Staying focused on sustaining a culture of inclusivity may be a little more challenging in a remote or hybrid environment, but it is not impossible.  As a matter of fact, DEIB can make the transition to a hybrid environment smoother for everyone in your organization.  Here are a few tips we implement in our client organizations to keep DEIB top of mind in their day-to-day actions whether they are working from home or in their offices around the globe.   

The pandemic will forever be known as one of the most challenging times in our worlds’ history and an event that has forever changed the landscape of our work. Life as we knew it prior to the pandemic would never be the same – personally and professionally for two reasons.  First, many organizations have adopted a hybrid environment with plans to maintain it.  Even though maintaining productivity and engagement in virtual or hybrid environments can be challenging, the benefits are plentiful - No more long commutes for employees, the ability to spend more time with family and friends and having a little more work life flexibility have been what some are calling ‘covid blessings” and represent better work life balance, something that has eluded most of us as we attempt to navigate the complexities of personal and professional life. 

Secondly, a proliferation of high-profile racial injustice cases occurring in tandem with the pandemic created an increased awareness about the impact of racial and social inequities in our client organizations as well as within American culture. As a result, many of our client organizations have renewed their commitment to DEIB and are joining CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion to be apart of consortium of leaders that have a compassion for people and are champion for our important work, and have sought to improve the overall experiences of diverse individuals from hiring, development to retention. 

These two events, the pandemic as well as the rise of the awareness of racial and social inequities, have profoundly changed organizations and the way we work. It has also changed the roles of diversity councils and employee resource groups. It has caused diversity councils to rethink their mission and revitalize their strategies on how to pivot with the business and move the work forward. For employee resource groups, leaders and members will need to level up their innovation on how the group aligns to the business, increases their value proposition and partners with recruitment.

Given that many of our client organizations and many of yours will continue to have some version of a hybrid or virtual model, I would like to share what has shown great results on maintaining a commitment to DEIB in a hybrid or remote workplace, and why doing so is more salient now than ever before strengthening your diversity strategy.

Tip 1:  Be more mindful about unconscious bias. 

Let’s review the definition of unconscious bias.  A bias is a belief that we are unaware of and which happens outside of our control about people. Bias happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgements and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences. Without our conscious awareness, we all developed ways of seeing the world that were shaped by our families, communities, values, the media and a host of influences that causes us to notice and thus value some things more, or less than, others. And this is normal - we all have biases.  The trouble is when our biases result in us favoring those who are like us, and perhaps even disqualifying those who are different from us from opportunities for growth and development within the workplace.  For example, some biases allow us to form stereotypes about people, a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. For example, the stereotype, all Asian people are smart and good at math does not include an awareness of the fact that Asian people excel at a variety of things, not just math. Or, biases can lead to generalization, the act of making general or broad statements by inferring from specific cases.  In other words, you might make a generalization that all older workers don't like technology because you work with an older person who doesn’t want to learn new software. All bias is insidious and particularly harmful at work and therefore must be understood and called out when you see it happening in yourself and in others. 

A relatively new bias to be mindful of in a hybrid or virtual workspace is called presenteeism.  This is essentially ‘out of sight out of mind thinking’ and the tendency to be biased towards the people that match your virtual or physical location.   Many diverse people already report feelings of isolation and lack of connection in physical environments, so it will be important to take conscious steps to make sure that everyone feels seen and heard whether they are in the office or if they are behind the screen.   What can you do?  If you are a leader, make sure you are providing opportunities for all your virtual and physical staff to engage and participate in development opportunities, and not favor one group over another.   Everyone should be sure to check in with colleagues whether in the office or in person.  This takes focused effort and will go a long way towards building a collaborative culture – even remotely.  

While we all have biases, we can be mindful of not allowing our biases to impact our workplace relationships.  This requires a willingness to challenge each other if we see evidence of biased behavior.  Make a commitment to continuous learning about bias, and continue to challenge yourself to examine your conceptions and thoughts about people of different backgrounds as part of your journey to lessen your own bias. 

Tip 2:  Create a sense of inclusion and connection. 

