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Leveraging diversity, equity and inclusion to drive high performing teams



I realised in my last newsletter that I jumped back into your inbox without giving any context to my absence.

 

How rude of me!

 

I don’t really have an excuse other than work got extremely busy (yay) which meant that I had to prioritise other things (boo).

 

I’ve got a lovely team supporting me again, which has meant I have had some space and capacity to re-start these monthly newsletters again.

 

In my time away, I have also been pondering about the impact I want my business to have on the workplace. Previously my passion and purpose has been fully centred on driving gender equity: Supporting women (leaders and aspiring leaders) to create prosperous and purposeful careers, aligned to their own versions of success (not what society deems to be successful) and careers that take them closer to living life in a way that they can only dream of.

 

And this is still as important to me now, than it’s ever been. But what’s been clear to me is, there is so much more value and impact I can have when I focus on the layers around those women. The upper leadership. Organisations as a whole. Workplace culture. The different spheres of diversity, equity and inclusion that hold so many people back.

 

Driving shifts in those areas means the ripple effect is much larger. It’s effectively changing the environment for women and other marginalised groups to thrive.

 

I am seeing so many linkages between diversity, equity and inclusion and high performance; Leaders, teams and organisations that truly value D,E and I and utilise this as a golden thread in their culture and everything they do (rather than stand alone functions). I’m going to make every effort to break down my learnings bit by bit, and share these with you in future newsletters.

 

The big news in the industry recently was that Microsoft has shut down their entire D,E and I team claiming “changing priorities”. Now, leaving the leaked senior leader email aside (do people not learn?!) I have to say that I am not against this move.

In the wake of Black Lives Matter movements across the world in 2020 - big companies moved quickly to set up D, E and I teams led by chief diversity officers. What we’ve seen over the last 4 years is there has been a huge amount of churn in these roles and as people have left, they haven’t been replaced.


The challenge with having D, E and I teams as separate from other areas of the business, is that you are ‘separating’ the teams and initiatives (which is ironic given the nature and focus of these teams!). D, E and I is most impactful when it is utilised and valued as an ‘unlocker’ for strategic priorities and goals. When it is linked to unlocking high performing traits and characteristics in individuals, teams and entire organisations.

 

I also believe that until we see huge progress across industries in these areas, that there has to be a linkage and connection as part of the performance management process. Senior leaders have to be goaled and evaluated against how diverse their teams are, the inclusive culture they are creating and how this links to key employee metrics such as engagement and belonging, how they are supporting their teams as individuals and giving them what they need in order to create equity. I don’t believe in quotas per se. But until there is real change, leaders have to have some ‘skin in the game’.

 

What I sometimes see as a barrier to leaders driving more D, E and I in their teams is that it almost seems too huge. How can one individual tackle something as big as inequality? Especially when many of the issues are systemic and societal. If you feel like that, then I want to say you are absolutely not alone. As a leader you can have a HUGE impact and drive real sustained changes within your team - because we all know people never leave jobs they leave bosses.

So here are some (relatively) easy to implement tips to utilise diversity, equity and inclusion to create a high performing team culture:

 

  • ·      Implement systems and processes that allow everyone’s voice to be heard and taken into account in decision making

 

Example: This could be a project review and feedback on what went well, what didn’t and what could be done differently next time.

 

  • ·      Assess the development needs of each individual in your team

 

Example: Review and discuss with each team member, what do they need from you in order to get them closer to their goals? Block your diary to ensure you are prioritising this.

 

  • ·      Foster an inclusive culture where everyone feels they can openly and honestly communicate with each other and improve as individuals and a team

 

Example: Seek feedback wherever you can to create a two way feedback culture. Be open to change and grow based on the needs of your team.

 

I’d love to know any of your challenges around diversity, equity and inclusion either within your organisations or team and perhaps I can cover some of these in future newsletters…

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