The secret to genuine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

I know it really matters to you.

You desperately want everyone in your organization to be treated equally, have a sense of belonging and feel the utmost respect.

You’ve enacted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to make sure that happens.  

But do you really know how your people feel at your organization? And how do you know your efforts are genuinely working to support true DEI?

This isn’t just nice-to-know feedback. If issues of DEI really matter to you, which I know they do, this is essential information you need to have.

Did you know that DEI issues drive employee turnover?

New studies show that healthcare employees who do not believe their organization values people from diverse backgrounds are four times more likely to leave within three years compared to those who do! (Press Ganey, 2021). 

Yet when DEI is regarded as the sole responsibility of Human Resources, rather than as an integral part of organizational culture, change is not likely to take hold. Efforts to address inequities will not succeed in a broken system. That’s right, your company culture determines whether DEI ultimately fails or thrives. 

And it’s about more than just inserting diversity, equity, and inclusion into your strategies and core values; it’s about understanding other values that may help DEI be authentic rather than just a flavor of the month. 

Your diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives can look half-hearted, or worse, insulting, to those you mean to positively impact if you are not intentionally creating a culture that supports DEI at its core.

While dysfunction in the culture affects everyone, it may be exacerbated for those who already feel marginalized by factors such as favoritism, unconscious bias, or lack of belonging. Trust cannot be built on a shaky foundation. 

Like my Yogi tea bag from this morning said, “Trust creates peace.”

To cultivate lasting and meaningful change, a full array of DEI-focused values must be embedded into your culture. In other words, you must build a culture that supports the strategies you are striving to achieve.

To be serious about DEI, you’ve got to be serious about your culture.

Drive is committed to helping you understand and improve your workplace culture, to make your organization a place where all employees want to be—a place they tell their friends and family about. We are proud to be certified by the Barrett Values Centre for our Culture Assessments, which are specifically designed to reveal numerous aspects of your culture that may support or erode diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

With a Culture Assessment, you’ll garner an understanding of the personal values that drive employees, how they experience the workplace culture currently, and, most importantly, what they believe is essential for your company to succeed in the future. The Culture Assessment is completely anonymous and does not ask for a participant's race, gender, or any other distinguishing detail so employees feel safe answering the questions.

Ultimately, your Culture Assessment findings will enable your company to create a culture with intention, one that allows all employees to thrive.

Culture Expertise

To say we are thrilled to haveAllyn Chamblissas a Culture Consultant at Drive is beyond an  understatement. Allyn comes to us from the Barrett Values Centre with over thirteen years of experience as an Assessment Consultant. During that time, Allyn served a global customer base, helping business consultants to conduct leadership and culture assessments and to clearly understand and work with their results. 

Her passion for the field of culture grew as she led a team of internal specialists, contributed to designing and updating the product suite, and served on the Executive Committee. Her work supported organizations in industries such as healthcare, banking, NPO, NGO, government, and more. In addition to being a certified Barrett Consultant, she is also certified in Appreciative Inquiry. 

If you are interested in learning more about DEI and Drive’s Culture Assessment, just click here to set up a free 15-minute consultation call!