Action Four: Become an I&B Champion

Inspired by participating companies in the Expanding Equity network, this post is the final of four posts in a series lifting up actions leaders and organizations can take to accelerate inclusion and belonging in the workplace. (See WKKF’s Inclusion & Belonging Guidebook for more how-to information.)

Exhibit 1: Four action areas for improving workplace inclusion and belonging

Role modeling is critical to any successful culture change effort, and it can significantly influence both positive and negative behaviors among colleagues, on teams and at organizations. To build a more inclusive culture, companies need leaders throughout the organization to genuinely champion and demonstrate the new attitudes, behaviors and ways of working. Employees are looking to their leaders to validate (or invalidate) any effort to shift the culture. A lot of organizations have value statements, but they only mean something when you can feel or sense it in an organization.

So, if inclusion or belonging is a value, it’ll be reflected (or not) in the day-to-day, person-to-person actions of leaders at the organization. How inclusive, welcoming and respectful are they? The overarching culture builds (or erodes) from those daily, interpersonal interactions with all workers.

It is important that companies intentionally recruit and cultivate inclusion and belonging champions. You could start by including a question on a pulse survey asking the staff to name the most inclusive leaders at your organization. The next step would be to try and identify leaders who could possibly play a more active role in the organization’s inclusion and belonging efforts.

For example,

• Sponsoring one of the organization’s racial/ethnic Employee Resource Groups (ERGs);
• Participating in focus groups and 1:1 conversations designed to better engage with, learn from, and respond to frontline employees; or
• Joining a task force focused on assessing and closing pay and benefit gaps for employees across the organization.

Inclusive leadership programs, which DEI champions at your organization could help to develop and lead as well, are a way some companies have attempted to answer those questions and provide the support people leaders need to better support the DEI efforts of the organization. Finally, it is worth noting that White men in particular play an integral role in inclusion and belonging efforts overall.

1. White men hold a substantial share of leadership positions (from senior leaders to middle managers to frontline supervisors) at organizations so the workplace culture is often tied directly to how they show up day-to-day.

2. While every worker, including White men, wants to feel like they belong in an organization, the culture at most organizations tends to be more white and male, so it’s more important for White men to make people of color and women and others feel included than vice-versa.

3. It is imperative that organizations listen and answer questions from their White male leaders about this inclusion and belonging work, what’s expected of them and what’s in it for them. It doesn’t mean they don’t get it, some of them just don’t know how to do it, which is understandable.

The world of work is changing rapidly and White men need to change with it. But inclusion and belonging work goes both ways; organizations want White men to model it, and HR and senior leadership need to do the same by reaching out and working with White men to leverage their allyship in this work.

What the Evidence Says

Traditionally marginalized groups often bear the burden of championing workplace DEI initiatives, and companies can intervene to share the load with a broader group of leaders.

One study from a few years ago revealed that those doing the most work on DEI efforts were more likely to identify as people of color, women or the first in their families to attend college. This can lead to increased levels of burnout from groups who may not get recognized or rewarded for doing DEI work. Moreover, it is traditionally majority groups, namely White men, who have the greatest impact on the culture of an organization, and therefore, the most responsibility for changing it to be more welcoming, inclusive and supportive.

However, engaging more leaders in driving workplace inclusion can be challenging, depending on the organizational context. White people do not always see themselves as part of diversity efforts and tend to view the topic as exclusionary rather than inclusionary. Additionally, the presence of organizational diversity initiatives has been shown to cause White employees to feel less respected and valued, and nearly 70% of White men report believing they have been “forgotten” by DEI efforts.

Nonetheless, the majority of senior positions in organizations are often held by White men and the fact that White male executives and managers are less likely to be penalized for championing diversity compared to women and people of color, means that organizations must engage them as potential champions for inclusion and belonging. Furthermore, while engaging more leaders as DEI champions, organizations should be thoughtful about creating opportunities for leaders to visibly champion DEI initiatives so that all employees feel collectively supported by their leaders.

Exhibit 2: Most employees do not believe that their coworkers act or speak out in support of underrepresented groups

A significant share of employees don’t believe that their coworkers speak out or take a stand in support of underrepresented groups (Exhibit 2), and the highest share is among Blacks and Hispanics. These statistics highlight the opportunity for all leaders to support the organization’s DEI priorities and more so their colleagues of color.

Organizations can engage a broader array of leaders through a variety of initiatives, including change networks, leadership cohorts, inclusion councils and allyship groups. Companies might consider incentivizing leaders to champion inclusion and belonging by emphasizing that these are the qualities the organization is looking for in people leaders, incorporating select inclusion and belonging-related competencies into performance reviews, and recognizing and rewarding leaders who significantly contribute to improving workplace inclusion.

I & B champions can be drivers of an organization’s culture change efforts and it’s important to get them on board, trained and activated as soon as possible in order to build a more inclusive organizational culture where all workers feel like they belong.

Putting it Into Action:

These Expanding Equity companies are developing champions for inclusion and belonging.