Most successful businesses realize the importance of diversity as a significant resource for their bottom line. Those who have inspiring core values and leaders involved in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs continue to be successful. Other businesses, however, face challenges of time, investment, participation, employee shortages, and additional challenges of the virtual or hybrid world created by the Pandemic when either creating or maintaining a viable DEIA program.
Resistance
One common issue with the implementation of DEIA programs is that there is resistance from employees. Resistance could be caused by several different things; employees don’t believe that actual changes can be made, employees feel victimized, too many ineffective or uninspiring DEIA training sessions, or employees feel singled out as a member of represented or underrepresented groups. Organizations should ensure that they clearly set the objectives of DEIA programs and sufficiently inform the employees to understand that DEIA programs are a business imperative.
Ineffective Implementation
A common strategy that companies utilize is to incorporate DEIA programs to simply check the box. Simply having a DEIA program does not guarantee it will be effective. DEIA programs should be aimed at changing behaviors. Successful implementation can happen if there is accountability. Organizations must ensure that they focus on implementing changes in all aspects of their work, even at individual levels.
Successful implementation can happen if there is accountability. Organizations must ensure that they focus on implementing changes in all aspects of their work, even at individual levels.
Lack of Leadership Buy-In
One of the most common challenges when introducing a DEIA program into the workplace is lack of buy-in from organizational leadership. Leaders could be resistant to change, believe that change is not possible, or just generally be apathetic. To get leaders on board with a DEIA program, it is important to be able to demonstrate the projected Return on Investment (ROI) of the program. How will this DEIA program help the company to be more profitable and competitive? Are there any quantitative measures that can be used to assess the DEIA program? Leadership wants to see numbers. Assessing subjective measures is helpful but if there is a way that these measures can be quantified, this will be more enticing. Organizations should ensure that diversity programs are a collective responsibility and role played by everyone within the workspace.
Avoiding DEIA Conversations
Conversations on diversity take a lot of work to initiate. Difficult conversations can become more difficult the longer you wait. However, not having tough conversations leaves room for misconceptions. The steps to take are to use dialogue and listen to learn, be open to other’s perspectives, understand that respect does not mean agreement, be empathetic, and use “I” statements since no one person can speak for an entire group.
Work with Us
At Applied Development, diversity is our top priority, and we champion and advocate for inclusion in workspaces. We help organizations ensure effective communication through sign language interpretation, Communication Access Real-Team Translation (CART), Section 508 compliance, and strategic communications support.
Call us today at (410) 571-4016 or fill out our contact form to get help with strategies for improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in your organization.