Driving Results Case Study: Team Building Through DEI Workshops
What’s at the intersection of leadership development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)? It’s a commitment to cultivating, developing, and supporting people from all backgrounds and walks of life; so that they can unleash their full talents, inspire others, and drive innovation at your organization.
Our workshop series with a large insurance company brought these principles to life. This series, led by Consultants Kimberly Tang and Gloria McConnell, was an opportunity to enter into conversation with every employee -- across multiple teams and three different locations. The scope of the workshop was an acknowledgement of the importance of the topic, and a commitment to engaging people at every level. By holding space for such an inclusive process, this company paved the way for a more resilient future that draws strength from diversity. Read on to learn more about how Success Labs facilitated a structured series that allowed for open conversation, advanced individual and team growth, and incorporated the organization’s team building goals.
Goal: To educate employees on DEI principles, with a structure that let individuals provide feedback and recommendations back to the company.
The company’s senior leadership team sought to include every employee in a conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion – both to educate team members on how DEI informs people strategy, and to invite a set of recommendations that the company can action moving forward. Their goal was to obtain the following results:
Training – each employee would leave with foundational knowledge about DEI, people strategy, and the importance of building a culture that centers DEI principles.
Team building – through spending time in small groups diving into these concepts, teams would grow in trust and the ability to communicate with one another.
Feedback – through the workshops, incorporate a system for employees to bring anonymous, high-value feedback back to senior leadership.
The challenge for our consultants was to make this complex, hugely important topic meaningful for each and every employee, across seven different teams and three locations.
Solution: Invest organizational time into a series of two-hour workshops, over several weeks.
Success Labs’ consultants designed a workshops series that placed particular focus on the organization’s priorities in holding these conversations:
Creating the structure to have in-depth dialogue.
Bringing a new lens to hiring top candidates.
The second point was especially fruitful for teams to explore. As a geographically dispersed organization, where many people are able to work remotely, attracting top candidates from a range of backgrounds and life experiences does not have to be limited by location. These discussions, particularly with a structure in place led by an expert facilitator, can be an opportunity to challenge pre-existing beliefs and expand the range of solutions to a question.
Outcome: The organization will further examine the employees’ feedback and recommendations over the next year, with a specialized committee.
The company has now put out a call for committee members who wish to have a further voice in this process. This group will likely take additional steps to gather more feedback and set additional goals around strengthening the organization’s people strategy. Feedback from the workshops was highly positive – the company’s goal to set aside structured space to have these conversations was a success, with employees reporting that they gained a lot from talking and learning from each other.
I appreciate the open dialogue with my team today. I'm grateful for all of you.
From the start, the organization’s leadership team recognized the need to take a risk, open up conversation, and accept what they would learn from their employees. Our job was to give each participant the space and freedom to get comfortable with discomfort, and recognize the process as a journey. Through facilitation of learning sessions and small breakout groups, the topic was manageable and yielded great insight for strengthening the company’s overall people strategy. As Gloria says, “you can go on the journey… you don’t have to know where you’ll end up.” In this case, an investment in empowering the organization’s voices yielded a more aware, thoughtful, and communicative team culture.
Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to grow leaders, build teams and drive results through great people strategy. Contact us to get proactive about expanding your company’s potential, and stay up-to-date with our latest news and leadership development updates here.