Guest Contributor - Kari Heistad
When constructing a skyscraper, it is of the utmost importance to have properly designed and vetted blueprints. These blueprints serve as the authoritative guide to the thousands of decisions that must be made in order to construct a working, unified building.
Much like the construction of a skyscraper, the task of starting a new diversity initiative requires a carefully drawn up blueprint, or diversity strategy, that provides the ultimate vision for the company. This strategy details the many tasks that must be accomplished by individual employees in order to make the plan a success.
If the diversity strategy is left on a shelf and infrequently referred to, the resulting program can be a poor copy of the original design. Make sure to keep your blueprint for diversity close at hand and refer to it throughout the process of implementation so that the resulting success is the vision that your company had originally conceived.
You also want to make sure that you communicate to others what your plan is doing, how it aligns to the organization's strategic goals and how it impacts their work.
Discussion Questions
- What are some diversity and inclusion-related goals that we want to achieve this year?
- What steps must we take, as individuals and teams, to achieve those goals?
- How can we measure our progress towards them?
- How do we communicate our goals to the organization and who is the best person to do that?
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