There is high value in making promises to your employees & clients and keeping them! Why is there a high value in this behavior… keep reading!
In 2020, Fortune 500 organizations, healthcare systems, and educational institutions promised that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) would remain a vital component of their business goals. Organizations also stated they would intentionally focus on hiring and providing opportunities of professional growth for people of color.
To note, 2020 was a great year for DE&I consultants like myself. Professionally, I was beyond overwhelmed with the number of consultations and contract requests for organizations that desired DE&I program development and implementation.
Now that the market is oversaturated with the talk of DE&I, I am prompted to ask is DE&I still of value to organizations?
Recently, I read an article about Black Medical Students regarding the discrimination and downright maltreatment they experienced within their residencies. As I read the article, I could not help but go back to the numerous organizations that stated they would make room for Black and Brown people (specifically). As I read through the article, I did a quick Google search (Medical Schools Pledge Diversity Equity and Inclusion), and it seems that many medical schools have developed a DE&I digital footprint.
Digital footprints are good, everyone that accesses your organization digitally should know that DE&I is important to you. Recently, we consulted for a healthcare organization that wanted to increase their DE&I footprint on their social media accounts and their website. The analysis and execution of the report was great because with the analysis and suggestions we gave them, their consumer engagement increased by 175%!
Yes, this is great, and I do not want to minimize the importance of engagement and making sure your digital footprint expresses your business goals.
One reason why the organization was able to focus solely on their digital footprints is the viewpoint their employees had of the organization holistically. The staff all confirmed that the organization valued DE&I and did not only use it to acquire new clients. Would your staff say the same about your organization?
Which leads me back to my initial question, is DE&I still of value to organizations?
I would like to optimistically say, yes! Organizations desire DE&I, HOWEVER, they continue to struggle with strategic planning and execution of DE&I programming and this struggle sometimes causes them to give up.
Many wonder if they should start with employee training and development, hiring a more diverse staff, implementing DE&I Business Relationship Groups. My answer is, yes! Yes, you should start with all of these things, however, you must have a strategic development and implementation plan. Lack of planning will make organizations give up and redirect their plans while eliminating important programming like DE&I.
Has your organization made a strategic plan for your DE&I programing? If not, do you know that you are risking losing great talent and access to clients? Earlier in the article, I confirmed there is a high value in making promises and keeping them. Well, as of 2022, according to Glassdoor, over 75% of job seekers and employees make decisions regarding their place of employment based on the organizations DE&I programming (that statistic has increased by 5% from 2020).
Understanding the high value of DE&I is to job seekers and employees alike, not following through with a promise of implementation can cause negative outcomes to employers. Some of the most embarrassing outcomes that I’ve seen occur is a high caliber candidate backing out of the recruitment process.
In a nutshell, keeping your word is high value! Opting not to keep your word puts you at risk for losing employees and clients. With this being an employee market, it does not benefit your organization to lose employees, clients, or job seekers.
Did you keep your word to your employees and clients regarding DE&I? Let’s have a quick 15-minute call or Zoom session to discuss your current strategies or the direction you would like to go as it is related to DE&I. You can schedule a 15-minute assessment here: Complimentary Analysis
Alicia Coulter, MPH, MSW is the CEO & Co-Founder of Advantage Health Now. Alicia is also a Critical Race Theorist and highly sought-after equity and inclusion coach and speaker with a passion for equity and inclusion and a heart for education. Her coaching clients are women that need support from inequitable workplaces and women that want to provide support to these women. Alicia’s style of delivery as a keynote or panelist when delivering challenging topics brings a level of charisma and tenacity that encourages the audience to let down their guard. Her experience includes keynote, workshops corporate sessions, health education seminars for individuals, businesses, and more.