Episode 165 - Best Practices for Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

Welcome to the Workplace, a podcast by Cal Chamber. I'm Matthew Roberts, Cal Chamber Employment Law Council and Helpline Manager. Well, listeners, we've got an awesome podcast for you today. We're talking about the importance of fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the workplace, otherwise known as DEI or deib. And we've got one of the best here to impart wisdom and inspire us towards those kinds of initiatives. Joining me on the podcast today is DEIX expert Jonathan Mays. Jonathan is a longtime friend of Cal Chamber and served on Cal Chamber's Board of Directors for many years. Before starting his own DEI consulting business, Jonathan was Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Albertsons Companies. He continues to make a huge impact in the DEI space as a keynote speaker and consultant, working with companies all over the United States to develop strategies that effectively foster diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at every level of organizations. So welcome, Jonathan. Thanks for being here.

Thanks, Matt. It's good to be with you today.

Well, we've got a lot to get into here, so let's get right to it. As somebody who works with HR professionals and employment lawyers on a regular basis, I can tell you that these past few years have brought to the forefront so many new issues that employers are working to address that we didn't have in the past. One of the positive developments I've seen in the past few years has been a focus on the importance of fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for employees and custom of a business. And this is largely what I've seen as a result of a shift in the workforce demographics from a majority of baby boomers to a majority of millennial and Gen Z employees that want their workplaces to place more of an emphasis on DEI initiatives. So, Jonathan, can you give us a sense of how important these issues are to companies and why they are important?

Matt, happy to do so. Before I do, I just want to say to those listening, thanks for taking the time Today, our goal is to be helpful to you. We hope that you and your family are doing as well as possible during these really challenging times that we all are living in. So with that as a backdrop. Matt, thanks for the question. With regard to just why these issues are important to companies, why they should matter. The way I think about this is really just to ask this question. Ask this question to the listeners. What is the goal of your organization? Just think about it for a second. What's the principal goal of your organization? I'm going to guess somewhere in your answer. It is to be as successful as you can possibly be.

And so if that's what you said to me, my next question would be, is this a commitment that you have? Are you serious about this? And I believe you would say, yes, I am. Well, then I would say if your goal is to be as successful as you can possibly be, and if you're committed to that, then I'm sure you would agree that you should do everything you possibly can within the law, obviously, but everything you possibly can to help increase the likelihood for success for your organization. Well, research has shown time and time again that organizations that truly lean into diversity, equity and inclusion typically outperform those that do not. And so if you're committed to being your best, then you need also to be committed to embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion. So many studies have been done over the years. One of them is by McKinsey as an example. And they talk about the organizations where women are in leadership, and they take over a thousand companies, and they think that companies that do the best in terms of women in leadership, they have found that they are 25% more likely to outperform organizations than those at the other end of the spectrum. Likewise, with regard to demographics, with regard to people of color, for organizations that do the best in terms of being in the top quartile organizations that embrace diversity, equity, inclusion, they are 36% more likely to outperform organizations at the other end of the spectrum. And there's so many other benefits that come with diversity, equity, inclusion, such as increased ability to attract talent, diverse talent with diverse perspectives that can represent the demographics of communities that you serve. And so we'll talk more about this during our time together. But fundamentally, why is it important? Again, if it's important to be your best, then it's important to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion not only in word, but also, indeed, by your actions, by the commitments that you make to your workforce and your potential workforce.

Yeah, and I think the study that you cite is really important because this isn't just an academic exercise that we're talking about here. This has, you know, tangible results for our organizations. So if an organization wants to embrace DEI and put their best foot forward, as you would say, what are some of the strategies that companies are using to make their companies more diverse, equitable, and inclusive?

