broader marketplaces. Your diverse team’s perspectives will help you position your products and your services to identify with a more diverse customer base.
Diverse perspectives also reduce or eliminate blind spots that you may have in your marketing efforts, and that will help you grow your revenue and your sales.
So these are just a few examples of how a DEI leader can demonstrate the financial benefits of DEI efforts to their organization.
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