Is Your Organization Or Institution Struggling To Promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

  • Does your company or institution have concerns about hiring, retaining and promoting staff in an equitable and inclusive manner?
  • Are you seeking effective antiracism training and implementation of policies and procedures to move your organization toward greater racial equity in its practices, policies, stakeholders, and employee interactions?
  • Are staff members, stakeholders or others expressing concerns about a lack of diversity, discriminatory practices or an unwelcoming culture and environment?
  • Has an incident brought to light particular practices or behaviors that represent diversity issues in your organization and—more importantly—disrupted morale  and trust?
  • As someone in a leadership role, are you unsure how to effectively address the bias and conflict undercutting your organization?
  • Do you wish you knew how to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace in which each person felt recognized, understood and respected?

Whether you hold a leadership position at a corporation, start-up, non-profit, university or any other institution, you might feel overwhelmed by organizational deficits in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Perhaps, you didn’t realize there was a problem until an internal assessment revealed deep discrepancies between your organization’s stated values and actual operations. Or worse, maybe a distressing event has shown a spotlight on deep-seated tensions and systematic discrimination, and now your institution is in a state of emergency. It’s also possible that you’ve been keenly aware that your company culture feels unwelcoming to many. You might not be able to pinpoint explicit examples of exclusion, but it’s clear that your organization does not prioritize diverse voices and talents. Or, maybe you have faced clear discrimination or recognized bias shaping your own actions—in fact, you may have firsthand experience on both sides.

One way or another, at this point, you know there is a problem. You just don’t know how to tackle it.

Diversity
Diversity

As The U.S. Grows More Diverse, Many Organizations Are Recognizing Their Blind Spots

It’s extremely common for organizations to struggle with diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s equally common for leaders to feel uncertain about the best way to address those challenges, let alone establish communication and harmony in the workplace.

In part, navigating these issues is so challenging because they often go unaddressed for significant periods of time. Few people are familiar with diversity, equity and inclusion best practices. And, especially if they do not face it themselves, many find it difficult to recognize bias or discriminatory practices within their organizations. It can become so embedded in the organizational culture that the roots are challenging to see—at least until conflict bursts to the surface. By that point, internal and external outrage can make those roots even more difficult to untangle, especially without help.

Even when it remains unconscious, bias almost always leads to alienation and exclusion. Research suggests that diverse teams are more creative, productive and adept at decision-making. This means that many organizations miss out on valuable skills and perspectives, either because talent never has the chance to be hired or employees never have a chance to be heard. The reality is that the United States, as a country, is becoming increasingly diverse. More and more people—from staff members to consumers to donors—expect organizations to be responsive to that diversity in meaningful ways. Thankfully, with expert guidance, you can help your organization foster the equity and inclusion that is so crucial to its productivity and success.

Diversity and Inclusion Consultants Can Help You Create A More Equitable, Dynamic And Productive Organization

At Dynamic Transitions in NYC, we understand how important it is to bring new awareness and solutions to your organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) concerns. In fact, we have over 15 years of experience helping corporations, non-profits, universities and various other institutions transform their organizations into best-in-class models for managing DEI concerns. Further, as a former Chief Diversity Officer for a large academic institution, co-founder and consultant Dr. Richard Orbe-Austin has firsthand knowledge about how to work with senior leaders to facilitate positive change in complex organizations. Today, drawing from our unique perspective and expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices, we help committed leaders like you guide their teams toward change.

Our consulting process leads to sustainable solutions, not temporary quick fixes. To that end, we are highly collaborative and dedicated to understanding the unique concerns of your institution. Once we have a clear picture of the problems you’re facing, we can identify the best means to tackle them.

From there, we’ll create an individualized intervention plan—a diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy that sheds light on any blind spots while building on your organization’s values, strengths and vision. This strategy will be both didactic and experiential, structured so that your team can both learn and do.

It will also include opportunities for on-going assessment, which is crucial for lasting change. We will remain flexible as we monitor our success, adapting to your staff’s evolving needs.

For example, our consulting services might include:

  • Anti-racism training to address racial equity and inclusion issues within your organization & to design an effective action plan
  • A DEI needs assessment, including a cultural climate survey
  • Development of a DEI strategic plan, including appropriate metrics to evaluate progress
  • A series of DEI trainings, designed to meet your organization’s unique needs including an overview of unconscious bias, micro-aggressions, and cultural competence
  • A comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion audit, which examines all facets of your organizational strategy in this area (e.g., recruitment, hiring, onboarding, promotion, messaging, etc.)
  • Interventions uniquely tailored to different populations (e.g., senior executives, middle management, staff, etc.)
  • Leadership coaching for senior executives & managers to enhance skills in facilitating better DEI outcomes
    Guidance in creating a DEI Advisory Council

While working with diversity and inclusion consultants, you can expect to:

  • Safely ask difficult questions of yourself, your team members and your organization, gaining new insights and identifying strengths & areas for further growth
  • Build and deepen awareness of culturally relevant issues & terms such as unconscious bias
  • Deepen your knowledge of best practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Develop a skillset to manage the process of creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace
  • Create a conflict-positive environment, which invites people to share concerns before they escalate
  • Foster better professional communication and conflict resolution, including improved cross-cultural engagement and productive difficult dialogues
  • More completely hear and meet the needs of your team
  • Advance your organization’s overall functioning
  • Generate a clear plan of action to chart progress and success

No matter which specific areas you wish to focus on, you can be confident that our process is engaging and effective. We are adept at identifying strategies to resolve diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns, as well as setting a clear path forward. We have seen organizations enjoy positive change in just a short amount of time, without sacrificing long-term results.

We know that the same growth is possible for you.

You may have questions or concerns about promoting and managing diversity in the workplace…

If your team is willing to have challenging conversations in the interest of the overall organization, you can absolutely effect real change. In fact, throughout our 15 years of consulting work, we’ve consistently seen organizations experience a tangible increase in meeting their diversity, equity, & inclusion goals (e.g., hiring, retention, and productivity), while effectively overcoming challenges in this area.

Once members of your organization identify blind spots and build awareness of unconscious bias, then—with the commitment of the leadership—change can be implemented and sustained.

Research shows that diverse and inclusive teams foster more innovation and problem-solving. Our work has shown us that those findings are absolutely true.

By addressing issues of diversity & equity, and committing to creating an inclusive environment, you are making an investment in your organization overall. You are positioning your organization to be on the cutting edge of talent recruitment and retention. In short, you are creating an opportunity for your institution to be as successful as possible.

Some of your team members might worry that we will not understand their needs. However, as DEI consultants, our purpose is not to come in and tell you what should be done, but to work alongside you as a partner, helping you address those concerns that have brought you to this point.

Our work is to help you capitalize on your strengths and enhance your overall productivity. We respect that you are the experts in your own company culture and goals, and we won’t turn you into a different organization. We’ll simply help you become the best version of the organization you already are.

Support A Thriving, Inclusive Team

Responding to our society’s growing diversity might feel like a challenge right now, but we invite you to look at it another way: as an opportunity for growth and transformation. If you’re ready to help your organization thrive in this area, or if you have questions about the kinds of change that might be possible for you, we invite you to schedule a free phone consultation.

Schedule a consultation today!