How Can I Help?
Senior Leaders
Effective Diversity starts with Senior Leaders. Leaders are critical for improving diversity in the industry. Business priorities, which employees focus their efforts around, are typically set at the top.
“Senior leaders need to fully and publicly support DEI efforts. When leaders actively participate in programs and events to advance DEI, they signal that this work is important. Senior leaders also have a critical role to play in ensuring that DEI initiatives are appropriately resourced. This is just another reason why it’s important that all company leaders, starting with the CEO, are held accountable for progress on diversity metrics.” -LeanIn
Implement practical systems in your organization.
Include DEI along with other core business goals for the company and individual employees.
Brag about the diversity competencies of the senior leadership team to demonstrate that inclusive leaders earn strong reputations.
Managers
Managers play an important role in the day-to-day experience of employees as well as career trajectories. Diversity isn’t only something for HR or diversity specialists. All of us can do small things that ladder up to big changes.
Commit to the diversity initiatives your company rolls out.
Encourage efforts if your company hasn’t already.
Develop a broad set of talent- make sure all reports get access to growth assignments. Don’t just go to the same few people.
Work to reduce bias and empower all employees.
Ensure performance is based on results
Discuss and model work/life boundaries
Encourage people to be themselves at work
Make sure your company looks not only at hiring, retention, and promotion numbers but also at how managers mentor, sponsor, and otherwise develop diverse talent.
Diversity Councils
Reward the work. Treat it like other mission-critical work that can lead to promotions, bonuses and raises.
Diversity in team. Don’t leave diversity work only to the groups negatively affected by lack of diversity. Include gatekeepers and other influential employees.
Get the teams the resources they need: administrative, financial, and other support.
Have the head of the firm chair the council to demonstrate commitment.
“On average, companies that put in diversity task forces see 9% to 30% increases in the representation of white women and of each minority group in management over the next five years.” Harvard Business Review
Ensure the Diversity Committee and guiding coalition is a prestigious post reporting directly to the CEO.
Things Everyone Can Do:
Understand we all fall into unconscious bias traps. We need to look for it and take actions to counteract it.
It’s ok to make mistakes. We are all growing and learning in this area.
Continue to learn about diversity topics .