Seven Tips to Succeed at Hiring Diverse Talent

As the value of diversity and inclusion becomes ever more recognized within and across organizations, the push for diverse hiring is growing, too. Of course, there has never been positive momentum that didn’t meet resistance, and the task of diverse hiring is no exception. It’s high time we debunked the myths around diverse hiring and explored the best way for an organization to succeed at this goal!

1. Redefine “Diverse Hiring”

Many of us have heard the term “diverse hiring” used in a derisive manner, usually an attempt to discredit the process. Some people associate “diverse hiring” with “unqualified hiring” or “lowering the bar,” perhaps believing that No way should anyone of lower skills or abilities be given preference to those of higher abilities based on gender, race, or beliefs! When such a misunderstanding occurs, perhaps the resulting resistance makes sense. But this association is a false equivalency, as diverse hiring is not tokenism or filling a quota with whatever diverse candidates are available. Consider this definition from Ideal instead:

“Diversity hiring is hiring based on merit with special care taken to ensure procedures are free from biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance.”

In other words, diverse hiring might be thought of as a bias extraction! By ensuring diverse candidates will not have their diverse traits held against them, the hiring process inherently becomes more equitable.

2. Go Against One’s Own Bias

This step may seem obvious, but it doesn’t make it any less critical! We must keep in mind that people tend to hire those who fit the image of themselves, though such an instinct is often unconscious. To combat this bias, we should remind ourselves and others involved in the hiring process to look for complementary skills sets among the candidate pool (rather than unwittingly pursuing sameness).

3. Remember the “Two in the Pool” Effect

The Harvard Business Review determined that when the final candidate pool for a position has only one individual from a marginalized community, their chance of being hired is statistically zero, despite the candidate being as qualified as their fellow finalists. However, such a conclusion is not all doom and gloom! HBR also calculated that “[i]f there are at least two female candidates in the final candidate pool, the odds of hiring a female candidate are 79 times greater. If there are [at] least two minority candidates in the final candidate pool, the odds of hiring a minority candidate are 194 times greater.” By having at least “two in the pool,” the hiring process again becomes more equitable, and it helps ensure diverse candidates won’t be dismissed unconsciously because of their diversity.

4. Stop Aspiring to Hire the Unicorn

Successful hiring often means taking an objective approach, not aiming for an “ideal” candidate. While many of us would love to employ the titular unicorn who meets every exact qualification, the fact of the matter is that such a person… Well, they don’t always exist. It is thus worth looking critically at the relevant job description: Does this position really require a master’s degree? Does this position really need to be full-time? And so on and so forth! This step is particularly relevant to diverse hiring; research suggests that the content and wording of job descriptions can dissuade diverse candidates from applying because they don’t consider themselves to be the “unicorn” who meets every listed qualification.

The next step, then, is to address this dilemma of phrasing!

5. Be Intentional with Inclusive Language in the Job Posting

While it is critical we stop searching for unicorns, we must also ensure job descriptions aren’t written in a manner where only this hypothetical unicorn feels equipped to apply. After reevaluating the contents of a job description, there are numerous resources available online to help one write an equitable, unbiased job posting; Textio, for example, helps eliminate gender-biased terms. In a similar vein, these revised job descriptions should be made more available to diverse candidates, such as being uploaded to sites like Jopwell and Include.io.

6. Balance the Team

To continue our theme of looking past the unicorn, another critical step of diverse hiring is broadening our mindset toward a candidate’s “value.” “Value” is a fluid term, and yet it is often interpreted narrowly to mean looking at what a candidate can supply solely to the exact role for which they are potentially being hired. Now, such an examination is important; no one denies this. But we must also look at the value a hire can bring to the team as a whole, and diversity is a critical component of that value. The fact of the matter is that diverse teams are more creative and more productive, meaning a lack of diversity in our teams is a gap we want filled!

Furthermore, balancing a team through diverse hiring cannot stop at the lowest levels of an organization. When considering an individual for a promotion, such as to management, the overarching value of a candidate’s diversity should follow them; for example, “being a member of an underrepresented minority… [means] that person is more likely to be able to manage a multicultural team effectively,” which is an excellent skill for a team manager to have.

