In building and maintaining diversity and inclusion in the workplace and beyond, communication is at the root of it. In last week’s #AlwaysLearning LinkedIn Live, Dr. Leann Pereira, Senior Director of Organizational Psychology at Emtrain and Nicolette Kalbfell, Senior Communications Specialist, discuss the importance of how effective communication translates to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Verbal and Physical communication go hand in hand
Due to social media, now more than ever a company’s viewpoint and opinion on different societal issues is extremely transparent and needs to be to stay present with everyone around them. Therefore, when a topic or social issue comes up, companies need to take a stance on the matter to show their support for their employees. This is where communication ties into diversity and inclusion. Leaders are responsible to make all their employees feel welcomed and appreciated, despite their age, sexual orientation, race, cultural background, disability, etc. However, what’s even more important that Pereira and Kalbfell emphasized is showing action in addition to their verbal stance. It’s one thing for a company to say to the public that they support, for example, the LGBTQIA+ community, but it’s another to actually do something to show genuine support.
Check out the blog post on Drive Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (DEI) with Current Events.
Posing vs. Genuinity
“Communication goes wrong when a company tries to join a conversation when they haven’t done their homework,” says Kalbfell. It’s easy to post a tweet or share something on LinkedIn, but a company must understand the meaning behind the point they are making. This idea leads to genuineness. When a company truly believes and supports what they are saying, it will be shown through their actions and how they treat employees.
“It’s the little things that end up making a big difference for other people,” Kalbfell says. There’s always going to be a population of people that don’t agree with what’s being said, but those who are in the minority and who haven’t been accepted in the past are the ones who need that support and appreciate it so much more.
To continue learning about best practices to implement Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, check out Emtrain’s on-demand webinar on Integrating DEI into the Employee Experience: https://emtrain.com/resources/integrate-dei-employee/
Check out the full conversation below from #AlwaysLearning Linkedin Live
