Implementing DEI Beyond HR Initiatives

When I hear someone say “DEI,” my mind jumps to HR departments, from countering bias in the hiring process to increasing retention of diverse employees. However, the focus on DEI should go beyond HR—after all, humans constitute every department in the workplace. From Procurement to Marketing, there are always people behind decisions, and for that reason, DEI is crucial across the board in organizations. Today, then, I will be exploring a variety of tips and tricks for departments beyond HR to implement DEI in their daily practices. Although this list is not comprehensive in covering all DEI possibilities for every non-HR department, I hope it offers us a strong place to start when considering the value of DEI beyond Human Resources. What are we waiting for? Let’s dive in!

Marketing & Sales

With practiced ease, Penelope slides from her wheelchair onto the couch, her friend Margot sitting beside her. She turns the TV on, catching the end of a commercial for their local grocery store. Penelope sighs.

“What’s wrong?” Margot asks, concerned.

“I don’t know. It’s just…” Penelope gestures to the TV, where the people in the ad walk around the store with bright smiles. She then motions to her wheelchair resting beside her. “That’s not how I would experience the store, you know?”

Marketing and Sales is one of the most important departments to consider the role of DEI in. As this example illustrates, when people don’t see themselves represented by an organization, they often become disconnected from whatever is being marketed. In contrast, “90% of ads that featured a diversity strategy experienced [a] higher recall [remembrance] rate”—simply put, when people see themselves represented in marketing, they remember. As such, here are tips to implement DEI in Marketing and Sales’ departments:

1. Images on an organization’s website(s), social media, and other visual advertisements should reflect demographic diversity, including but not limited to people of color, women, people of different generations, and people with disabilities.

2. Digital content should be optimized for people with disabilities. For example, websites and social media should be functional for screen readers and voice search. (Although we may think of this technological era as everyone having information at their fingertips, such is not always true for people with disabilities, because online content is often not accessible!)

3. Use inclusive language, such as gender-neutral (e.g. the singular “they” rather than the “universal” masculine). Avoid generalizations related to experience and avoid stereotypical language, as these implicit assumptions often exclude people unwittingly.

4. Have diverse sales representatives, particularly when reaching out to a local community. A good rule of thumb is that an organization’s representatives should reflect the community’s demographics! To see oneself in others is to feel seen oneself.

5. Highlight real stories from diverse communities. After all, “[s]torytelling is a powerful tool in marketing,” as “[e]ach customer is a unique individual with a unique story and motivation to consume a product or service.” Directly engaging and displaying the narratives of one’s customers is to better connect with the diversity inherent to every consumerbase.

Imagine if Penelope turned on the TV and saw other people in wheelchairs moving through the aisles of her local grocery store. Wouldn’t that world, a world of access for everyone, be one we’d all like to live in?

Finance & Accounting

The wage gap remains as present today as it did in the 1950s, albeit to lesser severity. Women working full time are still paid on average “just 83 cents to every dollar earned by men,” and the numbers are even lower for Black and Latina women. As such, the importance of DEI within Finance and Accounting departments cannot be overstated. Let’s walk through a few ways to implement DEI through various financial operations:

1. Conduct a pay audit to improve pay equity, just like in the example. After all, you can’t fix a problem you aren’t aware of! Are people of particular demographics being paid less overall? If so, why? Is there an imbalance in promotion opportunities for people of majority versus minority groups? In the vein of the above example, are some people getting paid significantly less for doing effectively the same job as another person?

2. When compiling the annual financial report for shareholders, include a section about demographics, DEI statistics related to pay, and so forth. To do so is not only to ensure financial information regarding DEI is being monitored, but also to demonstrate to shareholders the significance of DEI to the organization as a whole.

3. Post pay ranges/pay rates in job postings and internally for prospective candidates and current employees to see. Not only will this help maintain pay equity through informational transparency, but to not be open about this information may give the wrong impression, as candidates may wonder if the choice not to be open about pay rates is because an organization has inequity they seek to hide.