7. The Healthy Circle

The best part of recruited and retained diverse hiring? It generates a positive feedback loop. Forbes puts it well:

“[T]he more diverse talent you already have, the easier it will be to attract additional diverse talent, and the more likely it is that the diverse talent that you hire will feel valued and contribute more to the success of your company.”

Once effort is put into diverse hiring, it is a process that will sustain itself, which is all the more reason why taking the metaphorical plunge is worth it. Remember, diverse hiring is not about filling a quota with unqualified individuals. It is about taking action to remove systemic barriers that prevent diverse candidates from making the final cut or even applying in the first place.

Lastly, let us conclude with a three-pronged approach to addressing the argument that “diversity hiring means lowering the bar”:

• Take a deep breath, then ask the resistant party why they associate “diverse” with “unqualified.” Point out that these terms are not synonyms, and that they are certainly not interchangeable. Are they implying an employee might be unqualified because of their diversity? Such an equivalence cannot be made, because an employee can easily be both diverse and technically-qualified at the same time—these traits are not mutually exclusive.

• Ask the person voicing this concern if or why they’re thinking of diversity in terms of tokenism. Because it is true that employers have an obligation to understand the distinction between true diversity and tokenism when they are hiring! But if an organization is hiring diverse employees solely for superficial purposes, any issues that arise fall on the employer’s shoulders, not those of the diverse employees. Furthermore, diverse hiring does not equal tokenism, and such a distinction must be made clear.

• Remind the resistant individual that our world is naturally diverse. If society was free of bias, diverse hiring would not be necessary, because diversity would automatically be reflected across employees. But society isn’t free of bias, which is why homogenous organizations predominate. We must directly address this bias through diverse hiring to level the playing field, thus allowing diversity to foster naturally, as it always should have been.

Diverse hiring means inclusive, equitable employment. Diverse hiring means choosing individuals who are qualified and bring unique value to an organization. Diverse hiring means fostering an environment that reflects the stunning, multicultural world we live in. In my mind? No goal could be more admirable for an organization to pursue.

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization.

Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.

What Business Can Learn From the Courts For Combating Unconscious Biases

Unconscious bias is a term that has an increasing presence in conversations of diversity and inclusion. In simplest terms, unconscious bias refers to biases an individual holds that they are not typically aware of, hence the designation of “unconscious.” Remember, unconscious bias is a universal issue! “Results of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) taken by millions of people show that 75 [%] of test-takers have a pro-white bias,” for example. In other words, we aren’t navigating these challenges alone. But because so many of us don’t realize we have these biases, unconscious bias can tremendously impact the ways in which we navigate society. Sometimes, these situations may be life or death. Consider: unconscious bias in the courtroom, particularly amongst juries.

Unconscious bias in courts of law can present itself in many ways, including racial bias, gender bias, ableism, religious bias, and more. Racial bias is the most pervasive, with numerous studies documenting its presence in jury decisions. One study found that when mock jurors were presented information about a masked gunman, some shown photos of a man with light skin and others shown a man with dark skin, they were more likely to determine the dark-skinned man to be guilty than the light-skinned man based on the same evidence. Other studies support this evidence of implicit racial bias, demonstrating that “[w]hite juries in criminal trials are more likely to convict Black and Latinx defendants than white defendants on similar facts.”

Implicit bias in courts of law is not exclusive to juries, of course; a study suggests that lawyers tend to view female judges less favorably than male judges, interpreting their behavior as either too masculine for a woman or not masculine enough to fit the expectations of a historically-male position. Judge Mark W. Bennett outlines some of the most common ways unconscious bias can present itself in the courtroom:

• Implicit biases affect [a] client’s choice of lawyers.

• Unique caseload pressures, combined with implicit biases, may result in initial [prejudiced] evaluations by lawyers, such as public defenders, which impact future case decisions in significant and potentially undesirable ways.

• Implicit biases unknown to prosecutors may dramatically affect prosecutorial discretion in undesirable ways.

• Implicit biases affect lawyers’ evaluations of judges.

• Implicit bias affects jurors’ memories, their interpretation of ambiguous evidence, and the presumption of innocence in ways often averse to minorities.

