Be a DEI Change Agent Through Global Mindset & Culture

This month I would like to focus on what has always been at the heart of my work - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (known affectionately in the corporate world as DEI). Now, more than ever, our world is in need of DEI change agents who have cultivated a global mindset and can help foster a culture of belonging in the workplace.

I held a group conversation a few weeks ago with fellow global colleagues, discussing how to foster an open culture and global mindset. Nikki Lamba , a DEI Executive with over 13 years of experience helping companies build and enhance their talent practices, DEI strategies and policies, joined us, along with Sandhya Jain-Patel , a DEI Executive and Multicultural Content Strategist with nearly 20 years of experience in the media, arts, and entertainment industries and author of the recent book Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-Obvious Ways To Build A More Inclusive World.

During our online gathering, we addressed different points including:

• The importance of understanding and respecting differences in cultural norms, open vs. closed cultures, time zone differences, and more when leading global teams.
• The need to prioritize making personal connections, whether in person or if remote, by asking virtual members to turn cameras on to introduce themselves.
• The debunking of four myths of women in the workplace - these include women’s desire for more flexible work, women’s career ambitions, the proverbial glass ceiling and microaggressions. We delved further into this topic as a result of a new report on Women in the Workplace released from McKinsey and in partnership with Lean In.

Below are some of the more salient comments and sentiments that came out of our discussion.

• Nikki shared insight on open and closed cultures for the group noting that “Open cultures are broadly more inclusive and have more space to ‘break the norms’ both on the individual level and beyond. Closed cultures are more driven by rules, boundaries, or fears and can be optically less inclusive - stick to the known or established way of doing something.”
• Saqi, who works for a global data company noted that “over time it was okay to tell our colleagues across the globe that they do not need to adapt to US ideals. Having open conversations to let them know that it’s okay to express their concerns and speak openly about work ethics - what are their expectations? And note how it can differ from one country to the next.”
• Barbara noted that one way to help create a more open culture is to have “companies arrange in-person visits and build relationships in person. Picking up the phone or video chats are also helpful, rather than just communicating via email. A lot gets lost with tone over email and it’s important to do more to connect. Personal conversations - start with small talk, it helps one to understand nuances between cultures.”
• Ruth shared that integrating cultural base training was helpful to understand the values of each country, allowing her and her colleagues to learn how many cultures do things differently, which helped them understand and respect differences. She noted that “in working with international employees, it’s important to find out how to relate to each other and philanthropy was one connection point. Pushing the same vision but working alongside one another was helpful. It’s also key to understand the value and traditions of each culture.”

At a certain point during our discussion, we touched upon the Women in the Workplace report where key findings concluded:

• Women are more ambitious than before the pandemic—and flexibility is fueling that ambition. Women want a better work life balance.
• The ‘broken rung’ is the greatest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership.
• Microaggressions have a large and lasting impact on women. These little slights or dings that people make towards colleagues, in reality they should be called macroaggressions as they have a larger impact. Minorities experience more microaggressions than white women in the workplace and it affects productivity in the workplace.

As a group, we pondered - how can we create a safe place for all to work? It’s here that DEI becomes incredibly important. By looking at these stats and data, we can see how implementing DEI in the workplace, including in hybrid work, is vital to working women. The approach is not easy as there is no one size fits all model. Many noted that when women take advantage of a flexible work environment, it can come back to hurt them over time by impacting their ability to be promoted or presented with new opportunities.

• Rihab noted the importance of “building policies that have an equity lens, as well as holding leadership accountable and holding others and their organizations accountable to measure the effectiveness of those policies.”
• Nikki added that “managers need to be informed of the structures being built. There is a very small group of decision makers. There needs to be a lot of work on the backend to have managers understand the why of the change and how it will help them and benefit the company. The biggest thing that leaders can do is be a part of it themselves - be a role model. There also needs to be a safe space for conversations to allow employees to approach managers and inform them when they are not following established policies.”

As we concluded our conversation, we noted the need to focus on the following areas (ref. How to Take a Global Approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ):

• Cultivate cultural humility
• Customize and co-create DEI and culture initiatives on a local level
• Practice intersectionality on a global scale
• Center the voices and expertise of non-dominant group women

Wondering what needs to happen and what more you can do? For those that wish to dig deeper, below are coaching practices to reflect on your own experience and what you can do on a personal level.

Now it’s your turn to share. What has come up for you as a result of this discussion? Are you a DEI change agent? What areas do you need support in order to strengthen your global mindset and ability to help foster open cultures? I would love to hear from you.

To Your Success,

Coaching Practices

Take Action and Put it into Practice

Take a moment to review the following questions about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and reflect on your own experience in becoming a DEI change agent:

• What does open vs. closed culture mean to you?
• How has your experience differed in closed vs. open cultures?
• Was there a time that you were able to have a breakthrough with a colleague from another country or culture?
• How can you use your privilege to advocate for a colleague who might benefit from your support?
• What can you do to help center the voices and expertise of non-dominant group women?
• How can you put intersectionality into practice in your work environment?
• What steps can you take to embrace your vulnerability at work and practice greater emotional and cultural intelligence?

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