In this episode, Michelle continues discussing the top 15 myths about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), focusing on the last seven. Michelle begins by addressing the misconception that small companies can't implement DEI initiatives. She emphasizes that regardless of size, companies can engage in cultural observances, re-evaluate inclusive policies, and establish external partnerships to enhance diversity efforts. She clarifies that DEI does not pertain to politics; rather, it focuses on putting people first and fostering an inclusive environment.

She also dismisses the notion that merely having diverse individuals on leadership teams signifies a job done in DEI, stressing the need for a continued and dynamic approach to leadership diversity. She reflects upon the political resistance DEI faces, reiterating its core principle of fairness. Moreover, she talks about the over-reliance on employee resource groups and DEI task forces, advocating for an integrated DEI strategy within the organization's DNA that includes leadership accountability. Michelle concludes by encouraging organizations to persist in their DEI efforts, recognizing both challenges and opportunities for growth.

Key Topics Discussed:

• DEI Initiatives in Small Companies
• DEI and Political Perceptions
• Leadership Diversity Beyond Tokenism
• Political Attacks on DEI
• Role and Limitations of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
• Addressing Industry Diversity Norms
• Function and Integration of DEI Task Forces

So we're back with part 2 of the top 15 myths about DEI. I took you through 1 through 7 in the last episode, so I'm gonna start with number 8 here. And that is we are a small company, so we can't do anything with DEI. So this this is a a tough one for some organizations to get their head around, particularly if they're in a smaller organization that has great tenure. So you've got employees that stay for a really long time. They may feel a little bit hamstrung in what they can actually accomplish with DEI. There's a lot that you can do. And whether you're a small start up or an established small business, I would say the opportunity is equal.

Lots of things you can do including incorporating cultural observances, so providing of cultural and DEI education for everyone can be a wonderful thing. Taking a hard look at your benefits and your policies to make sure they're as fully inclusive as possible, which will also help you when you do have an opportunity to recruit someone new into your organization that you're being as attractive as an employer as possible. And then there are a lot of external efforts that you can do around philanthropy, around work within your industry. You can establish a supplier diversity program, which is a wonderful way to extend your DEI principles into how you spend your company dollars with vendors and suppliers and contractors and and even the kind of strategic alliances that you come up with. You can also park partner with academic institutions, and you can certainly partner with some of your business partners and suppliers and others that may also be part of a small business and come together as a group and pick an area of focus that you really wanna go after, which might be in community outreach or fundraising or some other kind of local support. But there are a lot of different things that you can do even as a small company. I think where a lot of this one comes from is back to number 1, which is that DI is all about recruiting. And, again, it's not.

So, you know, definitely may require a little bit of creative thinking, but there is a lot you can do here even if you're small. So don't shy away from going after DEI if you even if you're in a smaller organization. Number 9, DEI is a political issue, and we don't talk politics at work. DEI, unfortunately, has become quite politicized in the US in the last several years, but it's not about politics. DI has nothing to do with your political affiliation or how extreme you are within any realm of politics. It's really about putting people first. And I also think it's very appropriate to have an established expectation at work that you don't talk politics, but that has nothing to do with DEI. So don't forget DEI is about putting people first, about focusing on your employees, and giving everyone an opportunity to really be a part of something bigger than themselves and and be set up for success.

Number 10. We have a woman or a person of color on our leadership team, so we're in good shape. If there is an only on your leadership team, you've still got a ways to go here. And even if your leadership team is very small and they tend to be very tenured, I would encourage you to find other ways to rotate some people through or maybe have for very high profile, you know, strategic efforts that you might have kind of a task force that works with the senior leadership as a way to get some more exposure and connection there. But staying focused on those leadership ranks, especially at the most senior level, again, this may be a multi year plan that you're working on, but don't feel like just because you've got 1 woman, 1 person of color, 1 person who's disabled, 1 person who identifies as LGBTQ plus or any other diversity demographic that you've got everything sorted out. Also, you know, that one person probably will not stay forever, so you need to have a good succession plan to not just replace that that person, but have other good people in line for any other position that's on on your senior leadership team. And making sure you've got a broad set of diversity among those candidates is really important to be proactive about. Number 11, this is tied a bit back to number 9 on politics.

