Companies everywhere are focusing on recruiting and hiring diverse team members as a core component of their diversity and inclusion goals. Without training managers on how to lead diverse teams, though, are they truly setting themselves up to build inclusive cultures?
DEI Program Don'ts: Avoid These Common Pitfalls to Ensure Effective Training
We have worked with hundreds of organizations, spanning almost every industry type, and ranging in size from less than 20 employees to thousands. We have partnered with these organizations for programs, training, and consulting engagements, and have learned quite a bit along the way about what does work, but we’ve also learned a lot about what does not work, especially for diversity and inclusion partnerships.
Forget Quiet Quitting: Advocate Loudly for Lasting Change
For some of us, the thought of quiet quitting sounds like a far away, unattainable dream. For others, the idea of quiet quitting being a viral sensation causes us to roll our eyes and ask the question (which many others are also asking), ”Isn’t ‘quiet quitting’ just called ‘working’?” Where you fall on this spectrum depends on two main variables: your personal ability to set and maintain boundaries, and the culture on your team at work.
Three Steps to Stopping Collaborative Overload
A few weeks ago we introduced you to the bad side of collaboration: the collaborative overload that has led so many of us into a nonstop burnout cycle before we could realize what was happening. We asked you to take a good, long look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Why do I take on too much? Why is it so hard for me to say ‘no’?” Getting to the root of your “why” is the first step in reducing collaborative overload, so if you missed the first part in this series, start there. Once you understand your “why”, you can begin to tackle your “what” in taking tactical steps to reduce unnecessary collaboration.
Stop Collaborating and Listen To Yourself
Collaboration, on the surface, is good. But the reality is that collaboration and burnout have become inextricably linked. As organizations have become increasingly focused on constant innovation, communication, and output, employees have been required to collaborate with colleagues and external stakeholders more than ever before. Time for deep, focused, individual work is gone – which leads many employees to feel like they can never get anything done. Which leads us to ask the question –
Returning to Work as Caregivers: Insights from Katelyn of Mother Nurture
Mothers and caregivers have unique challenges, and therefore unique needs, to take into consideration as organizations are establishing their “return to work” plans. We invited Katelyn Denning of Mother Nurture. Katelyn is a life coach who helps busy, working moms manage their time, be more present, and truly enjoy their lives. She herself is a mom of three young kids, and has navigated a “return to work” pre-pandemic several times.
Case Study: Ohio Banker's League 2021 Next Gan Conference – Navigating Burnout
The theme of the 2021 Next Gen conference for the Ohio Banker’s League was “Building for the Future”, with a focus on preparing emerging leaders for an industry that is moving forward. The conference was an opportunity for industry rising stars to come together, albeit virtually, to learn, grow, and inspire. Attendees came from all functions of the bank, most relatively early in their careers. All were hoping to come away from the conference sessions with tactical skills that they can use daily to grow in their leadership capabilities.
HCMx Radio Podcast: What's Next for Gender Bias
The HCMx Radio podcast is hosted by Rachel Cooke, Michael Rochelle, Mike Cooke and the Brandon Hall Group Analyst Team, and focuses on innovative, cutting-edge human capital management topics. I (Rachel) was thrilled to have a conversation with Rachel Cooke from Brandon Hall Group about “What’s Next for Gender Bias”.
Watch or listen, here!
Case Study: Cintas WAVE 2021 – Effective Communication
Women Adding Value Everywhere (WAVE) was started 5 years ago as the Cintas women’s Professional Business Resource Group (PBRG). As the Cintas team was planning the WAVE event for 2021, they decided to take a virtual approach to still provide valuable programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our focus for the session was on giving employees a thorough understanding of their personal and professional strengths as an integral first step to creating equitable pathways for communication in the workplace.
Case Study: Guggenheim Partners, Effective Communication
Like most organizations, Guggenheim Partners came to us as they were adapting adapting to the unexpected shift from in-person to remote work. Existing communication challenges had been highlighted, and new ones had been created. In partnership with their women’s network we planned a program focused on building effective communication skills specific to remote work and advocating for oneself and demonstrating value in negotiating.
#StopAsianHate – Allyship for AAPI People
White people, and the United States as a whole, have a longstanding and despicable history of dismissing white violence against Asians and quickly letting it fade into cultural irrelevance. And while the new year did not bring a respite from violence and discrimination against AAPI people, it did bring the opportunity for us all to grow as allies, advocates, and anti-racist activists for AAPI communities everywhere. It did present us with the opportunity to keep our eyes open. To truly see these horrific acts for what they are – discrimination, prejudice, and hate crimes. To turn our outrage into action.
