Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

If I have said it once, I have said it 11 million times…diversity is one of the most misunderstood things in the world.  It is misunderstood in the world of business, in media, in law, in education, in community and government.  What diversity is and what the associated value is are both horribly misunderstood.

Many things contribute to the confusion, but obviously part of it is on us as practitioners and the fact that our language, framework and message have not always been properly aligned, integrated, business oriented and evidence based.  A lot of this can be addressed in the training and development content that we develop and deliver. 

I am not a big believer in “best practices” but I do think that there are some general principles that can be valuable in framing our work:

It is time for us to take the word “diversity” back. Diversity comes with baggage.  This is party of the reason why there is a good chance of eye rolling when we suggest “diversity training” at work.  The word “diversity” has been hijacked and treated poorly.  For some people it has come to mean race relations, quotas, affirmative action, preferential treatment, etc.  This has created a tendency for D&I practitioners and business leaders to shy away from the word.  I have also done this from time to time.  We should stop doing this.  Diversity is a big, beautiful, powerful word and we should take it back.

Diversity is about leadership (not compliance).  Compliance related education has its role, but what we do should be clearly delineated from compliance.  D&I work is essentially about developing and supporting leaders that are willing and able to take ownership for an organizational or community culture.  Diversity and inclusion training and programming are to a large degree leadership development and should be framed as such.   

Be serious about it. Personal, professional and group development related to issues of diversity and inclusion should exist on multiple levels within your organization, with overlapping and consistent messages, definitions and expectations:

• The foundation:  What D&I mean for your organization and what your organizations commitment to D&I is, should be a consistent theme woven throughout the employment branding / interviewing / hiring process, conversations and materials.
• The basics:  D&I should be a foundational component of any and all on-boarding / orientation program…should be spending at least a couple of hours on it.
• The core:  There should be a serious D&I program that every employee be required to experience every 2-3 years.  This program should be at least a half day, preferably a whole day and off-site.  This program should be designed for groups of 35 or less and should be facilitated by 1-3 experienced facilitators with extensive D&I, facilitation and dialogue experience.  Senior leaders need to be accountable for making sure each of their employees participates.
  
• Leadership:  Senior leaders should also participate in an annual workshop or retreat that focuses on D&I at the strategic level and includes a review of leaderships progress toward goals.
  
• Special topics: On a monthly or quarterly basis use lunch ‘n learns, webinars, podcasts or other formats to introduce or examine specific diversity related issues, such as; generational diversity, glass ceiling, working parents, gender identity, differences in work style, differences in communication style, etc.
  

All programs should:

• include a review of what diversity is
• include a review of why diversity is valuable to your organization
• include a review of what your organizations commitment, goals and resources invested are
• be evidence based (always, always, always ask “What is the science/evidence that supports what we are saying?”
• be actionable (always, always, always, ask “What does this mean when we go back to work?”  Making something actionable is easier if you design with specific business objective, performance objectives, and learning objectives (awareness, learning, skills) in mind.

I think that keeping these guidelines in mind will help us all make sure we avoide the Micheal Scott way of “diversity training.”

Be good to each other.