4. Although most organizations no longer pay monthly, it is nonetheless important to emphasize that “[w]eekly or biweekly payroll frequency is the most equitable pay frequency.” Many people work paycheck to paycheck, therefore minimizing the time between each paycheck offers greater financial stability for employees.

Eliminating the wage gap, is not about docking a man’s pay to put him on the same level as a woman. It’s about recognizing when two people are doing similar amounts of labor to near-identical ends and compensating them fairly for that work!

Procurement

A Chief Procurement Officer sits at their desk, examining a lengthy list of potential suppliers. Numerous studies suggest that supplier diversity enhances innovation, expands access to new demographics, and improves flexibility, but where to begin?

Fortunately, implementing DEI into Procurement is not as intimidating a task as it sounds, hand over my heart! Here are a few tips for incorporating DEI strategies to improve supplier diversity:

1. First and foremost, identify what groups of diverse suppliers to work with on particular projects (e.g. women, people of color, veterans, people with disabilities, etc.). A good rule of thumb to classify a supplier as diverse is if they are “at least 51% diverse owned” and/or if they “have a certification attesting to their diversity.”

2. Beyond working with diverse suppliers, it is crucial that the consideration and requirements section of an organization’s procurement policy explicitly include “guidelines for engaging diverse suppliers.” Not only does this inclusion create intra-organizational accountability for working with diverse suppliers, but it demonstrates to other corporations how this organization prioritizes DEI.

3. Track the following key performance indicators: “How many diverse/local/small businesses were contacted; How many of those businesses submitted an RFP; How many of those businesses won their RFP; [and] What the contracts won were worth.” Monitoring these KPIs helps ensure an organization is working equitably with all of their suppliers and not unwittingly prioritizing some over others.

4. Lastly, work with suppliers that similarly prioritize DEI. Just because a potential supplier is not themself diverse doesn’t mean they don’t work with diverse organizations! Create a supplier chain that emphasizes the importance of DEI.

Still unsure where to start? SupplyShift recommends that “[t]ools like supplier.io and Tealbook provide databases of suppliers (including diverse suppliers) for businesses to build new relationships with. Companies can also attend diverse supplier events or join organizations like the National Minority Supplier Development Council for resources and peer learning opportunities.” Diverse procurement is easily attainable, so long as one is willing to put in the effort for it!

Legal

Implementing DEI into legal departments may seem glaringly obvious—just have a diverse team of lawyers at hand, right? Well, while diversity on the level of one’s team is certainly crucial, the incorporation of DEI into legal affairs can expand much further!

That sounds well and good, you may be thinking, but where do I begin?

A great question! Wolkters Kluwer offers the following starting point for Chief Legal Officers: “Start by interviewing the stakeholders. Ask your attorneys how they are making their assignments. Ask law firms whether they have diversity data and are willing to report it. If not, ask why and find out how you can help them change that policy.” Completing these steps helps ground an organization’s legal department in DEI from the get-go and moreover asserts to the law firms they may potentially work with that DEI is a make-or-break factor. Beyond this start, here are a few more tips for implementing DEI into the legal aspects of one’s organization:

1. When outsourcing legal matters, consider the diversity of law firms and legal service providers.

2. Develop measurable DEI goals. When doing so, create accountability metrics for providers, such as “the implementation of a certification system for hiring and promotion.” Deloitte explains that “[o]ne example of a certification in the legal field ‘measures whether an organization has affirmatively considered at least 30% women, attorneys of color, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, such as equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions.’” Such certification helps ensure organizational commitment to DEI beyond HR. (Even though this type of certification is specific to the legal side of business, wouldn’t it be amazing to include such accountability for all fields?)

3. Gather and maintain diversity data within one’s own department as well as any law firms the organization works with. Specifically, create a dedicated staff to “continuously check on diversity information gathered and call firms to follow up where data is missing.”