As you know, inclusive organizations make sure all members feel welcomed, supported, valued, treated fairly and appreciated for all the wonderful attributes and diversity that defines them.    People who work within inclusive organizations feel comfortable and confident being their authentic selves, not left out because of their diversity.  Empowering all employees and recognizing their special talents is part of creating an inclusive company.  In inclusive environments, it is easy for people to feel connected to each other and feel they are a part of a larger community. They feel they belong. 

It's important to understand that working virtually may limit opportunities to build important relationships and foster that sense of connection and community with others.   This is very important because many of these connections - typically built in person - can be critical to career success and exposure to opportunities for development and mentoring, for example.  This is particularly important for diverse people.  For example, few Black employees feel that they have access to senior leaders, compared to their White counterparts in general.  Making these connections is very difficult remotely, but not impossible.  Ask yourself how you are staying connected to diverse individuals on your team. If you are a leader, what are you doing to make sure that you are mentoring, sponsoring, and connecting people on your staff with others in the organization that could be instrumental to their career growth?  This will go a long way towards maintaining high engagement of diverse talent and helping them feel supported regardless of where they work.

Tip 3:  Examine the culture of your organization and it impacts on your diverse colleagues.

Did you know that many diverse individuals desire to remain virtual or work in a hybrid manner because they have been able to avoid toxic and non-inclusive environments and micro aggressive behavior while working outside of the office?   In fact, many share that they have been able to positively thrive during the pandemic because they have been able to work virtually.  

Whether you remain virtual or hybrid, having a culture that feels supportive for everyone is critical. This is especially true for diverse talent. In fact, there continues to be a disproportionate number of employees of color, particularly black employees, that are leaving their employers for a variety of reasons, many related to a lack of inclusivity and sense that systemic discrimination and bias continues to make professional growth and equity difficult to obtain.  

What can you do to help sustain a culture where all employees feel supported? It starts with all of us. Self-reflection is a great tool that can play an important role in helping us identify and explore things that may be hidden from our conscious understanding about our culture and how it may or may not support diverse colleagues. When we are proactive in our efforts to examine ourselves and our cultures for signs of discrimination or bias, we can better identify toxic behaviors, unsupportive policies and discriminatory behavior and seek ways to eradicate these behaviors so that everyone feels good about working together.   

Here are three questions you can ask yourself as you reflect about your personal journey to building awareness of DEIB and your role in supporting an inclusive culture.  Whether you are a diverse individual or not, these questions can help everyone proactively build a more inclusive culture. 

1. When I look back on our culture prior to the pandemic, could I have been more supportive of my diverse colleagues?  What have I learned this year about myself, my biases, our culture and the experiences of my colleague? What has gone well and what needs to be done differently moving forward?
2. What am I noticing today about what is going on around me?  Do I notice if people around me feel supported or not?  Do I notice my own biases, and what am I doing about it?  How am I educating myself today about how to be more inclusive? 
3. As I look ahead, what kind of culture do I want to see within my organization?  What can I specifically do to build and sustain a more inclusive culture? What do I need to do more of, do less of, change or revise in my own behavior?  Where do I need to grow and develop to become more inclusive and supportive of my colleagues, my team, and our culture?

Remember, all change starts within us.  What internal work do you need to do to become a DEIB champion?

Tip 4:  Stay courageous and continue to have conversations about DEIB.

Organizations must be committed to creating an environment where all employees feel like they matter and are valued. Show this commitment by creating opportunities to have dialogue about DEIB.  While admittedly it can be very difficult to talk about diversity issues, real growth cannot occur unless we engage in open and honest dialogue about these issues and impacts to diverse people. Seek out resources to learn more about the experiences of those from different backgrounds and cultures than yours. Ask yourself what you can do to be an ally and to demonstrate visible courage and commitment to a diverse and inclusive culture.  With time, I promise you these conversations get easier to navigate.  

Here are a few reminders that will help you engage in fruitful discussions.

1. The only way to address the challenges associated with racism, sexism, and other forms of injustice in the workplace is to be open to experiencing this discomfort in an honest and forthright way.
2. Push yourself to communicate candidly about difficult topics. Accept that you are never going to be perfect.
3. Apologize and admit your mistakes and blind spots, express gratitude when someone corrects you, listen to those who have been injured or silenced, and commit to doing better. Then pick yourself up, go out there again, and do better.

We are in this together. Diversity wins, now more than ever.