The work of those involved in diversity, equity and inclusion within organizations has continued to evolve in recent years. In the summer of 2020, organizations couldn’t move fast enough to express their commitment to improving diversity. Now in 2023, the landscape has changed with greater political polarization on DEI issues, potentially challenging a company’s commitment to making changes.
For those leading DEI efforts, a label that increasingly also includes the term “belonging,” the work has continued to change as well. In the past, the emphasis may have been on diversity along dimensions of gender, race or ethnicity. Those dimensions have not disappeared, but now DEI leaders must also account for other differences like remote versus in-person work, ways of learning or processing information, and mental health.
“What’s really cool, though, is no matter where you start, it’s that same muscle, how you uncover what different demographics need to create that sense of belonging and create the environment where people can speak up. If you do it in one aspect of diversity, it’s the same muscle memory that can carry over,” said Beth Ridley, founder and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Ridley Consulting Group.
To get a better sense of the day-to-day work of DEI leaders, BizTimes worked with Ridley to record a podcast with members of an inclusive leaders roundtable group she leads. Along with Ridley, the conversation included Sri Kadasinghanahalli, vice president of enterprise data and analytics at Milwaukee-based MGIC Investment Corp.; Michelle Naples, chief integration officer at West Allis-based Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan; and DeAnna Osteen, vice president of human resources at Glendale-based Weyco Group.
The following is a portion of the conversation. For the full episode, visit biztimes.com/podcast
Why is DEI and belonging important to your organization?
“It is very much in line with our core belief in the infinite worth of each person, and that means respecting and honoring all the unique differences that we bring to the table when we show up to work,” Naples said.
She added that as a social service provider, LSS has a responsibility to address disparities and barriers, work that is helped when employees have a sense of belonging and want to come to work every day to grow their careers and help those that the organization serves.
Osteen said Weyco is working to create an environment where employees feel they belong, are valued and are comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings.
“We’re looking for this culture where our employees feel empowered to really perform and be their best and really enjoy it,” she said.
Kadasinghanahalli said success for MGIC is creating an environment in which coworkers and business partners feel comfortable bringing their own unique perspective to every interaction.
“Fundamentally, we think that diversity of thought, uniqueness of experiences and the power of inclusion fuels the creation of an environment where we think business can be conducted purposefully and obviously benefit from diverse perspectives,” he said.
How does your organization think about diversity and what areas are you focused on?
“We think about diversity as variety, both in people and ideas,” Kadasinghanahalli said, adding the organization is working to have it “show up intentionally in our DNA instead of this thing being a specific program or a project.”
Naples said LSS has defined diversity in the broadest sense possible.
“Extending beyond the visible form of diversity to include life experience and perspectives and that is a more inviting approach for our colleagues,” she said.
Internal discussions at LSS have also focused on whether it is better to go broad and touch on as many dimensions of diversity as possible or focus deeply on specific areas, Naples added.
“It’s an ongoing balance we’re trying to navigate there,” she said, adding that not everyone is always pleased with the balance the organization strikes.
Osteen acknowledged Weyco is early in its DEI journey and the organization is figuring things out as it goes and taking things slowly. The company recently did a culture and belonging survey. One of the results of the survey was a seemingly high number of respondents who did not want to disclose demographic information, something Osteen said the company is now looking at more closely.
“Was it just they didn’t want to?” she said. “Are there reasons at our company as to why they’re not comfortable doing that?”
What has worked to engage employees in DEI?
Kadasinghanahalli said MGIC has tried to engage with employees in multiple ways including focusing on the employee experience, starting with the onboarding process, being very intentional about volunteer efforts, providing grants to smaller organizations nominated by employees, and having ongoing dialogue with business partners.
“A key has been our consistency,” Naples said.
She pointed out that LSS is three years into its DEI efforts and has built them into the organization with committees and subcommittees to carry out the work. LSS also used conversations with employees to develop a strategy map and the committees are taking action based on that map.
The work of bringing employees together does not always have to be completely serious either.
At Weyco’s corporate headquarters, around 250 employees are spread between the office and in distribution.
“We’re all there pretty much at the same time of the day, but our work is so divided,” Osteen said. “Literally, there is a cement wall that divides the office from the distribution center.”
To break down at least the metaphorical wall between the two groups of employees, the company has been hosting an annual cornhole tournament with teams made up of one office and one distribution employee.
The matches are held over the lunch hour and top executives participate. While Osteen acknowledged it may sound “a little bit silly,” it does get people from across the facility involved and interacting with each other.
Ridley said the theme across successful employee engagement is empowering them to be involved.
“Go where the energy is,” she said. “Once employees appreciate what this work is all about, they see how it benefits them – at a minimum it makes it a more interesting, fun place to work – and then their wheels start spinning with their own ideas of what that would mean to create that sense of belonging.”
How do you deal with resistance or reluctance from employees?
With shifting attitudes towards DEI, the potential for employee or stakeholder pushback has only grown.
Naples said LSS has had instances in which employees, donors or others involved with the organization have expressed concern after DEI-related communications. She said Hector Colon, chief executive officer of LSS, will reach out to the individual to ask for a conversation to clarify perspectives, seek to develop an understanding and ideally reach a place of mutual respect and common ground.
“You’ve got to have the support, too, from the very top,” Osteen said.
Kadasinghanahalli noted the importance of having passion for the topic and believing it is the right thing to do.
“If it comes from the heart, the right messaging will come out,” he said, although he added you can learn to better communicate ideas constructively and emphasized the need to approach issues respectfully and allow people to embrace it at their own pace.
“This is not something you force, in my opinion,” Kadasinghanahalli said.
Ridley noted that ultimately working on an organization’s diversity and inclusion is about changing the organization.
“You’re always going to have folks who process and embrace change at different rates, people who don’t want to change for various reasons,” she said. “You could talk about implementing a new technology system, and you’d have resistors and folks who are reluctant.”