Because juries are the ones with the ultimate power to determine a verdict, most concentration toward the effects of implicit bias falls upon them. Simply put, unconscious bias can drastically color jurors’ evaluations in the courtroom, from how they interpret a lawyer’s capability (e.g. believing white litigators to be more capable than litigators of color) to how they judge the credibility of a witness (e.g. dismissing the testimony of a Black individual because Black communities are stereotyped as being less trustworthy than white communities). As a result, unconscious bias can dangerously sway a jury’s verdict in life-or-death situations; past studies have shown that juries are more likely to sentence Black individuals to death for a murder conviction, particularly when the victim was white. Those results are especially frightening when considered in tandem with the aforementioned fact that Black defendants are more likely to be convicted than white defendants on the same evidence, meaning an innocent Black person is more likely to receive a guilty verdict as a result of unconscious bias.

Because unconscious bias can unwittingly be the deciding factor in jury verdicts, including those of life or death, it is critical that the legal system enlighten individuals on these biases. Fortunately, steps are being taken, and while not foolproof, these strategies are moving the courts in the right direction:

1. Increasing Awareness

Seeing as many people have never heard of unconscious bias, the first step is educating jurors on what unconscious bias and how it presents itself, such as using the educational video created by the Western District Court of Washington. Some courts have jurors take Harvard’s Implicit Association Test, which takes about 10 minutes to complete and informs jurors of the unconscious biases they themselves possess. Judge Mark W. Bennett, mentioned earlier in this article, would provide unconscious bias training himself to prospective jurors, putting special emphasis on the presumption of innocence unless and until the prosecution demonstrated guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He also had jurors sign an affirmation at the end of his training vowing that they’d conduct a fair trial; similarly, at the end of the trial itself, jurors had to sign a certification that no biases had been involved in their verdict.

In other words, a jury can only be expected to combat their unconscious biases once they know how to look for them, hence the necessity of education on the subject.

2. Ensuring Diverse Juries

The US legal system has a history of all-white juries being expected to provide fair trials to defendants of color during the heights of segregation and other explicit anti-Black laws. Nowadays, social awareness has risen, and pushing for equity and fighting against unconscious bias means educating jurors on implicit bias and engaging more diverse juries (rather than allowing homogeneity to reign). Diversity amongst jurors has similar effects to diversity in other facets of life, such as the workplace. Simply put, more diverse juries are less likely to produce biased verdicts because diversity encourages greater deliberation and produces a more level playing field amongst jurors. In order to ensure verdicts reflect the reality of a case, juries should reflect the reality of our society: diverse in race, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, ability, and more.

3. Encouraging Dialogue

A final critical step courts are taking to combat unconscious bias is the simple operation of encouraging dialogue, including but not limited to during voir dire, when a lawyer has an opportunity to question prospective jurors and can thus engage them in discussion of implicit bias. The King County Bar Association eloquently expresses the inherent value of dialogue surrounding unconscious bias:

“[We] can have an intelligent and fruitful conversation with jurors about implicit bias without alienating them or making anyone feel like an idiot. It’s worth the effort, because unconscious bias and stereotypes that lurk below the surface can pose a substantial risk to [a] client’s case.”

When jurors, lawyers, and judges alike are allowed to hold active discussion about implicit bias, it ensures the presentation and judgement of the case at hand is more likely to be equitable and less likely to be underlain by unconscious bias.

Again, awareness of unconscious bias in the courtroom is critical because a person’s future may be at stake, such as facing death or life in prison; even a punishment as seemingly inconsequential as a fine can irreparably damage a defendant’s reputation. And this is only thinking in terms of the legal system! How might unconscious bias affect other aspects of society, including—or perhaps especially—the workplace?

Just as a person’s life can be placed in the hands of a jury, their life can be placed in the hands of an employer, too, as an individual depends on their position for their livelihood and well-being. Efforts must be made to combat unconscious bias in the workplace in ways not dissimilar to the approach of the courts: 1) educate employees at all levels on unconscious bias; 2) ensure diversity in hiring and promotions; and 3) encourage dialogue on the presentation and consequences of implicit bias in the workplace.

At the end of the day, the path we must take to combat unconscious bias is a road worth travelling, no matter how rocky it may be. With education and dedication, we can foster a culture of inclusion in the courts, the workplace, and in every aspect of our lives.

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization.

Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.

Main Areas of Focus in a DEI Strategy

Embarking on the journey of increasing diversity and fostering inclusion in the workplace can seem daunting. However, with a well-defined diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy, we can establish a clear plan to execute our DEI vision. To fully ingrain DEI into our businesses, we must integrate our inclusion efforts into all aspects of the organization. Through this blog, I will share key internal and external ways to incorporate diversity into our businesses.

