W. Coby Milne

The need to strengthen workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is front of mind in virtually all corners of our society. Today’s leader knows that making their workplace welcoming and diverse is not just right, it is good for business. This new outlook has also created new challenges. Knowing the importance is not enough. We need to know how to bring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into the workplace in a meaningful way. The reality is, most leaders are not sure where the path to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace starts. Do we start with recruitment strategies? Do we invest in equitable accommodations right out of the gate? Or do we work on trying to be more inclusive in our day to day? Where we decide to start has a lot to do with our organization's priorities, especially when it comes to talent attraction.

Most workplaces want to create an environment that inspires employees to be motivated in their work and engaged in their job. This environment is created by how they communicate, what expectations they set, the way managers lead, what everyone thinks of the company and their job. The result is what we call Workplace Culture. One of the many challenges that come with trying to create a workplace culture that fosters employee engagement and motivation is the lack of understanding about how a strong workplace culture is built. The most common mistake we see when attempting to improve workplace culture is to take a single action, unattached to any larger effort or strategy, and implement it without considering if the current environment will allow the action to be successful. When we try to create change in our workplace, we often jump right in without asking ourselves the question: “What needs to exist first, before this will be successful?”

The world has been going through massive and dramatic transformations and it has been felt in all aspects of daily lives. Our home, our relationships, our health, and our safety, have all been affected. However, one of the largest places that have been impacted is our work. The workforce and nature of work have been slowly evolving for a long time. Technology, expectations of the labor market, environmental sustainability, and automation are just a few examples of the changes we have been dealing with on a steady progression. However, since 2020, things have been pushed from slow and steady, to rushed and imminent. In over 25 years of approaching change management the same way, organizations are only seeing successful organizational change 34% of the time. We are not looking at the full picture when we are approaching change. Our narrow view is costing us time, money, stress, and productivity. This is largely because we are not placing enough focus and effort on changing - The People