In this episode, Michelle discusses the unique challenges and opportunities of advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the hourly workforce. Addressing the common misconception that DEI is only for corporate settings, Michelle advocates for bringing these efforts into field-based environments like retail stores, distribution centers, and call centers. She talks about the tremendous positive impact that thoughtfully implemented DEI programming can have on retention, engagement, and productivity, even among large, dispersed hourly teams.

Michelle also shares actionable strategies for leaders looking to embed DEI across their organizations, regardless of employee location or access to technology. She talks about the importance of listening directly to frontline workers, tailoring programming to meet their needs, and finding creative ways to deliver both formal and informal DEI education. Michelle also offers practical tips—like using QR codes, implementing recognition programs, and fostering two-way communication between corporate and the field—to ensure all employees feel valued and included.

Michelle. I'm Michelle Pfefferman, founder and CEO of.

EquityAtWork, and this is your DEI minute, your go to podcast for leaders looking to navigate the ever evolving landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Whether you're just starting out with DEI or looking to sustain your long term successes, each episode will provide you with actions you can take to move DEI forward at your organization. All in 15 minutes or less.

Before we get started, this is Michelle.

Pfefferman and I'm really excited to let you know that my new book, Do DEI Write is now available.

This is your guide to the Equity at Work maturity model, which shows leaders.

How to make DEI part of every day and drive great results. You can get your copy through the.

Link in the show, show notes or wherever books are sold. Hi. So in this episode I want to do a little bit of a deep dive into DEI and the hourly workforce. We find so many times that people think of DEI as purely a corporate initiative, something that's only for the corporate office, that it's not something that's feasible or viable to bring out into the field. Whether you be a retailer with a lot of stores, whether you've got, you know, logistics, distribution centers and service centers, call centers, or some other sort of field based operation. And I really, really like challenging that thinking because we have worked in a number of environments where we have brought DI into the hourly workspace where really like 99% of the employees are hourly. And it has had a tremendous impact. So I'm constantly encouraging people that have workforces out in the field to make this a priority, get creative and figure out how to make it happen.

The struggle of this, of course, is it's an hourly workforce. So how do you get time off the floor for people? You know, a lot of times people aren't, they don't have computers to be in front of. So how do you get things to them on through other methods without interfering with their personal time? How do you set expectations around participation when local managers may feel like they need to be able to, you know, constantly pull people based on demand, pull them out of some of those commitments and your workforce in the field may be incredibly large. You know, some people have 90 plus percent of their workforce out in the field, so that can feel like a huge investment of time and money. But I still believe to my core that it is possible, that there are ways to do this, and the benefit there is just tremendous. So where we have implemented programming, even if it's very light kind of training programming or education around DEI holidays, observances, or community practices and outreach that are kind of combined with DEI principles and values for that organization. We've seen a huge uptick in retention, in engagement and in productivity. And that's even when you're taking people off the floor, you're still seeing some of those buildings where we're doing that be the most productive buildings in their entire system.

So it's really incredible. We've also seen retention, I mean, skyrocket for some of these organizations where typically you'd flip an entire building in a year, two years, that you've still got the majority of the workforce there, many years over. And they've gone and recruited their friends, maybe family members, others from their community because they feel seen and heard and valued as individuals. They're not just there to be a cog in the wheel, a person on the production line, someone to deal with customer service issues, but they're seeing that the company is investing in them. So some of the best ways to figure out what's going to be most valuable to your field organization is, you know, start with your heads of those organizations. You know, you might have an SVP of stores or regional managers or heads of facilities, get out, do some listening tours, do surveys, talk not just with the managers, but really with the frontline employees, and understand, you know, what kinds of things could be helpful to them, what would make their job more rewarding, what would make them feel supported, what are things they want to learn more about, what are skills they want to develop, what are behaviors that are really hard for them to manage in others or get feedback onto others, or, you know, are there policies and processes that would really go a long way in improving their work life that also, that may not have been thought of by people in corporate because they just don't have that same experience or don't have that same perspective. So I would definitely start there. Then in terms of programming, you know, we've rolled out workshops to educate people on what DEI really means, to brainstorm what is a rallying cry related to DI for their facility or their, you know, that store, that part of the organization, what are some of the things that are most meaningful to them in terms of where to integrate dei? So a lot of them go right to recruiting, onboarding and training.