Here are some areas to look into as we put together a DEI Strategy for our organizations:

Internal communications: Ensure the leadership team communicates the company’s focus on DEI in its corporate values, mission statement, and other messaging within the organization. 

Feedback channels: Implement ways for employees to share ideas for increasing DEI or to express concerns about discrimination and harassment in the workplace. 

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): Create ERGs to bring together employees with similar backgrounds, such as women, people of color, LGBTQ+, and emerging professionals. The most effective ERGs are inclusive and open to everyone – both members and allies.

Recruitment: Determine the most common barriers that affect recruiting historically marginalized groups and seek a diverse pool of candidates. Offering unconscious bias training to hiring managers supports diverse recruitment efforts.

Talent pipeline: Create a talent pipeline to develop diverse candidates for future leadership roles, and ensure underrepresented employees are included in mentorship programs. 

Ongoing workshops: Provide ongoing workshops regarding DEI topics like unconscious bias, working across generations, and handling discrimination case studies.

Roundtable discussions: Plan monthly small group roundtable discussions with executive team members and a diverse group of employees to gain input on workplace culture in relation to inclusion. 

Leadership Compensation: Include the focus on DEI in the leadership team’s performance evaluation and compensation plans. 

In addition to making improvements within the organization, we can exhibit our DEI commitments externally:

External communications and branding: Share the company’s focus on DEI by stating the commitment on the website and through social media posts.

Community engagement: Encourage employees to volunteer with associations and universities serving historically underrepresented groups. 

Putting together and implementing a DEI strategy can feel overwhelming since it needs to be integrated throughout all aspects of an organization. The best way to tackle this process is through a phased approach. We begin by identifying and implementing the low hanging fruits:  initiatives that are easier to start implementing. What matters is creating momentum and gaining buy-in. That is when we are able to foster real long-term change in our workplace and surrounding communities. 

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company. Her mission is providing guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within their organization.

Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential.

How to Manage Unconscious Biases

Unconscious biases are constantly affecting our thinking, reasoning, and perception of people and things around us. This quick process of judgments and decision-making can negatively impact our businesses and social interactions. To overcome these unconscious biases, we must make an intentional effort to question our automatic thoughts and begin to reconsider the world around us. Here are a some critical steps to managing unconscious bias. 

Become More Self-Aware

The first step to overcoming unconscious bias is noticing the problem within ourselves. These quick perceptions are ingrained in our minds as a survival tactic. We must first begin to recognize our patterns of bias and slowly work to disrupt them. The perfect way to do this is through self-reflection activities focused on unconscious bias. We can begin by asking ourselves a few simple questions: 

• Who do I feel most comfortable working with? 

• Who do I feel least comfortable working with? 

• What could I do to better understand or work more effectively with my coworkers? 

• How does my behavior in the workplace affect the office culture as a whole? 

These four introduction questions help us think about our own unconscious biases and how they play into workplace relations. To take this to the next level, try bias indicators like Harvard’s Project Implicit. This resource contains a myriad of short modules that test our biases for different religions, sexual orientations, and even our political views! These activities and questions challenge our current assumptions and unveil our unconscious biases. 

Be a Courageous Ally

Being a curious, courageous, and committed ally helps manage unconscious biases and creates a more comfortable work environment for all. As an ally, our job is to stand up for minority team members who may be experiencing discrimination or harassment. Whether directing team members to your Human Resources team or establishing a safe space in the office, do not be afraid to take action. Through dedicated action, we can generate a positive change for our team. By speaking up for those who may not have a voice, we improve organizational culture, increase employee engagement, and create an inclusive workplace for all. 

Expand Our Circles of Friends

This may seem a little out of the ordinary, but our friend groups have an incredible influence on our view of the world. Similar to the Circle of Trust exercise, think about your closest friends and coworkers. Is this group diverse? A homogenous friend group can lead to harmful echo chambers, which reinforce unconscious biases. By expanding our circles of trust, we can become closer with unique individuals and confront our unconscious biases with healthy relationships. The more we interact with diverse groups of people, the more our minds will be opened to others’ experiences. Through this process, we begin to break down harmful stereotypes and establish new ways of thinking. 

