Beth Ridley, a leadership and workplace culture expert, introduces a short online course on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&B). She outlines three common barriers organizations face (lack of shared definitions/alignment, anxiety/inaction around DEI, and perceived irrelevance outside HR) and promises simple definitions, reflection prompts, and easy-to-apply DEI competencies so learners can foster belonging and apply practices in day-to-day work.
Chapters
I'm Beth Ridley, leadership and workplace culture expert. I consult with organizations of all kinds on how to create thriving workplace cultures that bring out the best in everyone to better achieve their goals. An important differentiator of thriving workplaces is the ability for individuals to bring best practices rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion to life at work. In doing so, organizations can create an environment in which all individuals feel a strong sense of belonging and diverse perspectives and ideas are welcomed and inform decision making. Many organizations want to achieve this kind of workplace culture but fall short due to three common barriers. First, employees and leaders are not aligned on what diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging mean or why they matter. These concepts mean something different for each person and there's no shared understanding of what success looks like or what actions to take. Second, people feel anxious and overwhelmed by dei. The subject is perceived to be complex and daunting, and the fear of making a mistake or saying something wrong leads to inaction. And third, outside of hr, employees don't see how DEI is relevant to their day jobs. People aren't sure what to do beyond training or how to apply DEI training to their jobs in meaningful ways. I'm passionate about helping organizations overcome these challenges by simplifying and demystifying diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Based on my experience leading diverse teams in five different countries and leading DEI for a Fortune 100 company, this work is all about embracing an inclusive mindset rooted in curiosity and compassion towards others. And the good news is everyone can do this. When armed with a basic understanding of what diversity, equity and inclusion and belonging are, and armed with easy to implement best practices that can be applied in your day to day to make you better at your job. That's exactly what this course will help you do. In this course, I'll provide simple definitions for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging so everyone can be on the same page. I'll challenge you to reflect on how you relate to DEI and belonging so you can better appreciate why these concepts matter to you personally and why they matter at work. And I'll introduce some basic DEI competencies and easy ways to put them into practice so you can contribute to a culture of belonging and positively impact your work right away. The knowledge you'll gain from this course will help you appreciate diversity as an asset and learn skills to bridge across differences to bring out the best in yourself and those around you. The ability to do this is an essential competency and life skill because frankly, when are you not confronted with diversity or or have to navigate differences at work and in your personal life?