Some really like, you know, cultural events and observances, and they want to use that to highlight different employees in their organization who come from those cultures or have something really amazing to contribute. So we've done a lot of that. We've also done a lot of really fun engagement activities as ways to sort of do a little bit of light education and team building at the same time. So using inclusion bingo or using creating a Jeopardy game or doing a word match or doing, you know, some other kind of contest. We've even done things where we have had people go out and do a competition on with accountability buddies on, you know, how can we practice some of these principles around di most effectively with our teams and our colleagues and our peers and our bosses and come back and report out and really celebrate everything everyone's doing and, and provide incentives or prizes or rewards to people who are really just going above and beyond in how they role model or how they drive engagement or the things that they're practicing themselves. I also find that a lot of the folks in these roles really want to help advocate for others and it's a wonderful thing to be able to capture that and then really follow through and deliver on it. So they may have visibility into, let's say there's a, a workspace that is predominantly male, but more women are wanting, are applying and wanting to get into that. But the application process doesn't sort of rules them out or you know, some of the assumptions about what would be needed in terms of ability to handle machinery or lift a certain weight of goods or things like that that would automatically rule a woman out as a candidate.

And you've got people that are advocating for that and saying, you know, we've got to create more types of job descriptions and more variety there. We've got to change the language in them so people feel more inclined to apply. We need to have different kinds of workstations that are set up ahead of time for people of different heights and weights and strength and even physical abilities. And that's a great thing to also advocate for candidates who are disabled and might need some kind of accommodation. If you can do that ahead of time, that's a wonderful way to get them engaged from day one. So amazing ideas can come out from the field organization. Oftentimes they're also, you know, especially in retail, they are the ones on the front line with your customers. So you can get terrific feedback there.

So doing things that bridge between the field and corporate are terrific because that helps you as a corporate person gather that information and then also get a two way line going where you're sharing back what you've heard and what you're implementing. Creating ways to do tests and trials that engage the hourly workforce and help them feel like they're part of something bigger than just you know, the building they're clocking into or the retail store that they're, you know, helping to run or serve customers in for that shift. Those are tremendous ways to build engagement and get great innovation coming out of the field. Additionally, I think it's hard for corporate leadership to really stand up and say, you know, we're all in on DI and this is what we really value, and then not make those programs available at the hourly level. Your hourly employees, they may not work in the corporate office, but they will see those messages, they'll hear it, and they'll feel like they've been disregarded. And that goes a long way in driving people out of your organization, to be honest, to feel like they just, you know, they don't matter as much. They're just a cog in the wheel and they're not valued. So going that extra mile will, you know, really create great connection, provide you great insights and you'll get huge benefit out of it.

Another thing that I really love is people that have gone around and done, you know, different spotlights that are tied to behaviors in di, you know, that somebody's like really a master at inclusive leadership, or someone's really terrific at giving feedback, or someone's really great at coaching and mentoring people different than them and letting those people get spotlighted and let them then sort of lead some training on that skill or that behavior and get to feel like they're part of, you know, driving major change in terms of, you know, this sort of conundrum around, you know, how do we afford to take people off the floor? I think there are also very creative ways to do that. You could do something very short and targeted over a 30 minute period. Maybe you bring in lunch and do it over that time. So then you're providing lunch and you're, you know, you're kind of doing two things at that same time, which is also a treat. And it's a way to socialize and have people interact and network with each other while they're learning. You can certainly provide things that are posted around the buildings or provided in text messages, make those optional to read. You know, you don't want to have to mandate that people are using their personal devices off hours for company work, but just, you know, providing just really simple ways for people to explore where they're curious if they want to learn more. We had one client that rolled out putting little table toppers on in their breakout rooms with QR codes that would link to a site that had every month, sort of the monthly DI celebration or holiday with information.

It would profile some of their workers that were of that affinity. Some local community impact opportunities, a little bit of history, but something you could read and, you know, three, four minutes if you were interested. It was not required, not mandatory, but was available to anyone who wanted to access that information. They could access it with a tablet, with a cell phone. Really easy to get to the information. Same information would be posted around the building for anyone who wanted to read. Providing suggestion boxes, just things that are, you know, don't require a lot of time, but create that connection. In closing, don't forget about your hourly workforce.

They odds are there the ones driving the majority of your revenue. They're the ones on the front, front lines with your customers. They're making, you know, the rubber meet the road for your business. And they deserve to be heard, they deserve to be valued. They deserve the benefit of this education and training and other information that you're providing. It will make them better employees. It will make them more engaged, more excited to come to work. And there's a huge benefit to them and to the organization in total for that.

And that's a wrap.

I'm Michelle Bogan and that's your DEI minute for today. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. And don't forget to leave us a review. If you ever have questions, please visit our website or send us an email.

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This episode was produced and edited by Podgross with podcast art by our very own Jamie Applegate.