If you want to succeed with D&I initiatives…
...you need to know the most important tool you can use to make organizational transformations.
Inclusion of diversity is part of your organizational culture, and culture changes. We like to say that diversity is a fact. Inclusion is a choice. Thereby an inclusive people culture is something you can support and foster with communication. We know changing culture is not easy. As everything else you have to work for it.
Nevertheless, your efforts will more likely be worth it, when you benefit from knowing how to drive D&I initiatives through communication. The tools we are speaking of in order to change the organizations people culture are: management development, team collaboration, and communication. And communication is pervasive in all aspects, why it becomes important.
Stand out from the rest
Unfortunately organizational change initiatives do not have the best track record, since organizational changes are hard to implement. PwC’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Survey (2021) found that “4% of organisations are succeeding in key dimensions of successful D&I programming”
Of course there are multiple reasons for this, some more likely than others. From our experience budget allocation to buy-in from top management (and of course the communication from the top) is crucial. PwC also found that one reason for such a low success rate in D&I programmes is “that organisations are failing to empower their leaders on topics of D&I”.
Training leaders is one way of communicating and supporting organizational changes. That is why we always tell our clients that leadership training isn’t a one-time thing. D&I behaviour and thinking is something that we all have been socialized within throughout a lifetime. It takes time, reflection, and new learning to develop a more inclusive thinking and behavior. But training is also important in order to keep the leaders on track with their communication and showing the priority of D&I throughout the entire organization.
If we want to reach all the individuals that make up our unique organizational culture, we need to communicate on so many levels and in so many ways. The entire organization needs to understand where you are going, why, and what they get out of it. You need to target the insecurity, the frustrations, the resistance, the empowerment and the ones who do not feel it at all. And that is why we need to communicate repeatedly.
The good news is that we are all learning, and gathering best practices. Knowledge about how to succeed is spreading, and a deeper understanding of how everything is connected is achieved.
We want to help
Our members in our D&I Lab Community know the importance of this, and asked for a session about framing and communicating D&I in the organization. We have listened and teamed up with Louise Münter. Louise and our own CEO Helene will discuss communication in a D&I and transformational perspective at our next D&I Online Lab Talk on Wednesday, October 27.
Personally I look forward to this since we have two strong and highly experienced experts gathered to talk about some of the things that I found really interesting. Get your ticket here, if you are curious and want to join the talk and learn more about using communication to succeed with D&I initiatives.