As with Marketing and Sales, Finance and Accounting, and Procurement, implementing DEI strategies into Legal departments is only as challenging as we let it be. With regular monitoring of DEI metrics and an emphasis on diverse certification, maintaining an environment of diversity and inclusion is easier than ever!

And there we have it—multiple ways departments beyond HR can implement DEI into their daily workings. As we can see, there’s no shortage of opportunities! No matter what department one works in, DEI will inevitably help the entire organization flourish.

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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.

Tips For Implementing DEI Beyond HR Initiatives

When I hear someone say “DEI,” my mind jumps to HR departments, from countering bias in the hiring process to increasing retention of diverse employees. However, the focus on DEI should go beyond HR—after all, humans constitute every department in the workplace. From Procurement to Marketing, there are always people behind decisions, and for that reason, DEI is crucial across the board in organizations. Today, then, I will be exploring a variety of tips and tricks for departments beyond HR to implement DEI in their daily practices. Although this list is not comprehensive in covering all DEI possibilities for every non-HR department, I hope it offers us a strong place to start when considering the value of DEI beyond Human Resources. What are we waiting for? Let’s dive in!

Marketing & Sales

With practiced ease, Penelope slides from her wheelchair onto the couch, her friend Margot sitting beside her. She turns the TV on, catching the end of a commercial for their local grocery store. Penelope sighs.

“What’s wrong?” Margot asks, concerned.

“I don’t know. It’s just…” Penelope gestures to the TV, where the people in the ad walk around the store with bright smiles. She then motions to her wheelchair resting beside her. “That’s not how I would experience the store, you know?”

Marketing and Sales is one of the most important departments to consider the role of DEI in. As this example illustrates, when people don’t see themselves represented by an organization, they often become disconnected from whatever is being marketed. In contrast, “90% of ads that featured a diversity strategy experienced [a] higher recall [remembrance] rate”—simply put, when people see themselves represented in marketing, they remember. As such, here are tips to implement DEI in Marketing and Sales’ departments:

1. Images on an organization’s website(s), social media, and other visual advertisements should reflect demographic diversity, including but not limited to people of color, women, people of different generations, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community.

2. Digital content should be optimized for people with disabilities. For example, websites and social media should be functional for screen readers and voice search. (Although we may think of this technological era as everyone having information at their fingertips, such is not always true for people with disabilities, because online content is often not accessible!)

3. Use inclusive language, such as gender-neutral pronouns (e.g. the singular “they” rather than the “universal” masculine). Avoid generalizations related to experience and avoid stereotypical language, as these implicit assumptions often exclude people unwittingly.

4. Have diverse sales representatives, particularly when reaching out to a local community. A good rule of thumb is that an organization’s representatives should reflect the community’s demographics! To see oneself in others is to feel seen oneself.

5. Highlight real stories from diverse communities. After all, “[s]torytelling is a powerful tool in marketing,” as “[e]ach customer is a unique individual with a unique story and motivation to consume a product or service.” Directly engaging and displaying the narratives of one’s customers is to better connect with the diversity inherent to every consumerbase.

Imagine if Penelope turned on the TV and saw other people in wheelchairs moving through the aisles of her local grocery store. Wouldn’t that world, a world of access for everyone, be one we’d all like to live in?

Finance & Accounting

The wage gap remains as present today as it did in the 1950s, albeit to lesser severity. Women working full time are still paid on average “just 83 cents to every dollar earned by men,” and the numbers are even lower for Black and Latina women. As such, the importance of DEI within Finance and Accounting departments cannot be overstated. Let’s walk through a few ways to implement DEI through various financial operations:

1. Conduct a pay audit to improve pay equity, just like in the example. After all, you can’t fix a problem you aren’t aware of! Are people of particular demographics being paid less overall? If so, why? Is there an imbalance in promotion opportunities for people of majority versus minority groups? In the vein of the above example, are some people getting paid significantly less for doing effectively the same job as another person?

