Introducing D&I in the Workplace- how do we start?

Hey everyone! Most of you know me from my Mining Roadtrip as well as other geo-tourism blogs, but today I wanted to bring you something a little bit different!

Background

I recently had the opportunity to do some research into the field of D&I, with the help and encouragement of an amazing coworker (as well as tons of awesome connections- you'll learn more about them later in the article!). So what is it? D&I stands for Diversity and Inclusion. Diversity is about representation and the makeup of an entity, such as a company. Inclusion is how well the contributions, presence, and perspectives of different groups of people are valued and integrated. D&I is probably something you have heard about in one way or another, from a companies goals or perhaps a conflict in the workplace. But why is this important?

"Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance" - Verna Myers

Every single person in this whole big world is different! Each person comes from different backgrounds and cultures, has different ideas, and problem solves differently. Often, people can be left out of companies based on race, gender, age, disability, veteran status, orientation, and more. Most likely the company isn't doing it on purpose. We will learn a bit more about unconscious bias below! Companies are starting to value people's differences more and more, which is why D&I is becoming a larger goal for companies. Many companies are starting to realize the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive work force, which includes:

• In many studies, diverse companies show higher revenue growth. Ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to yield higher revenue, and gender diverse companies are 15% more likely!
• Many D&I focused companies show higher innovation skills, which promotes creativity and strategic resilience.

For example, a workforce that has more parents may be better set up for remote work due to their working with kids. A workforce with someone who may be physically disabled could result in higher awareness, leading to better opportunities for automation, which could lead to increased safety and productivity in some environments.

• In one study on company culture, it was found that people who work in D&I focused companies say they are 9.8 times more likely to look forward to going to work, 6.3 times more likely to have pride in their work, and 5.4 times more likely to want to stay with the company longer

Those are just some of the benefits for a company seeking to be more diverse and inclusive. Personal benefits for employees are even further reaching. Having an employee that feels like they are included and valued in their workplace is helpful in improving morale, employee retention, and could improve their professional relationships with their coworkers. It also should be noted that enabling a diverse workforce can also help employees get training to improve themselves, have better paying jobs, and overall improve lives.

How do we start?

Okay, okay, now that we know the basics of D&I, it's time to get to the meat of the article! One thing I realized when I started researching this topic is just how overwhelming it can be. Where do you start? How do you implement it? What can go wrong? These are all valid questions, and I'm certainly not an expert, and I don't have all of the answers! Luckily though, I reached out to several top D&I experts in my connections who were more than willing to help me out!

So much of D&I can really start by taking a personal initiative, and that is what a lot of these tips are for! By even reading this article and thinking about how you can be more diverse and inclusive in your personal life is a step forward! Below I'm going to give you a list from my connections on somewhat simple ways to start including D&I in your life as well as your workplace!

