In Diversity and Inclusion Matters: Tactics and Tools to Inspire Equity and Game-Changing Performance, award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) expert Jason R. Thompson delivers a practical and engaging handbook for implementing a DE&I program in your organization. The CAPE technique, developed by the author, gives you a clear blueprint and the tools you'll need to make your diversity program a success.
In this book, you'll learn how to achieve early and significant wins to create the necessary and long term organizational change needed for successful DE&I programs. Find out what data you need to collect, how to analyze it, and choose the right goals for your organization. In addition, the CAPE technique will show your progress and ROI.
You will learn to: - Manage and lead a diversity council and implement diversity initiatives in the correct order - Get early buy-in and long-term commitment from a Chief Executive Officer by knowing what to ask for and when - Set appropriate and realistic expectations for a DE&I program with the executive leadership team
Perfect for diversity and inclusion professionals, human resources leaders, founders, business owners, and executives, Diversity and Inclusion Matters will also earn a place in the libraries of students of human resources, leadership, management, and finance.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Foreword xvii
Part One The CAPE Process 1
1. How to Become an Exceptional DE&I Organization 3
Four Shades of Brown 3
The Importance of DE&I Now 5
A Diverse Workforce Will Have Tension 6
DE&I Officers Need a Broad Range of Skills 8
Why DE&I Programs Fail 10
The How: CAPE Foundation for Successful DE&I Programs 12
2. DE&I Fundamentals, CAPE, and Organizational Change 17
Overwhelmed and Needing a Process 17
The Basics of Every DE&I Program 19
3. Data for DE&I 31
Fill the Cup of Others 31
The Illusion and Challenge of Data 33
The Recruitment Data Challenge 37
4. Collect the Data 41
Give a Brown Guy a Chance 41
When to Start Collecting Data 42
What Data to Collect 43
Where to Get the Demographic Data You Need 45
Who Is Being Included in the Data? 48
Respecting Demographic Data 49
5. Analyze the Data 53
Seeing It So Clear Now 53
Using the Data to Know What You Have 54
The How: Analyzing Data to Identify Recruitment Issues 58
The How: Analyzing Data to Identify Retention Issues 59
Assume Competence 62
6. Plan your Program 65
The World’s Park 65
Plan Only after You Analyze the Data 67
Getting Started on Your Plan 68
4-2-50 Program 70
How to Measure ROI in Your DE&I Program 72
The How: CAPE DE&I Plan Template 73
How to Complete the CAPE DE&I Template 74
7. Execute on the Plan 79
Audio Must Match Video 79
E Is for Execute 80
The How: A CAPE Path to Execute 82
Part Two Practical Lessons Learned in DE&I Programs 89
8. DE&I Programs Should Look Like the Company 91
Looking for Four-Leaf Clovers 91
Sports - US Olympic and Paralympic Committee 93
Healthcare 94
Tech - Techstars 96
Education - University of Wyoming, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Western Governors University 98
Organizational Mission Alignment 99
The How: An Organizational Mission- Alignment Exercise 100
9. DE&I Challenges That No One Tells You 105
Whose Mother Are We Talking About? 105
Staff and Budget 107
Responsibility for Things Beyond Your Control 109
Managing Expectations 112
10. When to Get CEO Involvement 115
What Friends Do 115
Setting CEO Expectations 117
When to Involve the CEO 118
Connecting CEO and Leadership Commitment to Diversity 121
How to Get CEO Commitment 123
11. Employee Resource Groups 125
Check Your Bias 125
Employee Resource Groups 127
Define ERG Membership 128
Setting Boundaries for ERGs 130
Establish Communication Guidelines 132
Managing ERG Fundraisers 133
Let ERGs Fail 134
The How: Suggested Rules and Structures for ERGs 135
12. DE&I Committees 143
Focus on the Right Things 143
Why DE&I Committees Fail 145
What Happens When Companies Start with a DE&I Committee 147
Three Simple Rules for a Better DE&I Committee 148
13. Using DE&I Training to Make Organizational Change 153
Trees Just Don’t Happen 153
Diversity Training: Episode versus Series 155
DE&I Training as a Response to an Episode 156
DE&I Training as a Series of Ongoing Trainings 157
CAPE and DE&I Trainings 158
The Two Types of DE&I Trainings 159
Unconscious Bias 159
The ADKAR Model 161
14. Inclusion Practices 167
Don’t Ask Me to Organize the Davids 167
How to Measure Inclusion 169
How the CAPE Inclusion Tracker Works 171
The Fair Pay Solution 174
15. Your Mental Health 177
A Day at the Pool 177
Mental Health for You and Your Colleagues 180
Part Three Things I Wish I Had Known 185
16. Top Challenges for DE&I Professionals 187
Voices Telling You What You Can’t Do 187
The Myth That Diversity Lowers Quality 189
A Hire from an Underrepresented Group Is Not Performing 190
Chain of Command 190
Your Positional Authority 192
Staffing and Budget 193
Diversity Committees 194
Working with Other Departments 195
Efficacy of Résumé Redacting 196
Belonging versus Inclusion 197
Allies 199
Making the Implicit Explicit 199
Bridging the Gap Between Intent and Impact 200
Validating the Experiences of Others 201
17. Jason-isms 203
The Gift of Time 203
The Jason-isms 205
Conclusion 209
Acknowledgments 211
About the Author 213
Index 215