Managing unconscious bias does not happen overnight. It is a lifetime commitment to the three steps listed above. We must continuously work to become more aware of ourselves, our actions, and our chosen network. However, our diligent self-reflection and work will lead to a ripple effect of positivity within our workplaces and even surrounding communities.

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization.

Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.

Uncover Your Unconscious Biases

Unconscious biases are subliminal prejudices that influence the way we make decisions. These practices often negatively impact our businesses, leading to an unhealthy workplace. We each have over 180 biases. In this blog, I share information about fifteen of the most common ones and provide examples for each. With the knowledge of these biases, we can begin the conversations needed to create an inclusive workplace for all. 

Affinity Bias: Responding more positively to individuals with a similar race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

 A supervisor is considering employees for a promotion. One team member reminds the manager of themselves when they were just starting out in the field. Based on this information, the supervisor promotes this employee. 

Anchoring Effect: Relying too heavily on the first piece of information offered 

A manager reviewing resumes for possible candidates notices that one individual attended an Ivy League college. Without reading the rest of the resume, the manager offers the candidate an interview. 

Bandwagon Effect: Jumping on board with something primarily because other people are doing it

When making corporate decisions, managers are swayed to agree with large groups and fail to discuss unique options. 

Beauty Bias: Prejudices based upon the attractiveness, superficial personality, or physical appearance of an individual 

A survey of Fortune 500 companies found that male CEOs are 2.5 inches taller than the average man. People unconsciously perceived tall men as powerful, smart, and capable when compared to shorter men.

Confirmation Bias: Seeking information that supports one’s beliefs and ignoring details to the contrary

A CEO who believes the organization does not need to improve diversity and inclusion conducts a workplace survey to investigate the status of diversity and inclusion. When reviewing the results, the CEO highlights and reports all the positive comments and overlooks areas of improvement. 

Guilty By Association: Unfairly judging individuals by the company they keep 

A new employee is assigned a desk next to known slackers in the office. After some time, the employee becomes friends with these individuals, and the manager notices. In performance evaluations, the manager penalizes the new employee for being a slacker, even though they have met all deadlines.  

Hasty Generalization: Making a large claim based on a small amount of information

A supervisor has a team of 300 employees. When conducting a workplace survey, the manager only asks three employees for their opinions. The manager then makes executive decisions based on this small sample size. 

Halo/Horn Effect: Allowing impressions of an individual in one area to influence the overall impression

An employee is initially organized, successful, and productive, and their manager sees this talent and recognizes them for it. With time, however, the employee begins arriving late, missing deadlines, and so on, but the halo effect prevents their manager from noticing this underperformance, still viewing them as a top worker.

In the inverse, an employee has a rocky start, where they show up late on their first day and fall just short of a few deadlines during the early weeks of their new position, which their manager is displeased with. After an adjustment period, however, this employee becomes one of the most diligent, organized, and timely individuals in their department. But because of the inverse halo (the horn) effect, their manager fails to recognize their improvement, still seeing them as a slacker.

Herd Mentality: Adopting specific thoughts, prejudices, or behaviors to fit in with a certain group of individuals

A manager joins a company with a pervasive sexist office culture. When given the chance to hire a new team member, the manager only interviews men for the position and unconsciously disregards female applicants.

Hindsight Bias: Believing that a past event was predicted without any reasoning or evidence 

A candidate fails to prepare for a job interview and has a bad interaction with the hiring manager. When the candidate does not get a job offer, they insist that they wouldn’t have been hired anyway. 

Negativity Bias: Allowing adverse events to overshadow equal positive events 

Employees have three great quarters and one quarter below average. In performance reviews, the manager focuses the majority of their evaluation on the negative quarter. 

Optimism/Pessimism Bias: The likelihood to overestimate a positive/negative outcome based on attitude

Optimism: The financial analyses are back, and an organization’s leadership receives the news that their company met their goals and increased profits the past year. Delighted with their overall success, the leaders fail to recognize the areas in which profits were lost, thus taking no steps toward improvement.

Pessimism: A prospective worker participated in a job interview for which they were ultimately not hired, although they were qualified. They have another job interview for a similar position tomorrow, and they think they won’t get this job, too, even though they remain just as qualified.

Self-Serving Bias: Taking personal credit for positive events but blaming outside forces for negative events

When getting a promotion, an employee states it is all because of their hard work and diligent effort; however, when falling short of a deadline, the employee blames faults on their team members. 