1. Start Small. Beatrice Opoku-Asare says that her focus is to start small by allowing safe conversations and improving awareness through training. Helping people, especially those in a position of authority or power, see that their experiences may be totally different than others is a great first step. By creating inclusive leadership an organization can work towards true behavior change, then focus on systematic changes, like the ideas listed below!
2. One of the main ideas I heard about when reaching out to my connections was implementing gender neutral language. This is a simple concept and anyone in your work force can do it! So often, especially in industrial or trade settings, we see emails addressed to "Gentlemen," or "Ladies,". It's common to start a meeting with "Hey guys" (trust me, I'm guilty of it as well!). It's just as easy to address emails and meetings with "Hello Everyone", or even a "Hey Y'all" if you're feeling it! One of my favorite takeaways out of my discussion with Kristy Christensen (website) was from her experience building Shesfreetobe - she indicated the importance of building a workplace that people can move through without bumping into things that tell them that they don't belong. Gender neutral language is such a great place to start!
3. On the same track as using gender neutral language is implementing gender neutral signage! Often we see "Men Working" signs around in industrial settings. Traditionally throughout history, people have used the term "Men", "Manpower", or "Mankind" when referring to all human beings regardless of their gender. However, today, more and more people consider that to be sexist. This is something that in all honesty, never used to bother me. However, constantly seeing signage in a place where I already feel out of place, that basically tells me "yes, you don't belong here" really starts to wear on me personally. As Kristy said to me - "People think these are small, but they add up to big and are subtle things telling your brain consciously and unconsciously that you don't belong". It is so simple and cost effective to replace this signage from "Men Working" to "Workers in Area", "People Working", etc. These seemingly small gestures can make big impacts on your D&I goals for you and your company!
4. PPE Availability. Those of you that know me had to know this was coming, as it's such a big thing for me! It was another highly mentioned topic when I was discussing D&I with my connections. If you want to know more about the importance of women's workwear in particular, you can Check Out this Article I wrote. However, people of all shapes, sizes, and gender struggle with finding PPE! My younger brother is basically a giant, so I know that just because I am a woman does not mean I am the only one that struggles with this! Recently, I was fortunate to sit through a presentation by Alicia Woods of Covergalls to our Women in Mining Group. She outlined the importance of proper fitting PPE, as well as the impacts of how proper clothing can make you feel. Getting to know Emily Soloby (Juno Jones) over the last couple of years has showed me a similar message as well! Proper fitting PPE is important to being able to do your job safely in many industries, but it can also impact your sense of belonging. Many companies offer their employees PPE once or twice a year, however much of it is one brand, and often in men's sizes. Often, this is because the company gets a discount for a bulk order or has a deal with that brand. But by saving a bit of money, does it cost on the D&I goals? Perhaps instead of buying employees PPE (which is nice, but not required by many companies), companies could offer a stipend or reimbursement program. Instead of spending money on PPE that may not fit an employee, companies could offer the amount that would have been spent to go towards PPE that better fits that employee. It might also be in the interest of the company to work with local stores to carry different brands of PPE, or at least have a list of suggestions of places or brands employees could look for.
5. Continued availability of remote work. The pandemic has been tough on everyone, especially companies. However, I firmly believe there is one great thing D&I related that has come from it - companies embracing remote work options. While things are starting to open back up and employees are returning to the office, keeping remote work options available for occasional or scheduled use goes a long way in improving your D&I for the company! It is probably also inexpensive for your company to do, since it's possibly already in place from the pandemic! Allowing employees to have a remote work option, whether it be scheduled or for emergency use, is a great option for companies. This helps when an employee or their child is sick. Perhaps an employee doesn't have to take a whole day off when they have an appointment, when it just takes an hour or two! The office may also be overwhelming for introverts, and they may get more done in a home office setting. Maybe an employee had a surgery or injury and has a hard time getting around your office or site. Perhaps an employee has an autoimmune disorder- and working in an office with people could cause permanent health issues. There are so many reasons to keep remote work options available for employees! Another reason, from a company perspective, is that employees are actually more productive in a remote work setting!
6. Encouraging employees and supervisors both to enhance D&I goals. Rosa Rojas Espinoza suggested including D&I goals in key performance indicators (KPI's), or yearly goals. By including these goals into performance evaluations, you are holding people accountable for leading by example. Both Rosa and Lindsey Schultz (MRC) highly suggest using employees for your D&I goals. Like I stated above, sometimes it just takes one person to start doing better, and that one person could be you! As employees (or yourself!) learn and grow, it helps you teach and advocate for others. As Lindsey says- "Just like one bad apple can spoil the bunch, a few good ones can influence radical change!" As a companies D&I goals continue to grow, these types of employees can head up mentorship programs, be a sponsor or advocate for another employee, and more! Remember- people are the reason to implement D&I goals, and people can be a major driving force of that change!
7. Acknowledging unconscious bias- and work to overcome it. This is something that everyone deals with, every day! As humans, our brains are programmed to seek out similarities. You may have even noticed a bit of unconscious bias in this article- all of the connections I reached out to help with this are all women, with most of them working in industrial type settings. In order to make this D&I article more diverse it would benefit to seek out more people in different types of work! Conquering unconscious bias is something that takes time and practice, it's important to remember that it can be difficult to see the perspectives of others that may not have had your experiences. As a first step, companies often start blinding resumes. That is a great step, but it can be time intensive and/or costly. It's in your benefit to start smaller! In my discussion with Kelly Ward she had such a great tip - react, pause, rethink. So often people just react to something then say it, do it, write it, etc. That pause and rethink step is very important! Ask yourself- is there any unconscious bias in my decision, thought, or comment right now? In the case of an interview for example, consider the reasons why you are picking a candidate. Does your brain like them because they are similar to you? Along the train of interviewing, another inexpensive and effective way to conquer unconscious bias in the interviewing stage is by having a diverse group of people be part of the interview. Yes, it can be a bit intimidating to have 6 people on an interview panel, but this can be cheaper than blinding resumes and effective in getting different opinions about a candidate. Unconscious bias is one of the most difficult components to overcome, but being open and reaching out to people different than you can really go a long way.