2. When compiling the annual financial report for shareholders, include a section about demographics, DEI statistics related to pay, and so forth. To do so is not only to ensure financial information regarding DEI is being monitored, but also to demonstrate to shareholders the significance of DEI to the organization as a whole.

3. Post pay ranges/pay rates in job postings and internally for prospective candidates and current employees to see. Not only will this help maintain pay equity through informational transparency, but to not be open about this information may give the wrong impression, as candidates may wonder if the choice not to be open about pay rates is because an organization has inequity they seek to hide.

4. Although most organizations no longer pay monthly, it is nonetheless important to emphasize that “[w]eekly or biweekly payroll frequency is the most equitable pay frequency.” Many people work paycheck to paycheck, therefore minimizing the time between each paycheck offers greater financial stability for employees.

Eliminating the wage gap, is not about docking a man’s pay to put him on the same level as a woman. It’s about recognizing when two people are doing similar amounts of labor to near-identical ends and compensating them fairly for that work!

Procurement

A Chief Procurement Officer sits at their desk, examining a lengthy list of potential suppliers. Numerous studies suggest that supplier diversity enhances innovation, expands access to new demographics, and improves flexibility, but where to begin?

Fortunately, implementing DEI into Procurement is not as intimidating a task as it sounds, hand over my heart! Here are a few tips for incorporating DEI strategies to improve supplier diversity:

1. First and foremost, identify what groups of diverse suppliers to work with on particular projects (e.g. women, people of color, veterans, people with disabilities, etc.). A good rule of thumb to classify a supplier as diverse is if they are “at least 51% diverse owned” and/or if they “have a certification attesting to their diversity.”

2. Beyond working with diverse suppliers, it is crucial that the consideration and requirements section of an organization’s procurement policy explicitly include “guidelines for engaging diverse suppliers.” Not only does this inclusion create intra-organizational accountability for working with diverse suppliers, but it demonstrates to other corporations how this organization prioritizes DEI.

3. Track the following key performance indicators: “How many diverse/local/small businesses were contacted; How many of those businesses submitted an RFP; How many of those businesses won their RFP; [and] What the contracts won were worth.” Monitoring these KPIs helps ensure an organization is working equitably with all of their suppliers and not unwittingly prioritizing some over others.

4. Lastly, work with suppliers that similarly prioritize DEI. Just because a potential supplier is not themself diverse doesn’t mean they don’t work with diverse organizations! Create a supplier chain that emphasizes the importance of DEI.

Still unsure where to start? SupplyShift recommends that “[t]ools like supplier.io and Tealbook provide databases of suppliers (including diverse suppliers) for businesses to build new relationships with. Companies can also attend diverse supplier events or join organizations like the National Minority Supplier Development Council for resources and peer learning opportunities.” Diverse procurement is easily attainable, so long as one is willing to put in the effort for it!

Legal

Implementing DEI into legal departments may seem glaringly obvious—just have a diverse team of lawyers at hand, right? Well, while diversity on the level of one’s team is certainly crucial, the incorporation of DEI into legal affairs can expand much further!

That sounds well and good, you may be thinking, but where do I begin?

A great question! Wolkters Kluwer offers the following starting point for Chief Legal Officers: “Start by interviewing the stakeholders. Ask your attorneys how they are making their assignments. Ask law firms whether they have diversity data and are willing to report it. If not, ask why and find out how you can help them change that policy.” Completing these steps helps ground an organization’s legal department in DEI from the get-go and moreover asserts to the law firms they may potentially work with that DEI is a make-or-break factor. Beyond this start, here are a few more tips for implementing DEI into the legal aspects of one’s organization:

1. When outsourcing legal matters, consider the diversity of law firms and legal service providers.

2. Develop measurable DEI goals. When doing so, create accountability metrics for providers, such as “the implementation of a certification system for hiring and promotion.” Deloitte explains that “[o]ne example of a certification in the legal field ‘measures whether an organization has affirmatively considered at least 30% women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, such as equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions.’” Such certification helps ensure organizational commitment to DEI beyond HR. (Even though this type of certification is specific to the legal side of business, wouldn’t it be amazing to include such accountability for all fields?)

