Rubber, meet road

Do more. With less.

That’s what we’re all being told right now. Budgets are being slashed. Lay-offs continue to spread, in many cases decimating DEI, Learning, and HR Teams. Uncertainty reigns.?

So how do you proceed forward? For managers & leaders, how do you lead through a recession? For DEI & ERG leads, how do you drive impact on a shoestring and not undermine the work that’s been done so far? And at the highest level - how do you attempt to foster a resilient, inclusive culture that helps your company survive (or thrive?) in the face of challenges the lie ahead?

We ran a poll recently asking “where is it harder to drive impact on a budget?”:

1. Learning & Leadership?
2. DEI & ERGs
3. Culture?

The results were split. So safe to say - all of it. It’s not necessarily the money. It’s the resourcing. In many cases teams are not asked to cover multiple new roles, they’re pulled in many directions at once, and they’re often left scrambling. Inch deep, mile wide.?

It’s not a position anyone wants to be in, but it’s the position we’re all finding ourselves in. We’ve been hearing it on every call, in every conversation. “We’re bracing - and we don’t really know what, or for how long.” Some have said it feels like the beginning of COVID, others have referenced 08/09, and still others say this is entirely new.

We want to tackle these questions with you. Over 3 weeks we’re bringing in leading workplace experts, pioneers in these areas, and a range of your peers and colleagues to crowdsource, problem solve, and share the practical, actionable steps you can take today.?

How we lead our teams, the skills we’re focused on transferring to our managers, and the empathy & transparency we show as leaders to build a culture rooted in trust & inclusion is critical at this moment. It may even be the key to survival. We know that best-in class modern leaders understand the strong link between inclusive cultures & the bottom line. This is where the rubber meets the road.??

When things get challenging,? the answer isn’t command & control. It’s helping teams see what’s most important and enabling them with the tools they need to be effective. That’s how you build a resilient culture. People often think that culture is written down. It’s not. It is evolving, and it is intimately tied to strategy & purpose. It is how we get work done.?

You’re not in this alone. If you’re finding out about lay-offs, reviewing tight budgets and wondering how you’ll get anything done, or generally stressed about the direction of your org, we invite you to join us. Together, we’ll build solutions you can take to work tomorrow.?

We’ll cover each of these areas - leadership & learning, DEI & ERGs, and culture - in their own session, but all address the many ways in which they’re connected and interdependent. You can register for all 3 events here, and if you have questions you know you’d like to ask, please feel free to share with us!?

For all our friends celebrating Thanksgiving, we wish you a happy, healthy holiday! We’ll be off next week - see you in December!

What we’re reading:

• The decline of work
• Great CHROs are hard to find
• Why are bosses so miserable?
• How to create mattering at work?
• Disputes over flexible work is on the rise?
• A workplace that works for all personality types?
• Lack of internal mobility is driving talent out the door
• Your boss is over hybrid. How to keep your flexibility?
• Leading off: a guide to strengthening workplace connections
• Revive, rethink, and redesign work to thrive in the new normal?
• We need to tell diversity stories to drive sustainable inclusion