DE&I is a Global Conversation
“Leading DEI is leading change.” - Justin Boxall
DE&I is a critical topic with more companies than ever focused on creating more equitable organizations and inclusive teams. Simultaneously, due to expanded access to technology, paired with the pandemic-induced rise of remote work, companies and teams exist in an increasingly global context. As teams become more international, effective DE&I strategies and initiatives need to account for the varied perspectives, cultures, and political contexts of their team members.
In this 60-minute event replay, global panelists Kristy Singletary, Evelyn Tay, Jephtah Abu, and Justin Boxall discuss the importance and the challenges of creating effective DE&I initiatives for global teams in our current remote context.
One of the biggest challenges we see to change initiatives of all types is obtaining leadership support and buy-in. When it comes to obtaining buy-in, Kristy, Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lead at Pfizer, recommends putting forth a data-based case to your leadership team, citing examples from McKinsey and Deloitte as landmark work on the importance of DE&I in the workplace, not just to employee success but also overall business outcomes. As we continue to experience the impacts of the “Great Resignation”, she invites companies and leaders to reframe around a “Great Re-Imagination”, using this opportunity to create a workplace and culture that makes employees want to stay and thrive.
And while leadership support is critical, change doesn’t always start in the C-Suite. Evelyn, VP of Communications, Public Affairs, and Sustainability at foodpanda, shared examples of how having a strong company “Why” when it comes to DE&I empowers local teams to move with intention, knowing they will be supported. This led to initiatives at her company including gender-neutral bathrooms in a local office, group support for a teammate sharing her personal story publicly, and a week of sustainability-focused employee-driven events. She names employee passion as the driving force saying, “When you have passion, more than OKRs, KPIs, and everything in between..that’s the force that drives what people want.”
Justin, Inclusion and Diversity Lead for Mars UK, spoke to the importance of workplace communities, citing ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) as a driving force in creating organizational change. By giving these groups the power to define how they operate and what they focus on, Mars creates more space for these groups to thrive and have an impact. Jephtah, Community Manager at Cerulean Blue, and DE&I advocate, also emphasized the critical nature of communities within and beyond organizations as drivers of structural change. He advises approaching community building from a lens of intentionality, noting that “communities start with conversations”.
This event was so full of actionable tips and examples, but perhaps just as striking was the participants' focus on creating more human-centered workplaces, teams, and communities that truly care for their people. As Kristy said, “If people have the courage to come forward and say it, we should respond by having the courage to do something about it.”
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Notable Timestamps:
0:59 I Meet the speakers
6:25 I How the panelists think of global DE&I in their work
14:09 I The importance of a strong “Why” when doing DE&I work within organizations
23:20 I Creating space for employees and team members to self-identify in empowering ways
26:22 I The role that ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) can play in DE&I work at an organization
32:36 I A community expert’s pointers on how to build community in the workplace
37:20 I The impact of engaged senior leadership sponsorship
41:20 I The Great Re-Imagination: Reframing the Great Resignation
47:23 I How to have conversations about DE&I that create openness to change within organizations
50:16 I Audience questions about getting senior leadership on board when there is resistance
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