The business case for more diversity

 The 20 most diverse companies in the WSJ study had an average annual stock return of 10% over five years, versus 4.2% for the 20 least-diverse companies. - BRIAN STAUFFER

One of my investment banks just sent me a notice that included a link to this WSJ article. It's about the business case for more diversity. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-business-case-for-more-diversity-11572091200

The followed by saying that they now demand companies they invest in show them their EEO data and that they actively have a diverse board of directors.  They are clearly taking this very seriously.

You should too.

The Benefits of Inclusion

The biggest benefit of inclusion is improved decision making. We all have blind spots. No one knows what they don't know and they don't even know they don't know it.

Inclusion policies make sure there are enough people with enough diverse experiences in the room so that when decisions are made, they benefit from the collective knowledge of the group. 

The Challenge of Inclusion

The challenge is creative diverse yet cohesive work groups. We humans are tribal by nature and we don't like not getting our way and one of the ways we ensure that we can dominate a tribe, is by excluding the people who don't agree with us. This is often done through bullying or harassment or even passive aggressive sabotage.

This is one of the main reasons why my Certified Humanistic Leadership Professional program has so much information on how to stop bullying, harassment and discrimination, even when it's in the form of passive aggressive sabotage.  

Challenging assumptions

The problem, honestly, isn't diversity. The problem is exclusion. Even if you took a homogenous group of people, someone will still try to exclude someone else from the group.  The challenge isn't how to embrace diversity. The challenge is how to stop social exclusion. 

I teach a LOT of EEO  programs. Often, I get asked to do a diversity training. They want someone to provide information on - diverse groups of people. But that request includes an assumption. The assumption is, if we just teach people that other people are human, they will start treating each other with dignity and include them.  Spoiler: it won't.  

If you want to change the culture and you want to create an inclusive culture, then focus on teaching people HOW to be inclusive and what to do if/when someone is actively excluding a member of the team. Because, it's going to happen. 

That is why my programs are about how to stop unwanted behavior, like bullying and harassment. Bullying and harassment are done to exclude people. That's why bullies do it. If you want an inclusive culture you MUST stop the bullying otherwise you will NEVER address the root problem you have, which is that some people get power over others by excluding people from a group.

Let me help you:

Most of your staff is sick of the bullying. They are sick of the exclusion that occurs. They are terrified that they will be next. If you want to change things, hire me to teach them how to stand up and make it stop using behavioral science and compassion. Your employees will thank you.

And yes, I can provide your Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) training for you.

https://humanistlearning.com/category/bullyingharassment/