Inclusion through Pay Equity: Data Analysis & Measurement
Pay equity in the workplace continues to receive focus due to recent legislation and awareness. Driven by national movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, California began requiring employers to file annual equal pay reports in March 2021, while Colorado’s pay transparency bill went into effect in January 2021. Pay equity is a key component of DEI strategy that will fuel a cultural transformation to eliminate workplace bias and improve hiring practices. After all, inclusion can only be achieved once employees feel [...]
The 2022 Top 8 Trends for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Across 2021, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has become more important than ever in the workplace, with HR leaders taking the initiative to drive meaningful change in their organizations. From shifts in office structures to hiring strategy, many businesses are putting DEI in the center of all their efforts. As the DEI landscape continues to evolve, we’re seeing 8 top topics emerge. If you’re looking to kick off the new year by prioritizing DEI, check out these eight trends -for 2022. [...]
We Hire Only the Best and Brightest: The Top 3 Diverse Hiring Practices
Diverse workplaces are the new normal. In fact, nearly half of American millennials say a diverse and inclusive workplace is an important factor in a job search. Though your organization may be familiar with the benefits of a diverse workforce -- from more innovation to better performance -- what’s less clear is how to actually hire for diversity. After all, reading about diversifying talent is not the same as actively assessing and reworking a candidate pipeline. No matter where you’re starting, our approach [...]
The Top Way to Jump Start Your DEI Program
If your organization is like so many others in the last several years, you have made the decision to foster more diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Though you may be quick to announce feel-good statements or launch a DEI program right off the bat, these quick-fix solutions typically don’t see any sustainable changes. Where should you start? Assess. If you’re hoping to implement long-term DEI initiatives, the first step should be determining how diverse and inclusive your business already is — and how [...]
I’m Tired Of Walking On Eggshells – Diversity Fatigue: What It Is And How To Avoid It
September 2021 update: We originally published this article in 2018, and thought it was relevant to revisit given the recent spotlight on diversity fatigue. One of the most discouraging things for a Diversity and Inclusion leader to overhear is frustration expressed that including diversity in the workplace is “too hard” or worse, that “we’ve gone too far.” The fervor around systemic racism in recent years, following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others at the hands of police officers, has certainly [...]
The Future Workplace: How to Create Inclusion in Hybrid Work
The future of work is undergoing a significant shift as offices across the country begin to reopen. The pandemic has certainly transformed the way we work, and businesses are embracing a new hybrid work model that combines remote work with on-site collaboration. This paradigm shift is the perfect opportunity for leaders to rethink and reshape culture so that it retains and maximizes diverse talent. As employees return to the office, organizations are choosing to build a hybrid workplace with a human-centered design. It’s [...]
“The Reason Our Tampa Office Gets Along So Well Is Because There’s No Diversity”
The benefits of having a diverse team in the workplace are undeniable, with greater creativity, innovation, and long-term business profits. But without an effective strategy for implementing inclusion, diversity can actually create more conflicts and misunderstandings amongst employees in your company. So how can an organization effectively reach their goal of diversity without taking a toll on their teams? One of the concerns we hear from clients when discussing a workplace diversity strategy is the risk of disrupting the status quo and affecting [...]
The Case for Inclusive Leadership
As the country reopens, businesses are grappling with the lasting impact of the pandemic on the workplace. With the rapidly changing work and home environment, some valuable populations are at risk of being left behind. Many parents are still struggling with daycare scarcity and some remote employees who relocated to the countryside may be unwilling to return to old routines. Implementing an inclusive job-crafting strategy is certainly more important than ever if you want to retain the best talent in the post-pandemic workplace. [...]
“Women Don’t Want To Be Programmers” & Other Myths Designed to Keep Us From Measuring Equity
“Women don’t want to be programmers” and other famous myths that serve as common excuses for not setting and measuring specific diversity goals. There are plenty of myths circling around about why there aren’t more women and people of color in leadership and other male-dominated roles. These excuses may even seem plausible – “That makes sense” – because they confirm common stereotypes about gendered roles and leadership traits. Remember Barbie’s famous 1992 quip, “Math class is tough!” -now a generation of men and [...]