"React, pause, rethink" - Kelly Ward

1. Inclusive marketing, outreach, and social media. This is another cost effective way for a company to promote it's D&I goals. One of my favorite quotes is from Marian Wright Edelman - "You can't be what you can't see". I personally have used this mostly when working with younger people in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. By introducing people to different opportunities when they are young, you can accomplish a lot of your diversity goals! For example, by going to a classroom and teaching about your profession in an inclusive way, it could result in those kids wanting to go into that profession- regardless of a group they may be perceived to be in (gender, ethnicity, size, disability, age, etc). Later on, when they are searching for careers, they will already have that background to feel a bit more included! Outreach is a bit of a long-term game for the younger generations, but the same idea can be applied to college and community job fairs. I recently came across a photo (that I unfortunately can't find) but it was an advertisement for a mine that was hiring truck operators. The billboard read "If you can drive this (with a photo of a regular car), you can drive this (with a photo of a haul truck)". I absolutely love that message- it's inclusive by demonstrating that the position is open to anyone, and with such a simple message it makes people feel empowered to go for that type of job!
2. Meetings are another great way to introduce and implement D&I goals. Aside from trying to use gender neutral language, it's important to attempt to take into account people's personalities. Kelly Ward had a great idea in our discussion to possibly use post-it notes or other written forms of communication during the meeting. This allows people to get their ideas heard or seen, without having to try to talk over someone else or be heard. Often, people who tend to be more introverted are present and invited to the meetings, but may not be being heard, due to their style of participation. You can also assign agenda rolls to people to be more inclusive. Often, in large meetings, the work of a full team is assigned to the supervisor to talk about. Instead, you can assign a roll to a person who may otherwise may not be heard but may know the project topic a bit better. This can be a bit intimidating, but it is great for personal growth. Kelly also suggested utilizing team managers to stop interruptions during meetings. This is a bit easier done on virtual meetings, but even in the in-person meetings allowing people to talk without a fear of being interrupted is a great way to hear everyone's voice and ideas!

Closing

D&I is an ever evolving and improving area, and it definitely has its challenges! However, if you've made it this far in the article, I'm proud of you for taking the first steps forward! Remember that people are the major driving force of a change, and one person can make the difference. Often when starting out there doesn't need to be big grand gestures or costly maneuvers. Empowering yourself and the people around you to be more empathetic, stop and think, or changing some phrasing can really go a long way!

What are some D&I improvements that you have seen in your workplace or life? What are the D&I challenges you see moving forward? Let me know in the comments!

Further Resources:

Thank you so much to my connections for helping me research for this article! Also a big thank you to the people that helped me edit it and put it all together!

Below are some further resources that discuss the importance of D&I, statistics, and ideas for improvement! If you have access to LinkedIn Learning, there are also several great courses on there in regards to D&I!

Why women are leaving the mining industry and what mining companies can do about it - McKinsey & Company (2021)

Why is diversity and inclusion in the workplace important? - Great Place to Work (2021)

Why diverse and inclusive teams are the engines of innovation - Great Place to Work (2020)

Diversity + Inclusion - BuiltIn (2021)

16 Unconscious Bias examples and how to avoid them in the workplace - BuiltIn (2021)

What does Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mean in the workplace? - BuiltIn (2021)

Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters - McKinsey & Company (2020)