3. Gather and maintain diversity data within one’s own department as well as any law firms the organization works with. Specifically, create a dedicated staff to “continuously check on diversity information gathered and call firms to follow up where data is missing.”

As with Marketing and Sales, Finance and Accounting, and Procurement, implementing DEI strategies into Legal departments is only as challenging as we let it be. With regular monitoring of DEI metrics and an emphasis on diverse certification, maintaining an environment of diversity and inclusion is easier than ever!

Now to conclude with some general DEI best practices that apply to all departments, regardless of their organizational concentration:

1. Include closed captions/subtitles for virtual meetings and videos.

2. Demonstrate how to use pronoun options for virtual meetings, e.g. Zoom.

3. Through IT, offer name pronunciation audio features for virtual meetings and e-signature software.

4. For written content, offer audio versions; ensure there is high contrast between the text and background colors; use easy-to-read fonts (such as dyslexic-friendly typefaces); and avoid regional turns of phrases that may not be understandable to all employees.

5. Remember RASCI: Who is responsible (responsibility for particular tasks); accountable (accountability for particular tasks, such as having the final say); supportive (the support network, e.g. providing resources to complete a particular task); consulted (offers advice with regard to decisions); and informed (maintains communication). When it comes to DEI, RASCI helps ensure that a) diverse people have not been overlooked for projects and b) diverse people are not primarily or only placed in supportive roles (rather than having the authority of “R” and “A”). When in doubt, apply RASCI!

And there we have it—multiple ways departments beyond HR can implement DEI into their daily workings. As we can see, there’s no shortage of opportunities! No matter what department one works in, DEI will inevitably help the entire organization flourish.

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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.

Business and Ballet: What The Corporate World Can Learn From DEI in Dance

When most of us think of ballet, our minds may jump to its beauty as an art form or the skill and dedication it requires to be successful. I’ll wager a guess that many of us might not consider all of the DEI lessons to be learned from ballet!

DEI and ballet? you may be musing. Now that’s an interesting combination.

Indeed, it is interesting, and we are all the better for this art’s unique approach to DEI initiatives. Better yet, there are a multitude of ways the corporate world can learn from the dance world in their own implementation of DEI! Today we’ll break down three avenues in which businesses can follow in the footsteps of ballet to weave DEI into their organizational practices.

1. Financial

Historically, many underrepresented communities have been excluded from ballet for the simple but tragic reason that they could not afford to attend classes. Even today this class divide persists; however, many ballet companies are fighting back against this inequality. A group called Project Plié, for example, has put forth excellent examples of financial strategies that any organization can learn from to support DEI initiatives. Project Plié provides training scholarships to both students and teachers of color; offers internships and related scholarships for arts administrators of color; and partners with other ballet companies to more effectively develop outreach programs. While the financial support from a non-ballet business will certainly differ in its specific execution, providing this type of economic assurance to underrepresented communities helps open doors for them that they have historically been restricted from accessing.

2. Organizational

The information to take advice from here is a more 1:1 comparison, as ballet companies, too, have organizational facets not dissimilar to those of the corporate world. When Atlanta Ballet takes on new hires in their company, not only must all employees undergo DEI training, but the organization “welcome[s] each new employee with a peer mentor to support their onboarding experience, foster open communication, and facilitate training and access to organizational resources.” This type of consistent support is crucial to ensuring the success of all employees, but particularly those from underrepresented communities who might otherwise experience unintentional isolation in the company. As such, we can easily see how this strategy is applicable to any type of organization, not just ballet; mentorship, communication, and encouragement are the key to success!