Why We Expanded Diversity
In today’s discourse, some organizations have shifted the focus from gender equity towards a broader view of diversity and inclusion. Corporations are waking up to the call to acknowledge the intersectional identities that people bring to work each day, including race, gender, and sexual orientation. And fortunately, these efforts are complimentary. At Orange Grove Consulting, we have expanded our training programs to incorporate all kinds of diverse individuals. When we first developed our training and development programs, our work focused on the largest [...]
Corporate Anti-Racism: Time to Take Action
By Daffany Chan, featuring Neli Fanning More than ever, corporations across the country are waking up to the call to tackle systemic racism and ensure that their workforces are more diverse and inclusive. But what does a corporate anti-racist strategy actually look like? There’s no one-size-fits all approach, but one thing’s for sure: Anti-racism needs to be an intentional focus. With more demand for equitable communities as well as bottom-line-business benefits at stake, now’s the time to take action to address corporate racism. [...]
Leading Inclusively: It’s All About the 21st Century Leadership Skills
Many organizations implement a diversity program in the hopes of avoiding bad publicity, but wonder why they don’t see long-term change. They hire a VP of Diversity and Inclusion and roll out bias training – now we’re fixed, right? Yet senior leadership still looks the same -other than the VP of Diversity and Inclusion, of course, who usually checks a demographic diversity box in some way. Guess what – that doesn’t fool anyone! What’s missing is a comprehensive plan to remove barriers [...]
Mindset Shift: The First Step To Building An Equitable Workplace
Plenty of organizations want to create an equitable workplace, and yet only 18% of women say their companies have done something. (Interestingly, 51% of men think their companies have made a difference). CEOs often make the mistake of claiming they’ll “prioritize inclusivity” and thinking demanding it is enough to solve the problem. The reality is that lasting organizational impact begins with shifting mindsets. In our new book, The Next Smart Step, we outline the process for making lasting organizational change for women [...]
The Next Smart Step: How to Overcome Gender Stereotypes and Build a Stronger Organization
As the country deals with the impact of COVID-19 and social unrest over racial injustice, employers have vowed to improve diversity within their organizations. Though equity may be at the forefront for implementing change, there are many other reasons why organizations should prioritize diversity. Diversity and inclusion is good for business and implementing a training program can help organizations be more profitable, attract and retain talent, and drive innovation. Inclusive training programs are often mischaracterized as racist and divisive – and it’s important [...]
The Top 10 Excuses for Excluding People and What to Do about Them
A lack of diverse teams unequivocally hurts business innovation -- yet many firms are still using excuses to keep women, people of color, and other minority groups out of the boardroom and leadership. In our conversations with corporate leaders and talent managers, we’ve heard it all. From “Of course we want diversity, but we just don’t know how” to “Women just don’t fit in”, companies will often deflect the blame for their diversity problems. This mentality distracts people from the real culprit of underrepresentation in the workplace: unconscious biases and outdated stereotypes. Creating [...]
“Bias Blindness” as a Barrier to Inclusion
With contributions by Stacey Gordon, Rework Work As the country erupts with racial tension following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, communities and workplaces have become battlegrounds of debate. The Black Lives Matter movement and protestors seeking justice for George Floyd have been met with resistance and outrage. While what some of these responses show may not be overt racism, it clearly demonstrates the blindness of those who still believe the system is fair and that everyone is treated equally. And because [...]
How to do D&I
Times of crisis may be unsettling, but they can also be the catalyst needed for change. Since it’s unlikely that life will return to exactly how it was before the global coronavirus pandemic, there’s an unparalleled opportunity for leaders to take advantage of. This could be the black swan event that rallies us to address the diversity and inclusion issues we’ve been ignoring for far too long. After all, with organizations turning their focus on HR departments to lead during the stressful time, now’s the time to [...]