A manager takes credit for a great quarter of sales but blames their team for the following below average quarter. 

Slippery Slope Fallacy: Rejecting an idea with little to no evidence simply because someone insists it will lead to an adverse major event

A prejudiced supervisor arguing that hiring one minority employee will lead to the deterioration of company culture and, eventually, the fall of the organization. 

Stereotypes: Overgeneralized beliefs about a particular group of people

 A manager assumes that an Asian employee is good with math and assigns them to certain projects because of this belief. This practice prevents the manager from realizing the employee’s real strengths and viewing all team members equally. 

These definitions and examples allow us to spot biases and accurately correct injustices. With this information, we can strengthen our culture of inclusion and empower employees with a deeper understanding of biases. By increasing our awareness of discrimination, we prevent negativity from subliminally spreading within our workplaces. 

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company. Her mission is providing guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within their organization.

Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential.

The Customer is NOT Always Right

Many organizations tout the mantra “the customer is always right.” And while they pursue diversity and inclusion initiatives amongst their employees, they are not always able to enforce that same level of respect from their customers. At hospitals, bigoted patients might see an overweight nurse and request that they be seen by a “thinner” nurse. Other patients have turned their noses up at a Black nurse, demanding that they wanted a white nurse instead. Such hateful rhetoric is not limited to the healthcare sector. At a bank, a customer encountered a Black teller and insisted they would rather wait for a white teller to assist them. Another customer even went so far as to refer to their Black teller as the n-slur. It is evident in these scenarios and too many others like it that the customer is not always right. The question, then, is how companies can create respectful, inclusive environments where their employees feel safe without the fear of losing business. Moreover, how can they create environments where their customers treat employees with the respect everyone deserves to receive.

An important solution is in the language. Instead of being complacent with the notion that “the customer is always right,” organizations can and should articulate specific statements that assert their expectations for customer behavior towards employees. The following companies have mastered the appropriate language, emphasizing that they will not tolerate harassment of employees from their clients:

An airline:

“Your safety and comfort – and that of our team members – are our top priority. We expect our team members to care for our customers with respect. We also expect our customers to interact with our team members and other customers with respect. If you act in a violent or inappropriate manner, you will not be able to continue your journey with us.”

Women’s Hospital in Baton Rouge:

“Women’s Hospital has zero-tolerance for threatening or aggressive behavior. Disruptive visitors will be asked to leave.

Staff is supported in pressing charges for aggressive behavior they encounter while caring for patients.

Incidents may result in removal and possible prosecution.”

Cardiovascular Institute of the South:

“CIS fosters a safe, kind and secure environment for our patients, visitors and team members. We hold ourselves to these standards of behavior, and we kindly ask for your courtesy and respect in doing the same.

We ask that you:

• Show courtesy and respect

• Be appropriate in language, tone and interactions

• Abide by public health rules

• Be an active participants in your plan of care

Please refrain from:

• Discriminatory language

• Rude, threatening or demeaning language or tone

• Profanity

• Verbal harassment”

These statements have important qualities in common.

1. Emphasize the need for mutual respect between customers and employees.

2. Specify that aggressive and hateful behavior will not be tolerated from workers or customers.

3. State outright that there will be consequences for individuals who do not meet these expectations, from as simple as a customer being asked to leave to as drastic as legal prosecution.

The specificity of the languages leaves no room for misinterpretation. By setting firm guidelines, these organizations are being intentional in generate environments of true inclusion, where respect is fostered with every interaction on all levels.

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company. Her mission is providing guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within their organization.

Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential.

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Beyond the Language of "Equal Opportunity Employer"

“We are an equal opportunity employer.”

Companies are required to include this statement or a similar phrase in their job descriptions, a supposed attempt to demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. But how inclusive is this short phrase? Does this generic line truly encourage individuals of underrepresented groups to apply to the job at hand? Does it guarantee a woman’s application will be judged with the same expectations as a man’s, that Black individuals will not be held to harsher standards than white individuals, that the transgender community can expect the same treatment as cisgender people? Most of the time, no. This standard language is exactly that: standard, if not the bare minimum. As such, this standard must be changed.