Additionally, Atlanta Ballet invests in what they call “Town Hall” meetings, which are opportunities for all employees to get together and share conversations about organizational progress toward DEI and other matters. Anonymous post-meetings surveys are also offered, of particular use to people who may not feel comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. Again, non-ballet companies can apply this strategy, too, hosting quarterly or even monthly meetings to give individuals a chance to express their thoughts on what’s working, what isn’t, and what can be done to improve DEI initiatives overall.

3. Disability

Even as short a time as a few years ago, we did not often see people in wheelchairs performing ballet. Now, the dance scene is much more accessible, and numerous studios offer training for people with disabilities and able-bodied people! From this intersection of ballet and disability, businesses can learn two key frameworks for approaching disability inclusion. First and foremost, place the same expectations on people with disabilities and able-bodied people, but simultaneously offer individualized attention as needed. In ballet, this means having classrooms that do not discriminate because of ability and giving instructions that all students can understand, but perhaps also having aides who can assist students with disabilities when they need specific attention. In the corporate world, we might think of this as accommodations—do not treat people with disabilities as lesser, but don’t refuse to offer them the resources they need to do their best work, either.

Secondly, ballet offers the following framework: rather than thinking about what dancers with disabilities cannot do, think about what they can do. A dancer in a wheelchair may not be able to move their legs, but what about their arms? Their torso? How can their wheelchair be understood as an extension of their body and thus capable of dance? The corporate world must take a similar approach: rather than assuming an employee with disabilities cannot perform a certain task or obsessing over those tasks they cannot perform, we must consider the tasks they can complete and modify our guidelines accordingly. People with disabilities can do anything, from ballet to stocking shelves to running a company, and it’s high time we put forth a yes, and mentality when it comes to disabled inclusion.

And there we have it: three key ways the business world can learn from ballet. Plié, arabesque, pirouette—the corporate landscape of DEI hasn’t seen anything yet!

(Want to learn more? Check out Boston Ballet’s Education and Community Initiatives Toolbox for a plethora of resources dedicated to racial justice and DEI!)

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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.

Start Learning About Conformity Bias to Stop Conforming

Picture this: you’re standing in front of an elevator. You send a text message, putting your phone away once you hear the familiar ding! The low creak of doors sliding open follows. You look up, ready to step inside, but—

Everyone is facing the back of the elevator.

Okay, you think. This is weird.

What do you do? Get in the elevator like normal, becoming the only person to face the front? Or do you get the elevator and face the back, like everyone else?

I don’t know about you, but I think I’d face the back! After all, most of us aren’t particularly keen on sticking out like a sore thumb. If you agree that you’d do the same, fear not: for better or worse, to conform is human, and everyone else who participated in this Candid Camera TV experiment also found themselves facing the back of the elevator to avoid standing out from the crowd.

I’ve talked about conformity before on this blog, such as when I explored three tips to manage conformity bias. But today, we’re going to delve further into six types of conformity and how they affect us, because we often don’t realize how many ways the world encourages us to conform! Shall we begin?

1. Imitation

When I took my first sales course early in my career, my instructor taught us about something called “mirroring.” They explained that to more effectively connect with a potential client, we should be intentional about moving our body to parallel their movements. To do so would increase the trust between ourselves and the client; after all, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

Allow me to be honest: after my instructor finished explaining, I still did not understand the significance of this technique. That is, until I bought my first car. As I discussed the merits of the vehicle with the salesperson, I noticed that they were imitating my behavior! If I shifted my weight from my right to my left foot, they did the same. If I gestured outward, they copied the gesture, too! The salesperson was utilizing a type of conformity we simply call imitation, or the mimicking of body language, in order to connect with me and increase the likelihood of me buying their car. Pretty strategic, huh? Next time you’re preparing to make a big purchase, watch closely! Your salesperson might imitate you, too.

