Many, maybe even most companies are shying away from a strong embrace of DEI given President Trump’s January Executive Orders prohibiting DEI programs in the federal government or with companies who have federal contracts or companies in the private sector who engage in “illegal discrimination” due to their DEI programs. In just a short time, this White House has shown it will go after businesses and no one wants to experience negative business results because they’re telegraphing their DEI values.
And yet, diversity isn’t only about representation. It’s also about getting along productively. People come from all walks of life; different expectations and communication styles; different ways to resolve conflict; different thinking styles. Regardless of demographics, we’re all different. Without the skills to navigate and support our differences, those differences tend to cause friction in teams which slows down productivity.
So, how do (or should) businesses address that team friction? They should address the team friction by training and developing the skills that support inclusion. In Emtrain’s Culture Skills Framework, Inclusion is a competency supported by fostering curiosity, encouraging empathy, advancing allyship and thinking systemically as the skills that support that competency.
Companies are starting to integrate and weave development of those inclusion skills into their leadership and management programs – because leaders and managers model the behaviors that set the tone and cascade throughout the organization. And as we all know, we measure what matters. So companies are also measuring their leaders’ skills in this area and focusing on those areas where leaders need development to support team productivity. Without inclusion skills, teams will experience the natural friction (and conflict) that stems from differences. So developing strong leadership inclusion skills directly correlates with productivity and business velocity. And at the same time, those inclusion skills will lead to increased representation of different types of people throughout the organization. One strategy that generates two good business outcomes!
Emtrain has a new tool to support this effort; Emtrain’s Leadership Reports. Our Leadership Reports summarize all the employee sentiment about respect and inclusion skills that is captured in our harassment prevention course. Our Report is more granular and focused than the information you’ll receive from an engagement or culture survey and extremely helpful in quickly getting a snapshot of your leaders’ strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their culture skills.