Case Study: Communicating Effectively – International Women's Day with Circor
We partnered with Circor for International Women’s Day – March 8, 2021, the theme for which was #ChooseToChallenge. The theme reminded us that a challenged world is a changed world, and without individuals willing to challenge the status quo (which had led to gender inequity for so many, for so long), things would never truly change. For that reason, our focus in this workshop was on communicating effectively to encourage assertiveness in individuals raising these challenges.
Meeting Women's Needs Today + Planning for Growth Tomorrow: Dress for Success Cincinnati
Dress for Success Cincinnati has been the “first step to a better life” for thousands of women in this community since its founding. The mission of Dress for Success Cincinnati is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help them thrive in work and in life. Join us for this short conversation with Executive Director Lisa Nolan on how DFS Cincinnati has shifted to meet the needs of women during COVID-19, and how they will be able to expand their vision even further with their new location and the TransformHER Campaign.
Case Study: Confident Communications During Job Searching for Xavier University Alumni
The economy, like every other aspect of life, what rocked in unprecedented ways when COVID-19 hit in early 2020. The Xavier University Office of Alumni Engagement (a longtime partner of ours) decided to provide the graduating seniors and alumni community with resources for the daunting task of job searching during an economic downturn. We created this session, Confident Communications During Job Searching, to help them on their job search journeys.
The Future of Work is Flexible. Let’s Ensure it’s Equitable, Too
In December 2020, Mercer released their final survey in a series designed to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace. It asked the question, “How are companies addressing flexibility, inclusivity, and the continued impact of the pandemic?”
The data on flexible working is clear, but while it shows that employers are more focused on inclusion than ever before, culture changes aren’t happening. We have the opportunity to form flexible work practices focused on being inclusive from this point forward.
Case Study: Navigating Burnout Gild Collective Webinar
In December 2020, as we navigated into the new year with a sense of hope about change and evolution out of the pandemic and into the future, many of us felt burned out and overwhelmed. We hosted a public session for everyone looking to go into 2021 with renewed strategies and energy for their goals, all rooted in understanding why their burn out happened in the first place.
This session was attended by people across industries and focused on:
Understanding the foundation for burnout during COVID-19, including the key contributing factors and audiences at greatest risk
Review and discussion of tools for navigating burnout to identify those most effective for each personal situation
Participants left the session with a reframed new of their 2020 goals, especially those which were out of reach due to circumstances no one could have expected. Where it made sense, they reworked and brought those into 2021, with a new attention to navigating out of burnout and into self compassion.
Case Study: Gild Collective Women's Initiative Roundtable
We are taking a bit of a different approach with today’s case study than our previous summaries of client work. Instead, we want to celebrate our Women’s Initiative Roundtable, which we have been producing for over three years locally in Cincinnati. I’m writing about the Roundtable because the main purpose it serves - community - is the thing that so many of us are missing so much right now. While we can’t currently gather in-person with our Roundtable community it still brings great value, and we are excited to see how it evolves in the years to come.
Case Study: Communicating Confidently and Assertively with Ribbon Home
We joined Ribbon to present a Communicating Confidently and Assertively session for the entire organization. It was well attended with an extremely engaged group of attendees, especially their CEO. All of the employees came to the session with a central goal of improving the culture of assertive communication within Ribbon, and with one another.
A Roundup of Expert Career Advice for Navigating COVID-19
No matter where you live – or if your local COVID-19 cases are rising or falling – it clear that as a country we are going to be navigating this pandemic for months to come (if not longer). For many of us, that means that our employers are choosing to continue remote work, or some hybrid form of it, for the foreseeable future. For some, this is great news – we have thrived working in a remote environment. For others, this reality feels professionally paralyzing.
After Watching, Learning, Listening, and Grieving: Action
Over the past few weeks, the nation has turned their intense sadness over the unjust deaths of more and more Black people at the hands of the police into unprecedented action. Like many white people, we, the founders of Gild Collective, have been unsure of how to respond, how to react, and how to move forward as agents of change that elevate the Black community. We have been watching with open eyes, learning as much as we can (including a lot of re-learning what we thought we already knew), listening to Black voices, and grieving for and with Black communities.