2. Informational Conformity

Today is the big day—in T-minus two hours, you have the interview for your dream job. There’s only one problem: what should you wear? When in doubt, your best friend has your back. You call them up and they immediately recommend the perfect get-up, allowing you to look professional while feeling totally comfortable.

This inclination to trust someone who we believe has accurate information on a subject is known as informational conformity. We trust our friend’s recommendation about what to wear for the interview because we believe their taste and assessment of our style to be accurate. Wearing their chosen outfit becomes “the right thing to do.” As this example demonstrates, informational conformity isn’t inherently a bad thing. It usually refers to a person lacking knowledge or certainty on a particular subject, therefore they look to an individual or group for guidance. Of course, it’s important to remember that a bit of skepticism is also healthy. When we’re at the doctor, informational conformity tells us to trust their expertise when they diagnose us, and that we should therefore conform to their advice. But if we still feel something isn’t right, it is better to push back against that instinct for conformity and instead voice our concerns! While there’s no shame in trusting others, we must trust ourselves, too.

3. Normative Conformity

You’re at a work function to celebrate the successful establishment of a partnership between your organization and another business. Everyone is laughing and chatting, glasses of champagne and wine in hand. When a server comes over to offer yourself and your friend a drink, you take one with a nod and cheerful thanks. Your friend accepts a drink, too, though more slowly.

After a while, you notice that your friend has hardly sipped from their glass.

“Are you okay?” you ask, concerned.

“Hm?”

“Your drink.”

They glance down at their glass. “Oh. Yeah, wine isn’t really my thing.”

You tilt your head in confusion. “Then why’d you get a glass?”

Your friend hesitates, then shrugs. “Everyone else was drinking. It’d be weird if I wasn’t, wouldn’t it?”

This example demonstrates a type of conformity many of us are familiar with: normative conformity. Normative conformity might also be described as conforming to social norms, typically for fear of rejection or exclusion from a group. The above example is unconscious, where the friend was not forced to drink, but simply felt pressured to because their coworkers all were. More serious instances of normative conformity can be classified as peer pressure, where there is an articulated threat or warning against a person to conform, or else. It’s therefore worth noting that normative conformity can certainly be dangerous, such as people becoming regular smokers after they started smoking to “fit in,” not because they truly wanted to smoke.

4. Majority Influence (Compliance)

Exciting news: today you are participating in an experiment! You and a group of individuals are taken into a plain room, where you are sat down in a semicircle before a board. The facilitator explains that you will be shown a line on one card, and your task is to decide which line on a second card is the same length. Ready? Here are the cards:

The correct answer is unmistakably Line 1, you decide. Unfortunately, you’re the final chair in the semicircle, so you will be last to report your response. The facilitator points at the first participant.

“Line 2,” they say, confidently.

You blink. What?

The next participant: “Line 2.”

Okay, now you’re getting concerned. It’s Line 1, isn’t it?

“Line 2,” the third participant says, and so do all the rest until it is finally your turn to speak.

Maybe… Maybe it isn’t Line 1?

If you choose to say Line 2, don’t feel bad! What I have just described here is the Asch experiment, originally conducted in the 1950s. The original results: 76% of the 123 participants gave at least one incorrect response when it was their turn; overall, 37% of responses were wholly conforming. This experiment thus demonstrates the power of majority influence, a type of conformity we might also describe as compliance. In other words, we conform to the opinion of the majority publicly, though we might disagree with them privately, because their sheer number means a) we don’t want to challenge them and b) we wonder if they are actually correct. But what’s the importance of this conformity outside of lines and experiments?