HR Leaders: How Will You Leverage COVID19 To Make Your Role More Strategic?
If you are an HR or D&I leader, COVID19 has likely redefined and REFRAMED your role in significant ways. The crisis has provided you a perfect opportunity to shift from being thought of as a “nice-to-have” cost-center to an invaluable resource for keeping the wheels on the bus for your organization. After all, overnight those initiatives like teleworking and flexible work schedules have become absolutely necessary for your organization. As has the ability to scale your workforce up and down while redefining roles [...]
Navigating #MeToo in the Workplace: Reframing Common Assumptions
By Kelly Watson Not “knowing how to act around women anymore” in response to #metoo could set men back as much as women. I heard a man recently say he “didn’t know how to act around women at work anymore,” in response to #metoo. It seems to have become a common refrain, coupled with shrugs and hands thrown in the air. Others have said they fear mentoring women or meeting with them one on one. Mike Pence has notoriously said he won’t [...]
Bring on the Male Allies: Accelerating Inclusive Organizations
By Jodi Detjen and Daffany Chan In the wake of the #Metoo movement, people are buzzing about inclusion and gender equity in the workplace. But women are still not advancing to leadership positions at the same rate as men. 1 in 6 male managers are hesitating to mentor women. The state of women in the workplace is clear: Women’s progress is stalled. So what’s an organization to do? It’s time to bring on the male allies. Male Allyship, defined as men supporting women in the workplace, can be a powerful force for change in an organization. Male allies [...]
Q&A on Strategic Gender Equality with Jodi Detjen
Orange Grove Consulting Managing Partner Jodi Detjen was recently quoted in a Boston Globe article about getting women into the top ranks of leadership. In the article, Jodi says that, “commitments to increase leadership consist of, say, sending employees to the Massachusetts Conference for Women. Instead, firms should be taking a more strategic approach, such as revamping performance reviews and tracking promotions by gender.” In the following Q&A, Jodi elaborates further on how organizations can take a more strategic approach to gender equality. Q. How do you revamp performance reviews? A. Jodi Detjen When we [...]
Women Can Have it All: 10 21st C. Skills for Success
By Jodi Detjen, written in conjunction with the Third Path Institute. Why do women find work-life balance so hard? Why is “having it all” such an elusive quest? Why haven’t women yet reached equality in the leadership ranks? Many professional women on the pursuit of career success identify themselves through their work, abandoning their own needs and exhausting themselves in the process. After time spent on this path, many women might reach burnout and begin to opt out of their career. But the truth is that [...]
Ready to Be a Male Ally? Try Looking Through These “Ally Lenses”
As we launch our Male Allyship survey, we wanted to present a male point-of-view on the topic. We turned to one of our diversity partners, Eric Ratinoff, to share his view of Male Allyship, and what he thinks men can do to support women in the workplace. Ready to Be a Male Ally? Try Looking Through These "Ally Lenses" By Eric Ratinoff If you’re ready to become a better ally for women in your workplace, the Internet is loaded with recommendations of specific [...]
Women-Only Leadership Training: Why it Matters
One piece of the gender parity puzzle that we concentrate on at Orange Grove Consulting is women’s leadership development. The most common response we receive: “Isn’t separating out women exclusive and unfair? Men don’t get that opportunity.” I recently spoke at the Society for Women Engineers’ annual conference. Engineering is extremely male-dominated (only 18 – 20 % of engineering students are women). But being at this conference — surrounded by 12,000 other female engineers — was empowering. For the first time in their careers, many women experienced connectedness rather than [...]
Dispelling the Top 5 Myths About Women in the Workplace
By Kelly Watson and Jodi Detjen Myths are stories we believe are true but are in fact not. In our research, and work with companies and women, we’ve consistently found that women are being held back because of myths. These assumptions keep women from advancing in their careers and in the leadership pipeline. We want to shift that. From their capabilities to their ambitions, check out the common assumptions that women face in the workplace and ways to reframe them. Myth #1: Women [...]
