The Value of DEI
Given our society’s most pressing issues like struggling talent recruitment and retention, conflict, and divisiveness, and lack of employee engagement, Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are now more important than ever. To address these issues, organizational leaders must prioritize how they intentionally create inclusive spaces, recruit and attract the most talented diverse workforce, and overcome systemic barriers.
The Challenge with DEI
Despite this importance, many leaders struggle with implementing DEI initiatives and obtaining buy-in from all their team members. Even when organizations stress how important it is for everyone to take part in DEI work, they don’t empower their employees on how they can advance DEI. In this article, we will outline why it is important to activate your employees based on their strengths and preferences, share the opportunities to engage in DEI work, and how you can utilize communication styles to catalyze your change.
Role Clarity and Individual Differences
Research shows when people utilize their communication preferences and are more authentic, they are more engaged and more productive. In addition, lack of role clarity is a major source of conflict and anxiety in the workplace. While everyone has a role to play in DEI work, everyone does not have to have the SAME role. When we don’t clarify how someone’s role actually helps DEI, we can diminish the impact of the efforts and inhibit progress.
Each of us has different strengths and preferences that play into how we best contribute to work, and when we utilize our preferences, we feel more engaged and into the change initiative. Lastly, research shows that when someone is their most authentic self at work, they are their best professional self. Understanding how to best engage someone based on their strengths and experiences can maximize their participation in a company’s DEI success.
A Tool to Match Individual Strengths
Using T.E.A.M. Communication Styles®, a leader looking to advance DEI work can organize their teams based on their communication styles. Global DEI educator Lily Zheng shared in her book DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right, seven different roles employees can take to advance DEI at their workplace. To help leaders select which team member would be best for each of these roles, you can connect their T.E.A.M. Communication Styles and assign them to the best fit for your organizational needs. If you are not familiar with the T.E.A.M. Model yet, you can read more about the styles here: https://teamcommunicationstyles.com/team-styles.
Let’s Dive in!
T
The first communication style is T or Tell. The T style is focused on results and moving quickly. They are usually the type of people leaders go to when they want something done as soon as possible. While DEI work can take a long time to implement successfully, partnering with T employees can help you advance this area and keep the project moving forward. Two types of roles that a T can have are:
Advocate: This person is the pot stirrer who keeps telling everyone that things have to change. They can be direct about what needs to change and what needs to happen moving forward. They also share insights with leaders on areas of the organizations they are not connected to as often. T colleagues also get stuff done, and your advocate can remind your leadership of what is needed to continue moving DEI projects forward.
Backer: This second role is a highly placed person who can bring legitimacy to the effort. Backers are usually executive-level suite members who inform the rest of the organization why this effort is important.
E
Our second communication style is E or Engage. People with E as a dominant style value creating and connecting since they are people-oriented and can make decisions quickly. E team members are likely to make things move along because they make sure people feel connected to the issue. As mentioned earlier, people are more likely to buy into an initiative when they feel engaged in the process. Here is where your E team member can thrive by helping advance your DEI work. A significant barrier to DEI is fear. If you have your E team members engage people and help them overcome that fear, there will be less resistance to your effort. The two hats that team members can play:
Educator: The educator is the learning strategist who gives people the evidence needed to understand what the problem is. Education is about engagement as we all learn and process information differently. Your E team member can learn best how someone can understand new things and the best way to share with them.
Strategist: This leader is the person engaging stakeholders, helping identify goals, and build trust. Lily Zheng has said, “Trust is the currency of change”. For big change initiatives, you are going to have to be intentionally strategic with getting people on board, trusting the process, and integrating the outcomes.
A
Our A or Analyze team members play crucial roles in ensuring the work actually gets done. With their deliberate decision-making and intentional focus on implementing strategies in the best way possible, an A colleague can organize your DEI efforts for long-term sustainable success. The two types of responsibilities that a member can play are the following:
Organizer: This role is the person who turns intentions into action. They take the information from meetings or multiple different sources and put it all into an organized work plan. DEI work is complex change and your A team member might be best prepared to analyze all the necessary steps required for the work. These roles can be really helpful for DEI committees unsure of who is going to do work following the meetings.
Builder: This person creates the new structures needed to formalize any type of change. Think of the policy changes, new procedures, updated job descriptions, formatted operations manual, and technology systems that need to be built to ensure a new work change is integrated. With their focus on thoroughness, an A team member would be set up for success to support these crucial steps in a complex change process.
M
Our last team member style is M or Mediate. They may be last on our list, but this certainly does not mean they are any less important than the previous roles. Transformative change often is driven by relationships, and DEI is certainly transformative change. Your M team member can help make sure that relationships are strong, which will increase the likelihood your efforts are going to succeed and thrive. In addition, M colleagues can check in with team members to make sure that people feel supported through the change process. Two roles an M can help you advance DEI are:
Reformer: This person ensures that change continues and integrates into the organization. I think of the human resources and culture staff members who help employees across the organization understand expectations, train them, and support them with feedback.
Supporter: A supporter is a role not identified by Lily Zheng, but an opportunity for M team members to play. This colleague empathetically encourages their fellow employees during the DEI change process. They conduct check-ins and provide additional support to members who are struggling with new changes. In this role, an M colleague can help read how people are dealing with the change, identify and resolve conflict, provide support for those confused and resistant, and bring back themes of how people are feeling to the leadership team to address.
For all of these roles, it is important to note these might be preferences based on what is comfortable for them or where they naturally excel. While they are important, it is also important to consider that based on our teams, we might have to flex our strengths in other areas to fill in gaps and meet the specific DEI needs at the time. In addition, each of these roles does not have to be a specific employee title. While some roles are best for certain jobs, employees at different levels and in different departments can take on their roles if supported by their organization.
Authors:
Jonathan Meagher-Zayas (he/him)
Jonathan is a Queer Latinx Millennial nonprofit strategist dedicated to addressing equity issues, building capacity, engaging the community, motivating impact leaders, and getting stuff done. He wears many professional hats, including Fundraising and Communications Strategist, Adjunct Social Work Professor, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Leadership Development Trainer, Social Sector Career Coach, and Equity Champion. He has over 13 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has extensive experience managing leadership development programs and advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives. He is the Founder and Chief Strategist of Equity Warrior Strategies LLC, a consulting company focused on creating change in the nonprofit and social impact sector. We partner with leaders to find the best education and strategies to create an impact at the personal, organizational, and community levels. We help accomplish social equity, leadership development, and capacity-building goals through coaching, learning, facilitation, and strategic planning.
Nicole DamaPoleto (she/her)
Nicole DamaPoleto has been a trainer and facilitator for over 14 years beginning her experience with the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI). She is a graduate of the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities and most recently worked with the Leadership Consortium on developing the training, “Leading Great Teams.” Currently, Nicole works for the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals as the Director of Communication and Programs where she provides administrative, event, and communications management.