While there is more to ensuring diverse, inclusive workplace environments than modification of language in job descriptions alone, these smaller steps are just as crucial to the big picture as larger ones. By going above and beyond the standard statement and providing additional, detailed information about inclusivity in the hiring process, companies make important progress in generating inclusion all around. Consider the two examples below:

Deloitte:

“Our diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture empowers our people to be who they are, contribute their unique perspectives, and make a difference individually and collectively. It enables us to leverage different ideas and perspectives, and bring more creativity and innovation to help solve our client most complex challenges. This makes Deloitte one of the most rewarding places to work. Learn more about our inclusive culture.”

“What we do for our clients, we strive to do for our own people: make an impact that matters. We are regularly recognized as a top employer across a range of categories, including inclusion, well-being, innovation, leadership, and places to start your career. To learn more, check out our latest accolades.”

“From entry-level employees to senior leaders, we believe there’s always room to learn. We offer opportunities to build new skills, take on leadership opportunities and connect and grow through mentorship. From on-the-job learning experiences to formal development programs, our professionals have a variety of opportunities to continue to grow throughout their career. Learn more about our commitment to developing our people.”

Mastercard:

“We cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences enable us to be a better team – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation and delivers better business results.”

A crucial element present in both of these statements can be summarized as “the why.” Not only do these organizations emphasize that they are equal opportunity employers, they provide explanations into why equal opportunity and diverse employment is essential for their workplace. When a company can articulate the reasons behind their desire for diversity, it is a sign they truly value different perspectives. If an organization is able to recognize and lay out the benefits they gain from a diverse and inclusive workplace, then it is safe to conclude the environments they foster are inclusive not just in language, but in practice, too.

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company. Her mission is providing guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within their organization.

Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential.

5 Tips for Diversifying Board of Directors

In today’s climate, it is common to hear the phrase “we need to diversify,” particularly at upper corporate levels. Namely: the board of directors. But despite the increased citation of this desire, diversity within boards of directors is not yet commonplace. According to a fall 2020 analysis of the 3,000 largest publicly traded U.S. companies conducted by the Institutional Shareholder Services’ ESG division:

“[J]ust 12.5% of board directors were from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups, up from 10% in 2015. The report also found that only 4% of directors were Black (up from 3% in 2015), while female directors held 21% of board seats (up from 13% in 2015).”

Following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, there were increases in the number of women and racial minorities appointed to Fortune 500 boards, but the majority of directors are still white men. How can this issue of homogeneity be adjusted? Fortunately, there are five crucial steps boards of directors can take to ensure diversity in their ranks:

1. Analyze the Demographics

In order to improve diversity within a board of directors, the board must know where their organization stands. First, look at the racial, ethnic, gender, etc. demographics of the board. Second, look at these same demographics within the community as a whole. What groups are disproportionately represented? Underrepresented? How drastic is this difference? Once a gap in diversity is identified, work can begin on deciphering why this gap exists, and from there a board can begin searching for solutions to resolve it.

2. Offer Training

This step is essential to understand how beneficial diversity is to an organization. By offering diversity training, individuals will better understand why diversity is so crucial in the first place. On a similar note, unconscious bias training is also important, as it helps combat internalized prejudices all individuals have, be they aware of them or not. How? Because “[u]nconscious bias can shape all aspects of the hiring and recruiting process, from the way openings at your organization are posted to the experience employees or board members have once they’re selected.” While no individual can ever be free of bias, making people aware of their biases will allow for implementation of genuine diversity in these upper levels.

3. Expand Your Candidate Pool

When appointing boards of directors, many organizations appoint retired executives. However, appointing active executives is also beneficial, as they are more aware of current situations evolving around them (e.g. in a market, with COVID-19, etc.). Similarly, when appointing new members to a board of directors, an organization should broaden their horizons beyond accepting referrals from current members, as people tend to have connections with individuals similar to them. Consequently, a board is unlikely to see an increase in true diversity with applicants garnered through such narrow recommendations. Expanding the pool of candidates is a simple yet effective way of diversifying a board.

4. Avoid Tokenism

As aforementioned, some boards are interested in diversity only for appearances’ sake. Diversity and unconscious bias training are key ways to address this issue, but another important tactic is ensuring new voices make up at least 30% of the total in a group. By doing so, a board not only avoids tokenism in appearance, but also in practice, as these new members will feel less isolated and therefore will likely be more encouraged to speak their minds. As stated earlier, increased diversity leads to increased innovation, meaning hearing these new ideas more often than not ends up being helpful.

