We know that diversity and inclusion (D&I) are good for business, and some companies have embraced these principles to move their businesses forward. On the other hand, some industries continue to struggle with challenges from a declining workforce, talent gaps, loss of customer engagement, and other trends, despite the clear potential benefits that could be gained from D&I. In transportation, we know that our industry faces every one of these challenges, yet we are among the slowest to adopt D&I principles.<\/p>\n
In our recent Virtual Roundtable D&I Summer Series<\/a>, we spoke with various professionals on proven strategies to build diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Together with series facilitator, Tremaine Maebry, guest speakers discussed examples from traditional corporate settings, from healthcare, and from the insurance industry.<\/p>\n From his position as Manager in the Office of Diversity and Civil Rights for a Midwest railroad company, Maebry took some time to reflect on what can be learned from these discussions and how we might effectively bring D&I best practices to Transportation. Below are his eight suggestions for moving the needle for D&I in Transportation.<\/p>\n \u201cAs employment professionals, diversity professionals, inclusion professionals, we really need to start talking another language. We need to up our game,\u201d said Maebry. When trying to move D&I initiatives forward, a lot of resistance can arises negative impressions of what diversity means.<\/p>\n Because conversations around diversity can be uncomfortable, people tend to shy away from the topic to the point where many D&I professionals feel excluded in the workplace. In his own experience, Maebry has found that, in spite of his law degree and a dozen years of experience and in spite of his MBA in marketing, people will often disregard his contributions out of hand because of his association with D&I. People assume that someone who is passionate about inclusion is too soft-hearted to do the “real work” of business.<\/p>\n Maebry suggests that D&I professionals talk about what they do in terms that resonate with their coworkers and senior leaders.\u00a0 \u201cI try to use other words that talk about bringing people into the fold. For instance, I say that I am a human capital professional that will help you bring more talent into your pipeline, when talking to organizational leaders about targeted recruiting efforts. Or, I mention mitigating risk factors when developing HR policies and in reviewing current practices.\u00a0 These are things that get their attention,” he said.<\/p>\n In our first roundtable<\/a>, George Watts and Laurie Blazek talked about aligning communication strategies to match the personalities and interests of the people you are trying to reach. Maebry agrees this is helpful and suggests finding the \u201cshiny penny\u201d topics, the issues that are top of mind for the organization\u2019s leaders. From this perspective, the benefits of D&I practices can be related to the interests of decision makers and be more likely to gain support.<\/p>\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Talk the Talk (of senior leadership)<\/h2>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Find the Shiny Pennies<\/h2>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be Intentional<\/h2>\n