Well, a number of companies have done what I've talked about in terms of having a true mission statement or vision statement as to what their commitment is to diversity, equity, inclusion. And it really fundamentally starts there. Do you have a clearly articulated policy that is known within your organization with regard to your organization's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion? And not only is this known, but are your leadership also actively communicating that they support this effort in all that the organization does? The next step is that you think about where is your organization in terms of how it represents demographically the communities that we serve? I mentioned a couple of stats a couple of minutes ago from McKinsey. And so when you look at your organization and you look at the leadership of your organization, how closely does that resemble the demographics, again, of the areas where you operate? And so if really fundamentally is involved in looking inwardly at, are you truly committed and are you taking steps to do that also with regard to things like how do you go to hire prospective folks? Question where do you find folks? How broad is your net that you cast to find folks from different groups, different demographics to come in and even interview for your role? And then when you interview them, what does the interview panel look like? Is there diversity in the panel in terms of not only ethnicity, but or sexual orientation or age, but also, among other ways, in terms of just, are there women on the committee and on the panel? What does that look like? And so, Matt, these are just some of the many things that companies know about. But it's one thing to know, it's another thing to do. And so my recommendation to companies is that they be really intentional about looking fundamentally in the mirror. What do we look like now demographically? How does that compare across the demographics areas where we operate? And how can we better reflect that in terms of management in our organization?

And I think it's important to distinguish something that I hear about on the helpline often and from other members, which is, you know, you talk about increasing diversity in your workforce, but we're always concerned about that legal aspect. Right? You can't make hiring decisions, promotion decisions, based upon someone's protected class, which can include their race or their sex. And I think it's important to highlight the distinction between that and between opening your pipelines. Right, Jonathan, you know, where are you trying to get talent from? You're not making the choices based on someone's protected class, but you're granting greater opportunities from a more diverse recruitment pool. Is what, you know, I think is important for people to take away from that. You know, I'm hearing more and more references to the importance of belonging in workplaces. So, you know, some of us who are familiar with these terms, diversity, inclusion, or dei, belonging is kind of a new one for us. So what is this aspect of belonging about as we attach this to DEI concepts?

So let me Just provide a little bit of context, right? Just to make sure that we understand how belonging fits into this whole picture of diversity, equity and inclusion. There's a diversity equity inclusion expert whose name is Verna Myers. And so she, I think, has come up with a really good way to describe diversity and inclusion. So many of you have heard this, but perhaps not all of you. So let me share that. What she has said is that diversity is being invited to the dance.

Inclusion or be invited to the party. I should say inclusion is being invited to actually come onto the floor and dance. That's inclusion. I take this a step further with regard to equity. Equity is if you are in a wheelchair and getting to an elevated dance floor is a challenge, there's a ramp for you. Equity is. Provides an environment where you can come onto the floor and dance. Or if you are sensitive to light and there's a disco ball and lights are flashing on it, it's acknowledged, that's an issue for you. And so maybe we don't have the ball flashing. Do you see what I'm saying? Equity is all about providing an environment where you also can participate in whatever the activity is. Now let's move to belonging. Belonging is a sense not only that you are invited to the party, not only that you're invited to dance, not only are you invited to come onto the floor. And again, if there's a physical challenge that makes it difficult, you can come out of that floor, there's a ramp, or the disco ball light is out, you come out of the floor. That's equity, which is different from equality. But equity is, again, looking at what your circumstances are and making arrangements so that they can be accommodated. Belonging. Then it's a step further. Belonging is when you've heard the music being played. It's being able to have a sense that you can walk over to the DJ and say, hey, dj, that's good, but would you play this song? And having a sense that the DJ will play your song, your request, just like he or she would play anyone else's. Belonging is a sense that you are, in a sense, home. Think for a second about your closest friends and just how comfortable you feel. Not that the workplace can be that, but just there's a sense when you're around people, an environment that is welcoming, that you have a place that can be your home. You have a place where you can feel respected and valued. And that's why belonging takes all of what I've said a step further with regard to diversity, equity and inclusion. Belonging is the next Step, but it's an important step. Research has shown that in instances where there is belonging, there's much more retention, higher percentage of, of retention, higher potential to attract other folks because the folks there are really happy to be there because they feel they have a home, they feel they belong.