The answer is obvious but important: every time we walk out the door, our opinions are shaped by those of the majority. Be it fashion trends seen as we scroll through Instagram or politics blaring at us from TV, the more we see something repeated, the more we may come to question any dissenting opinions we hold. This herd mentality is risky, as it can suppress diversity of thought and reinforce oppressive ideals. But much like normative conformity, awareness is key to challenging the power of majority influence: knowing that we’re susceptible to majority influence allows us to catch ourselves before falling in too deep. And like informational conformity, too, it is also crucial to trust ourselves! When we find ourselves doing something because everyone else is doing it, we must learn to stop and ask, Is this something I want to do? Is this something I am comfortable with? And if the answer is No, trust your gut!

5. Minority Influence

Let’s dive into another study! You and five others are sitting in a room. You’ve all been instructed to identify the color of a slide before you. Going around the circle, there is consistency: you and three other participants echo the same sentiment that this slide is blue. But what’s an experiment without a little disruption?

Participant 5 shakes their head. “No, it’s green.”

Participant 6 confirms: “Definitely green.”

You and the other participants brush them off. Four of you against two of them—the majority must be in the right.

But Participants 5 and 6 keep at it. New slides are shown, all the same blue, but Participants 5 and 6 insist they’re green. Eventually, you exchange a glance with Participant 3 on your left. Could… Could it be green after all?

What I’ve just described here is a simplified version of an experiment by social scientist Serge Moscovici that examined a type of conformity known as minority influence. How can this be? you may be wondering. How can there be both majority and minority influence? Think of it this way: majority influence relates to the size of the majority, where their overwhelming scale causes us to reason that if everyone else is thinking or doing a certain thing, they must be right. With minority influence, it is the unanimity and consistency of the minority that allows them to influence the opinion of the majority. Although the experiment I have described shows minority influence in a more staged manner, minority influence is crucial to maintaining diversity of thought in our world. It’d be pretty boring if we all behaved exactly the same all the time, wouldn’t it? Hence why it is important for us to listen to opinions that differ from our own, especially if those opinions are ones that challenge the accepted status quo. In short, the power of the minority encourages creativity and facilitates social change!

6. Obedience

“Obedience”? What’s obedience doing on a list about conformity? It’s not so wrong to obey instructions, is it?

In 1963, Professor Stanley Milgram conducted a social experiment to test the limits of obedience. He recruited 40 participants, all of whom were told they were partaking in a study designed to improve learning. Participants were told to administer test questions to a group of “learners” and to shock them with different levels of voltage if they answered incorrectly, with highest voltage being a whopping 450 volts. Unbeknownst to the participants, the learners were all confederates with Milgram and received no actual shocks.

Every time the learners answered incorrectly, the participants obediently shocked them. Even as the voltage increased in 15-volt increments and learners began crying about heart trouble, pleading for help, and begging the participants to stop, the majority of participants continued to shock the learners whenever they were told to do so. In fact, 65% of participants continued shocking at the maximum voltage, to the point where the learner became unresponsive.

The power of authority is frightening, isn’t it? What compels us to follow orders even when those orders conflict with our personal beliefs in what we know to be right or good?

Although this example represents an extreme case, obedience is a type of conformity that we should all be aware of. In some ways, we might think of obedience as the formal version of normative conformity: rather than conforming because we think we should do so, we conform because we are told to do so, often by an authority figure.

Now, I’m not saying we all should stage a coup in our workplaces! Rather, I hope to encourage us to think over the instructions we receive from our superiors, be it at work or in a place of worship or any other situation that involves a type of hierarchy. If we instinctively agree with a set of instructions we receive, we should reflect upon why instead of unquestioningly obeying. Obedience is important, yes, but not to the point of suppressing individual reactions.

And there we have it! Six types of conformity and how they shape our daily lives. Of course, informational conformity may be telling you to trust my breakdown of these definitions because you believe that I possess accurate knowledge. If in doubt, try searching up these types of conformity yourself!

(Most definitions sourced from “The Many Varieties of Conformity,” a chapter in Principles of Social Psychology – 1st International H5P Edition, unless otherwise linked.)

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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.