DEI is under attack, so it must be bad. In the US, we've had several states in the last couple of years roll back their DEI programs at public state based colleges and universities and put some other restrictions on what can be taught about DEI in secondary education and some other places. That does not mean DI is bad. It just means at the state level, they're deciding to pursue an agenda that does wanna restrict some of this in terms of how public funds are spent. But DEI done really well is really not bad for anyone. If anything, it just ensures there's great fairness and opportunity for all kinds of different people. So keep at it. Number 12.

We have employee resource groups or ERGs, so we must have DI in a great place. ERGs are wonderful for creating a sense of community, for bringing people of a particular affinity together around a common issue, for building an arm of advocacy, for creating a way for allies to get involved and support. But usually these groups, while they may and ideally do have, you know, a senior level sponsor and and people at all different levels involved in them, they tend to be more grassroots organizations with a lot of more junior employees involved. And as such, they don't have the kind of political capital or influence to drive significant change in and of themselves. The great thing to do with ERGs is to use them as sort of an innovation hub to identify instances of bias, opportunities for better education, policy change, process change, etcetera, and and have a direct link to leadership where those ideas are shared and have discussion and have an opportunity to get onto the senior leader kind of agenda and, strategies, strategic plans for the future. So I'm not by any means saying to get away with ERGs, but you can't assume that an ERG is gonna solve everything for your organization. Number 13. The state where our offices are, located has banned DEI, so we can't do this work.

As I mentioned before, there are some bans on DEI work in public universities and colleges and a couple other public institutions, but those do not go into private business. So if you are a private organization and I and as of today, they're not in public organizations as well outside of academia. You have every right to continue with the work, and your employees are very much wanting you to do this work. We've seen tons of research that continues to show very high demand for this, and that's across political lines, age groups, gender demographics, income demographics, sort of across all different slices of employees. People are really they view that this drives great engagement, that it drives great innovation, and it helps them feel like they can trust their employer because their employer is focused on their people. So, again, don't you do not need to step away from this work if your state has banned DEI in some local academic institutions. Number 14. Our industry isn't very diverse, so this is really the best we can do.

It takes a long time for industry numbers to change, especially those that have that have, you know, historically been of one specific demographic. However, that change is happening, and I'm not asking you to outpace your industry by great leaps and bounds, but it's not a bad idea to challenge yourself to, at a minimum, keep up up with your industry, but, ideally, do a little bit better than the industry and be part of a movement to support getting more diversity into your industry. Maybe you're in a STEM related field, and this is an opportunity for you to support nonprofits or go into high schools or even middle schools and volunteer to support greater exposure to STEM, those are the kinds of things that really do have a trickle down effect or trickle out effect into down the road of changing the dynamics of that of that industry industry's demographics. So, you know, I would look at that as a challenge and an opportunity to help drive change in the industry rather than a little bit of an out for not trying to do much related to DEI. And then the last one I'll cover is number 15. We have DEI task force or DEI committee, so we've got it handled. And on this one, I would say similar to ERGs, a lot of times these task forces are a little bit limited in what they're able to do. A task force or committee can be, like your g's, an outstanding way to bring lots of perspectives together in one team to get very focused on the issue and identify opportunities, challenges, different needs, barriers, you know, what's getting in the way to use that to get a lot of input from a lot of different employees.

But again, you've really got to integrate the DI work once you've established your strategy and your road map and you're pushing that forward. It's gotta be integrated into all the different parts of your business. It needs to be operationalized. It needs to be part of your DNA for that change to really happen. So I'm not saying to get rid of the task force or committee. What I'm saying is that has a purpose for a period of time, and then that needs to be rolled into, ideally, you know, first senior leaders, but then trickle down into all paper leaders should have some level of accountability for DEI. So that needs to be the long term vision for that work. So I hope between the last episode and this one, this has, helped to, debunk some myths for you and, give you some ideas on how you can continue to move DEI forward in your organization.

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 site or send us an email. You can also sign up for our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Links to everything can be found in the episode notes. This episode was produced and edited by Podgrove with podcast art by our very own Jamie Applegate.