Challenge
Our client is an American investment bank serving businesses across the world, poised for significant growth. The company specializes in healthcare and technology.
Racial injustice and its spark for global change inspired our client to establish a robust diversity strategy and agenda. The CEO issued a call to action, eliciting a leadership and business-wide response.
They sought a partner to:
- Thoughtfully explore changes needed around diversity and help them develop a culture to support it.
- Empower leaders and employees to engage in the creation of an inclusive culture.
Whilst our key stakeholders initially framed their challenge as needing to increase the diversity of talent in their recruitment pipeline, employees we spoke with indicated that there was a lot more at stake than hiring people from diverse backgrounds.
The leadership team needed to examine their recruitment processes, employee value proposition, and leadership processes that counteracted diversity efforts.
We introduced equity and inclusion into the equation to explore how their current processes, systems and organizational culture could be improved in order to create a better workplace for all.
Solution
Individuals across the business participated in the YSC Inclusive Culture Diagnostic survey, sharing their perceptions and attitudes around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Leadership and staff interviews, focus groups and employee record reviews provided individual demographic and cultural data.
The senior leadership team received the report and feedback on cultural statistics and diagnostic insight.
- It presented an authentic view of their culture and revealed the gender and racial imbalance in the workforce, especially in leadership roles.
- The team realized their responsibility in building an inclusive and equitable environment for their workers.
- They began the conscious inclusion dialogue and building their DEI vision.
With the endorsement of the senior leadership team, Conscious Inclusion workshops expanded to the entire organization. The sessions helped develop a common DEI language and framework.
The workshops provided a psychologically safe environment for participants to share openly and honestly. Individuals were able to explore their role and responsibility in creating a diverse and inclusive culture.
Impact
The once sceptical and resistant leadership team became motivated to lead change. They understood that:
- DEI should be intentionally integrated with leadership, business, and talent strategies.
- Current leadership behavior, accountability, and HR practices and procedures should be closely evaluated in alignment with their DEI strategy.
In a pulse survey we conducted, 82% of respondents agreed that their organization is making progress on DEI. There was a significant positive shift in respondents’ perceptions that “Business leaders communicate about DEI” (+12%) and that “Diverse perspectives are included in decisions” (+18%) .
Conscious Inclusion workshop attendees committed to their responsibility in growing an inclusive culture. 82% of participants felt the Conscious Inclusion session helped them understand what they could do to make the company more inclusive.
Impassioned by the workshops, several employees volunteered to form a DEI Council. They will help actualize the DEI strategy through spearheading initiatives to increase opportunities and build connections, including partnerships with external groups (mentoring, internships, etc.).
The number of women employees increased from 28 to 32% (with a goal of 38%).
Find out more about Inclusion, Diversity and Equity with YSC...
Diverse workforces, inclusive cultures and equitable systems are the building blocks of thriving and sustainable organizations of the future.
