8 Proven Practices for People Leaders to Achieve Inclusion

Here are 3 popular posts from the last week:

Paul Ladipo is one of the most prolific writers in my feed.

Well he should be…. but I never see his stuff. ??

6 harsh realities of leading Inclusion at work.

(The “experts” won’t tell you this.)

In case you missed it :

“Diversity work” has changed.

Share this with one of your colleagues who needs to know this.

PS.

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This episode of the podcast was inspired by Fay Wallis .

A couple of weeks ago I shared 8 practices that I use with my clients to make Inclusion achievable.

Fay asked me to share a little more.

So here it is:

This is a great place to start if you don't know what you're doing.

Check out the full show here.

1 Do your homework to benefit from other people’s best thinking.?

I don't just count on my own work.

- I read other peoples books?

- I read other peoples research?

- I read other people’s white papers?

Why?

Because chances are:?

- Other people have experienced the problem you’re facing.?

- Someone else has solved the issue already.

You can benefit from someone else’s 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you benefit from the expertise of others as well as yourself.?

2 Build something that addresses a specific issue in your workplace?

I speak to People Leaders every single day: ?

- Vice President of People?

- Head of People?

- HR Directors

When I ask them what specific challenges they’re working on.?

They always tell me what THEY think is important.?

When we work together.?

I typically find this is not always important to others in their organisation.?

This means in the minds of everyone around you:?

- Your work is not solving a problem that matters.?

- Your activities are pointless.

- You’re wasting your time.?

This is why people think Inclusion initiatives don’t work.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you solve a problem that others care about.?

3 Position your idea with stakeholders by clearly communicating the benefits.

Why would anyone listen to you??

- Because you said so??

- Because it’s your job?

- Because they have to?

I’ve never seen this work.?

You need to give them a reason.?

You need to make them understand the benefit of working with you.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you engage the people who are affected by the decisions you make.?

4 Run a pilot to test your approach before scaling it up.

When people are new to DEI, or the company, or the role.?

They often announce a huge strategy or initiative.?

- They’ve done the listening.?

- They’ve had conversations?

- They’ve got the budget.?

What they don’t have is credibility.?

What they don’t know is if the plan is going to work.

We tell our clients to test it first.

Then scale it.?

Then roll it out.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you gather evidence BEFORE to mitigate risk.?

5 Make it easy for people to say yes and participate.

Do you know how often I’ve worked with a company and the thing we’re doing is: ?

- Hidden page on their company website?

- Promoted to the wrong people?

- Not easy to get involved

We solve for this quickly.?

How easy is it for someone who doesn’t care about what you’re talking about to say yes?

- Not parties?

- Not panel events?

- Not pantomimes?

Something involved with making your company a better place.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you consider the forgotten.?

6?Providing resources and recognition for supporters

We’ve got a client who did a particular initiative across two different departments.?

We controlled for all the differences.?

You know what made one more successful than the other?

Saying “Thank you.”

We sent a personal message to say thank you.?

Not one of those automated emails.?

It was something personal.

It worked.?

Who knew.?

People respond to support and recognition.???

That’s not an insight.?

That’s should be standard.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you raise your standards

7 Get feedback to learn what works and what needs improvement.

It’s easy to think you’ve had a good job.

How are you collecting feedback??

I’m not talking about Happy Sheets.?

Let them know that you’re going to change your behaviour based on what they say.?

You have no idea how effective that is.

Evidence Based Inclusion means you change the process as appropriate.

8 Review, improve, and repeat the process to continually evolve.

This is not insightful or remarkable.?

Plan, Do review.?

This is at the heart of performance management.

Maybe you don’t like the term “performance management”

I bet you have a process where:?

You plan stuff.

You do stuff.

You review stuff.?

You don’t have to over complicate it.?

Evidence Based Inclusion means you continue the things that give you results.

These 8 principles are great if you’re starting out.?

Or if you have no clue about what to do.?

I recommend it.

Pro tip:

Keep it simple, keep it moving, and keep improving.

Please let me know if you’re getting results with this.

I like to celebrate wins.

Have you shared this with a colleague yet?

Think about who needs to know this.

They need a friend like you.

As always

I’m cheering you on.

Dr. Jonathan

Book a call with me if you want to get on the waiting list for The Evidence Based Inclusion Program.