Fast Company: Five ways to cultivate a diverse workplace

HOW CAN COMPANIES TARGET TALENT OF ALL BACKGROUNDS AND BUILD MORE INCLUSIVE WORKPLACES? HERE ARE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM A RECENT PANEL.

Here are five takeaways from the panel.

1. RECOGNIZE THAT DIVERSITY DOESN’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT

2. INCLUDE EXISTING EMPLOYEES IN THE CONVERSATION

As recently as five years ago, diversity was thought of as a recruitment issue, says Dawn Frazier-Bohnert, senior vice president, global diversity and inclusion officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance Group. Now, companies realize that developing a diverse workplace goes beyond hiring women and people of color. Companies must create an inclusive environment where employees continue to feel comfortable being themselves. “If you’re not thinking about the environment that you create for people to feel like they’re connected, you miss a lot of the opportunity to retain people and really get the best out of folks,” Frazier-Bohnert said.

3. GIVE EMPLOYEES THE TOOLS TO TALK DIVERSITY

Education is key to encouraging company-wide inclusion, in part because it provides employees with the vocabulary to discuss important issues. Frazier-Bohnert’s team even created a lexicon to help employees avoid verbal landmines when topics of diversity come up in conversation. “People would say to me, ‘Dawn, I don’t know what words to say.… Should I say black? Should I say African American? And LGBTQ—what does that mean?’”

Tools like these were helpful during the company’s first eLearning program on unconscious bias. “I really think that helped people feel like there’s no shame, blame, and attack here around the fact that they need to grow in this space, that it is about process,’” Frazier-Bohnert said.

4. ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES TO CONNECT

5. MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS

More From Our Blog…

3 Strategies for Responding to Microaggressions

3 Strategies for Responding to Microaggressions

"I’m not biased against gay people. I have a gay friend." "You don't sound Black," or "How long have you lived in this country?” Have you ever overheard or been on the receiving end of a comment like this? If so, did you know how to respond? Being prepared in advance...

read more
When Barbie Meets AI

When Barbie Meets AI

What happened when artificial Intelligence (AI) was used to imagine Barbie dolls in cultures around the world? Probably not what you'd expect for a brand that has gained a massive following for breaking down barriers and, more recently, advocating for social and...

read more
Overcoming Racism in Healthcare

Overcoming Racism in Healthcare

In an era where diversity and inclusivity are championed, it is disheartening to acknowledge that racism continues to persist in many, if not most, industries, including healthcare. Black doctors and other healthcare providers, who dedicate their lives to providing...

read more
Honored by These Kind Words From a SunShower Reviewer

Honored by These Kind Words From a SunShower Reviewer

We were delighted to see the comments from Melissa Milloway, Education and Communications Manager at Amazon, on LinkedIn regarding her experience with Disarming Microaggressions. "I promise this is not an ad, just something I need to share because it is a gem of a...

read more
AI Is All the rage, but What About the Baked-In Bias?

AI Is All the rage, but What About the Baked-In Bias?

Artificial Intelligence would tell us that crimes are always committed by men with dark skin. Women are rarely doctors, lawyers or judges, and women with dark skin flip burgers.  This is not the world we live in, but it is the world that Stable Diffusion, one of the...

read more
What’s Going On in There?

What’s Going On in There?

Listen to the Hidden Brain: Revealing Your Unconscious podcast and find outA friend texted me about a podcast he thought I would enjoy. The show notes piqued my interest: “We ask how is it that we can hold negative stereotypes — without being aware of them?” If you’ve...

read more