Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Corporate leaders across the nation looked at Summer 2020 as a flashpoint for their organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), as well as to building a company culture that is inclusive. Unfortunately, rather than understanding that this awareness is key to their success—as important as EBIDTA, revenue growth, profits, and all traditional measures of success—many simply took it as a “nice to have.” This short-sighted way of thinking has left some companies still looking for their footing in the DE&I space and suffering because of it. These companies are having difficulty attracting and retaining the talent needed to set up or continue their success.

The labor market and workforce have elevated the significance of social justice, making it imperative that companies move DE&I from a “nice to have” to a “must have” across all sectors and industries—a realignment that can be accomplished through thoughtful, intentional, and strategic planning and execution. Focusing on DE&I in all corners of an organization will help create an environment that precipitates a culture of mutual respect, open opportunities, and most importantly, trust.

Building culture and a workplace that truly enlivens and emboldens a DE&I strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. Although Human Resources and/or the DE&I lead play pivotal roles, the responsibility does not sit solely with them and must be the duty of everyone in the organization. How you get employees to understand this collective decree is what keeps DE&I practitioners up at night. This is why appropriate, systemic, and comprehensive planning is key; specifically, naming what DE&I means and intentionally putting processes and practices in place that will support underrepresented groups and support an inclusive workplace. Providing training, tools, and resources creates the foundation on which a successful DE&I strategy sits. Once organizations define what DE&I looks like and set up their teams for success, the culture will grow and become impactful.

At Oak View Group, we look to follow a roadmap that allows us to reach our goal as an employer of choice, which is directly correlated with a great culture. We look at where we want to go but also meet our team where they are now. Being a young and rapidly growing organization, we are at the foundational stage when discussing culture. This allows us to build something that is not just sustainable but also nimble. We look at talent acquisition, talent development, employee experiences, community partnerships, and so much more—and we attach our DE&I strategies to all.

The labor market and workforce have elevated the significance of social justice, making it imperative that companies move DE&I from a “nice to have” to a “must have” across all sectors and industries.

When we think about our hiring process, we look with intention at labor markets that will increase our exposure to qualified candidates from underrepresented communities. However, it doesn’t stop there. We intentionally (there’s that word again) have processes and practices in place that provide our new employees a sense of inclusion: sponsored memberships to organizations that focus on specific underrepresented communities, a performance and development process that not only holds everyone accountable for our culture but rewards them as well, regular review of pay equity and pay transparency, encouragement to volunteer as an individual and as an organization, and generous paid time off (PTO) that allows employees to design a positive balance for their families and their lives. We also look at benefits that support the needs of our employees through fertility coverage, mental health support, and generous parental leave.

Another way to think about building an impactful culture is to look at it from a belonging perspective. In this ever-evolving space, belonging plays the greatest role. Many practitioners believe D+E+I =B, but B actually equals DE&I. If we view our corporate culture as one of belonging, regardless of who you are or what you do, it will demonstrate that our culture values and promotes equity and inclusion. We can find the best diverse people, but if we do not work on having an environment that encourages and supports their success, then our efforts are hollow.

If there was any advice to share it would be this: to build an impactful and sustainable culture, commit to being intentional. Push through discomfort, be open to looking through a different lens, understand change is necessary, lean in, and hold each other accountable. ◆