Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have rightfully become a ubiquitous organizational priority and, at their best, help build engagement, empower individual creativity and feedback, and create a healthier company or team. But at their worst, they can feel perfunctory and engender a feeling of dissatisfaction and disengagement.
What differentiates these two outcomes? At the Latimer Group, we’ve found that successful DEI training relies on powerful leadership communication: skills that create community, foster trust, and allow employees to bring their whole selves into their workplace.
Like any other type of communication, these principles can be implemented and strengthened by building up specific skills that bring DEI to life. Importantly, company leadership should model the importance of these principles and provide concrete ways for their teams to implement DEI within the workplace. Why? Because, like any other communication, diversity, equity, and inclusion is more than a soft skill; it has a measurable effect on the performance of an organization.
At the Latimer Group, we’ve found it useful to focus on a fourth dimension of DEI: Belonging.
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The Latimer Group’s CEO Dean Brenner is a noted keynote speaker and author on the subject of persuasive communication. He has written three books, including Persuaded, in which he details how communication can transform organizations into highly effective, creative, transparent environments that succeed at every level.