3 Steps You Can Take to Shatter Barriers Created by Leadership Ideals [+ Infographic Included]

 

💥This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter + monthly workshop series sharing best practices for employers who want to implement effective diversity recruitment programs. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity 💥

News From #TeamJTC:

 👉🏾 INCREASE DIVERSITY TOOLBOX: Introducing our newest INCREASE DIVERSITY TOOLBOX. It is a monthly subscription library that includes curated micro-learning content for Recruiters, Recruiting Leaders + DEI Leaders + Hiring Managers helping you to inclusively find, attract, engage, and make effective hiring decisions.

👉🏾 FREE CHECKLIST | 💥 We have a FREE, downloadable CHECKLIST for leaders called The Platinum Checklist for Hiring Professionals: 10 Immediate Actions Leaders Must STOP Doing in Order to Increase Diversity. Click to download your free copy. 💥

 
 

There comes a point in the life of every organization when change becomes imperative. It’s not just change for the sake of change, but for the success and progress of the organization. Increasing diversity in the workplace has become more than an option, it has become a necessity. It is a requirement for organizations to innovate and maintain a competitive edge.

This change has also impacted the values and perspective of leaders in the workplace. It has become crucial for leaders to accept and be a part of the initiatives established to increase workplace diversity, work on their leadership skills, as well as encourage others around them to do the same. For leaders paving the way for increasing representation in the workplace, demonstrating strong values—such as courage, humility, discipline, and acceptance of the changes in the workplace initiatives—will allow them to uphold and enforce these values throughout the organization’s culture, strategies, and communications.

This one word – diversity – has become more than a strategic business imperative. It has become an essential mindset to have for not only business leaders, but also everyone involved in the company to sustain and scale a business. Now, where should they start?

To increase diversity in your workplace, leaders must move the needle from the current reality toward the ideal culture—one that fosters retention of individuals from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

To support this process, Team JTC created an infographic to help demonstrate the steps you can take to help your organization reposition itself.

 

Click to download

 

If you are looking for a quick rundown of the steps, use the below summary:

Step #1: Use Data. Rather than forcing your employees to embrace your ideal, focus more on helping your leaders see and acknowledge the current reality of the workplace. As often as possible, use data. Whether it’s an employee wide engagement survey, or data that shows demographic hiring outcomes, data is one of the best tools to make any enterprise-wide changes. As a leader, your ability to see, acknowledge and take accountability for the current environment is your organization’s starting block. Reaching the ideal is the goal. Your team could even take SurveyMonkey’s free Belonging Survey. They’ve created a survey template that focuses on three key components of inclusion: growth mindset, belonging, and objectivity. Each component is based on research by Stanford University experts Carol Dweck, Greg Walton, and Geoffrey Cohen.

Step #2: Move the needle with your employees. Take all your employees on the journey with you. Be honest and transparent about the current realities of specific underrepresented populations (based on the data in step #1) and ask all employees to contribute ideas to improve. Encourage all employees to be allies. You would be amazed at the number of ideas your employees have in moving from the current reality to an ideal culture. Create a committee to review ideas and amplify those most aligned to your goals.

Step #3: Create a roadmap and take action. The best time to have the map is before entering the woods. The same is true when taking on new initiatives like increasing workplace diversity. Just as important as it is to recognize your starting block and to know where you are going, it is equally important to know how you plan to get there and by when. Leverage internal expertise or consultants to help you to prioritize and implement the ideas that were approved by the committee. Once the map is developed, publish it company-wide and invite employees to hold the organization accountable for its commitment.

Inclusive leaders are open to change. They genuinely care about their employees as people. And they respect and welcome differences. They also have the best interest to advance the future of the company in the right direction by working on their own bias, leadership skills and empowering others to follow the same vision and path.

If you would like to learn more about leadership ideals, check out the article: Are Your Leadership Ideals Creating Barriers to Increasing Diversity?

 
 

✅ We will use the weekly #IncreaseDiversity newsletter platform to do five things:

  • Challenge organizations to dig more deeply when it comes to diversity recruiting and retention programs

  • Clarify misconceptions or demystify complex topics related to diversity recruiting

  • Share best practices in diversity recruiting and retention

  • Answer frequently asked questions related to diversity recruiting and retention

  • Build a safe learning community for hiring professionals

 
CJennifer Tardy