And that's excellent. And actually that kind of dovetails that example. The dance floor is fantastic for this because you highlight a number of steps where somebody needs to take an action, right? Someone needs to invite somebody to the party. Remember, to invite someone to the party, someone needs to see that person and invite them onto the dance floor. Somebody needs to recognize that to provide an equitable dance, you know, we need to have access to the dance floor and then allow the DJ to have this freedom to choose songs for everybody. And what I think that all comes together is this self awareness, right? Because along each of those steps, we're all human and some of us can just forget, right? We can forget to invite this person, or maybe subconsciously we won't invite this person, or we just don't even think about the idea that we need a ramp or something because us, ourselves are not disabled and we can get on the floor just fine. So what this all comes to is something called self awareness. And Jonathan, how is self awareness key to discussions about dei?

I'm going to tell you all a story, and it's really embarrassing, so I'm going to ask you just to keep it between us, but I just hope that it's helpful.

I was going to say, Jonathan, that's okay, because I've told a couple of embarrassing stories here on the podcast already, so you're in very friendly company here.

Here I feel a sense of belonging. Now.

Here'S the story, and it's again disappointing in what I felt, but I just want to share, to just explain self awareness in really concrete terms. I was standing in line at a restaurant recently, waiting to be seated, and in front of me was a little girl, I'm guessing she was four, maybe five years of age. And she was with a gentleman, I presume the gentleman to be her father. And the little girl was wearing a cute little pink jumper and she had the kind of shoes, tennis shoes, that when you move, they light up and they sparkle. And she had pink barrettes. But what caught my eye is what she was doing. What she was doing was she was make belief boxing with this guy, her dad. They're in line having a pretend fight with kicks and lunges and punches. And I'm looking at them and I'm saying, To myself, jonathan, why is that guy teaching his little girl how to fight if it were a little boy? And as soon as I had that thought, I said, hold on, Mr. Diversity dude, that's bias.

Self awareness is that it's a realization that experts will tell you this. If you can fog a mirror, there's some bias inside you, whether you know it or not or whether you acknowledge it or not. So self awareness is so fundamental to the journey of getting to a place where we ourselves can be inclusive in how we treat others, but how we ourselves can model it for others. It's not for us to point fingers and say, you're a biased person and you're a biased person. We're all biased people. The issue is, what are we going to do about it? And so self awareness says, I recognize that there are some opportunities for me and I'm going to take active steps to try to not only recognize when bias raises its head, but also to try to just stomp it out. And so what I did in that instance, Matt, to finish the story is, I mean, I caught it right away. I said, oh, come on, Mr. Diversity dude, you know better than this. And then I went to the guy, I said, and with all sincerity, I said to her, what you're doing is really cool because it is cool that he's teaching his little girl to fight. And so I said, she looks to be really into it. And he smiled and he said, absolutely, she loves it. She and I watch, I'm into mixed martial arts. He said, she watches it on TV as well. She's into it. I said, I can tell. But again, self awareness is the ability to say, I need to look in a mirror. I need to acknowledge where I may have issues myself, and I need where I can do it diplomatically to help others do the same. I can tell you story after story about the importance of self awareness, but I think this one is a good one to start with, as we all are on this journey become more self aware about biases that we have, whether we know that in a conscious level or whether we suspect they occur at a subconscious level.

Yeah, and I think that was really a wonderful story about that because that really does highlight a lesson that you can take across all aspects of our life. You know, this was an area that was outside of work, but the same thing inside of work that you can have that, as you say, may not necessarily be conscious or intentional. The way our brains work, we process so much information at the same time that our brain shortcuts things based on you know, stereotypes and other biases we may have. And that self awareness, as you mentioned, I think is really important. So, Jonathan, what if we have a company here who has not yet really started down this path? Maybe some employees are coming to leadership and they're saying, hey, you know, we want to, we want to get some DEI initiatives going on here. We want to increase inclusion, we want a sense of belonging as to where we work. What do you recommend to those employers as the first steps to start when they are starting from scratch?