5. Measure Progress

The final step is simple and perhaps the most important: “To stay focused on your objectives and goals, monitor your progress semi-annually.” Yes, it is that straightforward. Diversity is not a simple checklist but a practice. Are the demographics improving and representing the community that the organization serves? Are individuals from diverse groups being appropriately represented? Are their ideas being heard and implemented? Are these individuals staying on? Are they reporting any issues? Keeping track of progress is thus the ultimate step to truly diversifying a board of directors.

While the task of diversifying boards of directors may seem daunting, it is a necessary one, and only through active change can it be accomplished.

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Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization.

Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.

Three Reasons Why You Should Diversify Your Team

Beyond creating opportunities and developing organizations that reflect the rich, diverse world we live in, diversity as a strategy increases business growth, client retention, and employee engagement. True implementation of diversity leads to positive changes within and outside of the workplace environment, inspiring employees and attracting more clients. 

A myriad of studies have highlighted the tangible effects of diversity. Below are the three main benefits:

Increased Business Results

According to McKinsey & Company’s 2019 analysis, gender-diverse companies—particularly among executives—were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than their competition. Similarly, ethnically- and culturally-diverse companies outperform their competition by 36% in profitability. In other words, diversity brings concrete economic benefits to an organization, helping them increase productivity and professional drive through greater communication and understanding. Moreover, the table below demonstrates that the economic benefits of diversity have increased over time, suggesting the organizational value of diversity will continue to grow.

Additionally, according to the Harvard Business Review, a team with a member who shares their client’s ethnicity is 152% more likely to understand the client. This understanding leads to increased client retention and moreover allows the relevant organization to cater to a wider community. However, employee-client connection is not solely limited to ethnic diversity; Felix Malitsky, President and Founding Partner of Fortis Lux Financial, provides this example:

“Let’s say you’re a single mom and part of our financial services team, and you’re working with a client who is also a single mom. You know the challenges. If you can help the rest of the team understand that it’s very powerful. From an emotional standpoint, from a connection and support standpoint, it adds a lot of value to our organization.”

A Rise in Creativity and Innovation

The incorporation of individuals with unique backgrounds into an organization increases the level of innovation. Numerous studies spanning decades of time demonstrate diversity enhances creativity, point blank. Diversity “encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving” because people tend to be more diligent and open-minded when working in diverse environments. With a curated team of unique individuals, new ideas break forth, leading the organization towards innovative solutions to complex problems. When these teams are presented with a challenge, they are better able to develop varied and inventive proposals as a result of their wide range of thoughts and experiences. Additionally, these factors increase adaptability and flexibility in the office, allowing the organization to be more competitive in a quick-paced marketplace.

“Diversity inspires innovation and creativity and leads to better decision-making. It is imperative that we work to ensure that the make-up of our firm mirrors that of our clients and the world around us.” 

Paul M. Schmidt

Chairman, BakerHostetler

Attracting New Hires

One of the key components of diversity’s positive feedback loop is attracting new hires, where genuine implementation of diversity helps grow an organization’s talent. The reason why is simple: when looking for work, members of marginalized groups often seek out organizations that value diversity, applying to openings in multicultural and gender-diverse offices. A 2020 Glassdoor survey found that 76% of job seekers believe a diverse workforce is a crucial factor when evaluating organizations for potential employment. These numbers only increase for marginalized communities. A diverse work environment makes an organization more attractive to diverse groups, thus leading to further workplace diversity! With this positive cycle, a welcoming and inclusive workplace attracts more individuals with unique experiences, helping ensure an organization can reap all the benefits of diversity.

Diversity is critical to an organization’s growth and its competitive advantage; it leads to increases in innovation, greater talent hiring and retention, and beneficial economic outcomes. Diversity is imperative not only for the workplace, but for the community at large, as our workforces should reflect the multicultural, gender-diverse, beautiful world we live in.

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 Dima Ghawi is the founder of a global talent development company with a primary mission for advancing individuals in leadership. Through keynote speeches, training programs and executive coaching, Dima has empowered thousands of professionals across the globe to expand their leadership potential. In addition, she provides guidance to business executives to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and to implement a multi-year plan for advancing quality leaders from within the organization.

Reach her at DimaGhawi.com and BreakingVases.com.