What focus do you or your organization put on DEI and Belonging initiatives?

I’ve often been asked if I coach around DEI or, more specifically, train on this topic. My answer has always been that if my client raises issues around DEI in our coaching session, we of course explore as needed. Training – my answer has always been “no”, that’s not an area for which I am a “specialist” or subject matter expert.

In preparing for a group coaching session, where my participants wanted to spend some time focusing on DEI, I noticed a change in my perspective. As I was doing my research to create an engaging session around the topic of DEI, I realized that I am indeed quite knowledgeable around this topic and that there are connections to some of the work I do, especially in considering diversity of thought, inclusion and belonging!

Elements of Creating a Culture of DEI and Belonging

What I realized is that I have led many discussions and trainings around topics including Trust and Psychological Safety. Additionally, I have done work with teams and organizations on creating healthy cultures, and I have worked with clients to help them create more inclusivity of hybrid teams when focusing on how to manage in a hybrid workforce, for example.  When I started to think about how to drive and sustain DEI and a sense of belonging into an organization, many areas of my work focus are deeply connected.

I read a recent article published by SHRM – The Society for Human Resources Management, that reinforced my new perspective. The article starts with, “Diversity, equity and inclusion all relate to actions an employer takes to help bring about a feeling of belonging for its employees.”

Without Trust and Psychological Safety, it’s unlikely you’ll have employees feeling a sense of belonging. As I mentioned above, I conduct a lot of training around this topic. When I lead workshops, team or group coaching sessions, I focus on gaining engagement from every participant – this is a focus on inclusion. It’s also a focus on diversity, in that by hearing from everyone, we hear and learn different perspectives, thus opening the door to invite diverse opinions, ideas and thoughts. And, when helping my clients to find better ways to manage remote or hybrid teams, these aspects are all part of the work. Finally, I have helped many clients run surveys or focus groups to gain a sense of employee engagement, and how employees feel in the workplace including…is there a sense of:

• acceptance of differences
• acceptance of diverse opinions, thoughts, ideas
• “equal” access to resources and opportunities
• belonging
• and questions similar to those found in the SHRM article I mentioned above.

Opportunities to develop and sustain a culture of DEI and Belonging

There are many experts around DEI – and DEI is a big topic and a needed focus. We each have our areas of expertise and strength. I have a piece of it, depending on your need and focus.

How do you or your organization define DEI? What is important about insuring you have a strategy, and a focus on DEI in your workplace? Do you, as part of the employee population at your company, have a sense of how you can help impact the efforts? What challenges are you/your company experiencing around achieving or sustaining a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive workplace culture? Interested in exploring? Let’s connect.

“True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.” – Brené Brown