So let me just tell a quick story and then I'll respond to that question. But the story relates directly to what you're asking. We all know the horror of the George Floyd murder and other deaths that year.

And we just, we just kind of, I still shudder when I think about them. And a number of companies said, you know, boy, maybe we should have a conversation about this just to kind of raise awareness about who we are as a company and how this culturally is not anything close to what we want to be like. We want to be welcoming of everybody. We don't want to be biased, we don't want to discriminate. And so I remember a diversity officer telling me that they had a discussion at their company and I'll never forget what she said. She said, jonathan, the person who is facilitating that discussion had no business facilitating that discussion. He wasn't prepared. And so the companies that want to move forward, I respect that, I applaud that. But I'm going to just caution you to really consider finding someone internally or externally who can help guide that process. And what does that process look like? Well, it goes back to what I was mentioning earlier as to where to start. And that is to come up with a carefully crafted, thoughtful vision or mission statement for who you are or who you aspire to be with regard to all things diversity, equity, inclusion, to have a clear statement. But get buy in before this goes public, if you will, internally with the organization, get different voices into the room as part of that discussion. The next step, once you have that clearly defined statement, you're in agreement as to who you aspire to be with regard to your vision and mission with regard to diversity, equity, inclusion. That's great. Next step is what are the steps that you need to take to achieve that vision, to achieve that mission statement. And often it's going to involve things like, and I alluded to this earlier, what are your metrics? What do they look like in leadership in your organization? How closely does that reflect the demographics? And at what point do you want in your life as an organization to more closely resemble the demographics. Is it 2028? By 2028 we will. Or by 2030 or 2020, but to fill that. But that's the first step. Second step is just to really provide training in your organization about the fact that you're committed to a culture of embracing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. And here is training that you provide to help people understand how they can best do that. And you can find perhaps resources internally to do that or to bring in someone from the outside, but however you do it, just make sure that it's done. Because it's one thing to say you're committed to this culture, but it's another thing altogether to take steps to try to bring that culture into life. And the steps involve things like training or workshops. The next thing I would say is retention is so important. And so think about not only how you go about attracting diverse talent, and I talked about this earlier in terms of diverse panels and being more intentional about having a broader swath of folks you draw from as you bring them in for interviews. It's not only that, but organizations know about things like employee resource groups. And so is there a woman's network group or.

Latinx resource group or lgbtq, depending on the size of your organization. But just to get groups together like that that are open to everyone, but just to allow them an opportunity to just network, to get to know each other better for skills training or for whatever it is, but more importantly, to help inform you and your organization about how you can be better equipped to welcome diverse voices into the workplace. When people feel they have a voice, people feel they have a sense of belonging and inclusion. When they have a sense of belonging and inclusion, they're more likely to want to perform their best, give their best, to be their best. Research shows they work harder, as I mentioned earlier, they stay longer, typically. And so that's really important, particularly now as we go into this hybrid world, or we are in it for several years, many of us, but as we look into this new world of what does hybrid look like after. After the pandemic, what does it look like? We need to be even more intentional about being inclusive because of just the ability to be out of connection, because you're working remotely much more than you used to in the past. And so I could go on, but for those and many other reasons, these are steps are important if you're committed to achieving diversity, equity, inclusion.

Yeah, Jonathan, I think this final section was really a great takeaway for our listeners in terms of getting that program off the ground or if their program has kind of stagnated recently, you know how we can continue to move forward. And I know you have such a busy schedule and this was such a fantastic conversation. So, Jonathan, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today.

My pleasure. Great to be with you and the listeners. I hope it's been helpful.

Oh, I think it's been fantastic. And thank you listeners for joining us on the Workplace. Please comment, share and subscribe to Cal Chambers podcast by visiting calchamber.com.