I help leaders build inclusive teams that are underpinned by Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and Diversity Intelligence (DQ)
So there’s currently a lot of talk about the “woke” agenda and even DEI pushback in some circles - an HBR report also noted that DEI had not changed the status quo at senior levels where 80% of C-Level positions are still occupied by white males. There are also concerns that current cuts in tech will put the sector even further behind on diversity by further reducing the numbers of women and other marginalised groups. According to sifted.eu in Europe for example, while women only make up a third of the workforce, they represent 41% of layoffs since Oct 2022.
For every woman at the director level who gets promoted to the next level, two women directors are choosing to leave their company.
In addition, while this may not apply to all organisations, a recent McKinsey Report ‘Women in the Workplace 2022’ found that for every woman at the director level who gets promoted to the next level, two women directors are choosing to leave their company.
This data is disappointing and after looking into the reasons for this female exodus, I ran a pilot test with some very senior partners at a UK firm in the city. Instead of jumping straight to DEI coaching, I started coaching them on EQ (Emotional Intelligence) to lay the foundations, followed by CQ (Cultural Intelligence), before embarking on DQ (Diversity Intelligence). Why?
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) - Many leaders are taught how to lead others, how to motivate and inspire others, how to bring out the best in others and yet few are taught to look within themselves first. Office culture is often dictated from the top; workers take their cue from leadership. So, whether workers are back in the office, WFH, hybrid, distributed or on a 4-day week, leaders need to be aware that their behaviour, language, actions and expressions all send signals to their workforce in terms of what is/isn’t acceptable behaviour in the workplace
Access to resources - Inclusion is also not just about people. It's also about access to resources i.e if you have remote/distributed staff, do they all have access to reliable internet?
Design – Is your office designed for inclusion? Do you involve your ERG(s) when it comes to office design, fixtures and fittings?
Staff Benefits - Are your benefits inclusive or can some be customised i.e. would a 25 year old prefer contributions towards professional exams/further education over contributions towards a pension plan/401(k)?
Suppliers – Inclusion also extends to suppliers. Are your suppliers treated well or do your staff sit on invoices for more than 30 days? Are suppliers also from diverse backgrounds? And if not, what message is this sending to your staff?
Recruitment – Are you only advertising in the same publications? Are you only recruiting from the same universities? Who is on the interview panel? Do you have diverse perspectives on the panel? At which part of the funnel are your diverse candidates dropping off? Are all candidates asked the same questions to avoid (affinity) bias? Are your on-boarding processes the same across departments?
Office sub-cultures – How do you manage sub-cultures? Do people want to work in accounts but few in Legal? If so, why?
Inclusion? Do you have inclusion at all levels including management? In terms of your DEI metrics, are these broken down by dept and seniority? Although you may have diversity at org. level are these mostly concentrated in 1-2 depts i.e females in HR and/or PR, Asians in tech & finance or do you have diversity across all depts?
Creating inclusive environments - The majority of people only socialise with people from their own or similar backgrounds and the office is often the only time they meet or interact with people from diverse backgrounds. This is why skills and characteristics found in EQ and CQ are very important otherwise people simply rely on stereotypes and other biases to judge others
The Illusion of Inclusion - We often assume that because we see diversity in our offices or countries, that this means we have inclusion. Or we assume because we have wheelchair access in to our building(s), have zero tolerance for discrimination and have team bonding events, that we have inclusion. Nothing could be further from the truth because people from different cultures, backgrounds and identities (including neuro-divergent), often go along with the dominant (office) culture to fit in and/or not offend colleagues or management. Many do not report micro-aggressions because of the often defensive reactions from colleagues or fear of backlash and/or losing their jobs. Leaders with good communication skills (especially listening), who have the ability to see things from different perspectives, are crucial in creating inclusive environments.
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The results of the EQ+CQ=DQ coaching were astounding! Very little pushback, very little defensive rhetoric and instead, empathy. It’s about coaching leaders to become EQ leaders i.e create empathy, before turning to DEI. This what I call the EQ+CQ=DQ inclusion methodology.
Using the EQ+CQ=DQ methodology is often a lot more smoother and a less exhausting process for staff rather than jumping straight on to DEI, when many seem to fear being labelled racist for example or a tick box exercise – a study found that many marginalised staff members did not feel included even after DEI initiatives had been rolled out.
To learn more about EQ+CQ=DQ, please visit my website (see links below), which you will find useful topics to review:
Diversity Intelligence - https://www.executiveglobalcoaching.com/diversity
Emotional Intelligence – https://www.executiveglobalcoaching.com/emotionalintel
Cultural Intelligence – https://www.executiveglobalcoaching.com/culturalintel
If you wish to discuss the EQ+CQ=DQ methodology, please feel free to reach out to me by email or, on LinkedIn.
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