Reinvent your Diversity and Inclusion Strategy by Changing your Corporate Language Join us for a panel of diversity and inclusion leaders as they explore the next step in enhancing D&I programs. Although many organizations that attend BEYA are making outstanding strides in honoring diversity and inclusion, we are committed to continuing to explore improvement processes and share best practices. This workshop will examine the role of language in diversity strategies. Do your corporate culture and language support effective diversity and inclusion outcomes? Learning outcomes: This seminar is designed to support leaders throughout the organization implement, assess, and enhance corporate diversity strategies At the end of this seminar, participants will be able to: a) Explore new approaches to diversity and inclusion b) Analyze case studies and best practices of effective D&I initiatives c) Explore the role of language in diversity strategies d) Identify what language/strategies attract and retain diverse talent

1. REINVENT YOUR DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION STRATEGY
By Changing Your Corporate Language

2. Agenda Slide
Why We Need New Language
Background Affects Everything
Getting the Buy In For People
Getting the Buy In for Leadership
PAUSE Language
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3. US Centric;
Race and
Gender;
Cultural
Assimilation
Corrective:
“Us vs. Them”;
EEO/AA;
Political
Correctness
Event-based;
Training
Oriented
Re-Inventing Diversity
Globalism;
Cultural
Intelligence/
Flexibility
Unconscious
Perceptions
and
Behaviors
Future
Oriented,
System-Based,
Culture Change
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4. Background
Cultural/Personal
Background
Cultural/Personal
The Anatomy of Conflict

5. Shifting from Content…
Wondering
whether we are
good people?
Understanding
the way we think!
…to Context!

6. Diversity = Productivity and Better
Decisions
“Identity diversity among intelligent people
on a team contributes more to effective
problem-solving than a team comprised of
the best-performing, intelligent people
without identity diversity.”
-Scott
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Page, NY Times, January 8, 2008

7. Fear
Excitement
Roller
coasters
are fun!
Roller
coasters
are scary!
Background
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8. Background
• Enables linguistic interpretation to take place
• Enables perceptual interpretation to take place
• Structures consciousness
John Searle
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9. Background
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10. Cultural Lens
me
10
you

11. What is Unconscious Bias?
The process by which the brain uses mental
associations that are so well-established as to
operate without awareness, or without intention, or
without control.
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Source: Project Implicit, Harvard University
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/background/faqs.html#faq2

12. 12

13. Implicit Association Test
Mazharin Banaji
Tony Greenwald
Brian Nosek

14. Unconscious Associations
Between Gender and Career
The Implicit Association Test
measures unconscious
associations in thinking.
The results show 82% of
respondents with at least a
slight automatic association of:
• Male with Science
• Female with Liberal Arts

15. The Impact of a Name
???????????
United States
Singapore
Sweden
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16. 1200 married male managers in the UK/US were asked to
evaluate two identical candidates for advancement:
Men married to women with
careers of their own select the
male and female candidates
equally
Men married to women whom are
homemakers overwhelmingly choose
the male candidate
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Fisher, Anne. “Women: Want a promotion? Find a boss whose wife has a
career.” fortune.cnn.com. Original research: Sreedhari Desai, Kenan-Flagler
Business School at the University of North Carolina.

17. Micro-Behaviors
Micro
Inequity
Micro
Advantage
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18. Formal And Informal Decisions
Matter
Discrimination is Bad,
But Favoritism goes
unchecked
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19. How Might Impact Your Informal
Decisions?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Your Go To People
Who you send to meetings
Who you talk to after meetings
Who you give plum assignments to
Who you informally mentor
Who you have lunch with
Who do you give informal feedback to

20. Buy In At The Top Is Essential
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21. Stakeholders
• Compliance Case: Legal
Issues
• Values Based: “It is the
right thing to do”
• Business Case: It will
improve the Bottom Line
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22. Discussion
Where do you lean
when you make a value
argument? How might
you improve it?
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23. Stakeholders Open Up the Systemic
Issues
• Succession Planning
• Marketing And Branding
• Sourcing and Recruiting
• Performance Evaluations
• Reward Systems
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24. Four Learnings About Bias
Bias stems from our natural
inclination to distinguish
“friend” from "foe” in order
to survive: to have bias is to
be human.
Our background and
experience create the lenses
through which we see,
interpret, and judge the
world: we see the world as
we are, not as it is.
Being busy and distracted
bends us towards making
decisions from our
past/unconscious.
Our talent management
systems and decision-making
can be riddled with bias; we
have to first see it, slow down,
and pause to make more
objective decisions.
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25. The Unconscious is Malleable
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26. Take a P.A.U.S.E.
Pay attention to what’s actually happening, beneath the
judgments and assessments
Acknowledge your own reactions, interpretations and
judgments
Understand the other possible reactions, interpretations
and judgments that may be possible
Search for the most empowering, productive way to deal
with the situation
Execute your action plan
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