leadership Archives - Peter Lofrumento

Mistaking Diversity for Inclusion (and what you can do about it)

I was surprised by the invite to meet about Diversity & Inclusion, since the company had previously earned kudos from industry colleagues and such mainstream publications as DiversityInc and GreatPlaceToWork (owned by Fortune Magazine).

However, once our meeting started, the reason for it became quickly apparent: like many companies of similar size (5,000+ employees), it embraced diversity. Their senior managers adopted policies, initiatives and tools to increase levels of diversity among its global workforce. But they mistook their robust diversity program for inclusion, and were now facing the challenge of how to best maintain their diverse workforce.

In other words, how to create a more inclusive environment for diversity to thrive.

Too often, managers fail to realize this distinction; having diversity in your workplace does not mean it’s also inclusive. For sure, diversity is important to attract top talent and drive innovative results.

But there exists a certain asymmetry between diversity and inclusion: hiring for diversity without creating an inclusive environment is less likely to be successful over time than promoting a culture of inclusion before hiring for diversity.

Think of it this way: it’s one thing to invite people to the party, and quite another to get everyone to dance.

You have to make the dance floor accessible to all, set the right mood with lights and decor, and certainly, pick the best playlist.

This is what inclusivity does: it helps foster and maintain diversity within your firm.

Intuitively, we know this makes sense: if a company fails to be inclusive toward employees, especially those whose skills, characteristics and experiences differ from those of everyone else, the company will find it difficult over time to recruit and retain them.

But if your firm has a reputation for being inclusive, it’s more likely that someone from a different background would be willing to join your team.

As a practical matter, then, inclusion is the process of putting diversity into action, and requires working cross-functionally (C-suite, Human Resources, Legal, Sales, Communications, etc.) to create an organizational culture where people from all backgrounds feel informed, part of the process (valued) and ultimately, work with a sense of belonging.

Here are several of the best practices we used to help our client promote a more inclusive work environment. Hopefully, they will assist you to do the same:

1) Start With Your Employees

Create an internal communications campaign that not only informs about your diversity initiatives, but also helps employees to understand their role in them and in the company’s overall culture.

Simply issuing edicts from the top won’t work. All too often we see this top-down approach and nothing more. Memos from the C-suite drive compliance, not commitment. From managers to rank-and-file employees, everyone must understand their role in your company’s culture.

For example, including employees in your recruitment process will not only provide you with a broader view of what potential employees may bring, but will make your staff feel valued and that their opinions count when making important decisions for the company.

2) Measure, Measure, Measure

Diversity training is now commonplace at most firms. But are you measuring the effectiveness of these programs and acting on this data?

A good starting point is an employee survey to determine whether they’re seeing improvements in inclusion. The goal here is to fully understand the trouble spots in your company, then put in place initiatives to address them. Use this approach to review your company’s key touch-points, such as recruitment, promotions and leadership. How inclusive are they? How do your employees perceive them?

3) Evaluate Inclusion

Don’t treat inclusion like a school elective.

If you do, then so will your employees. Right now, they’re focusing on the skills they perceive as necessary to get ahead: financial, technical, pleasing their bosses, etc. If your incentive system doesn’t recognize inclusion as a necessary skill, employees will likely ignore it.

If, however, you treat inclusion as a desired skill, then employees will see it as necessary to get ahead and will learn it.

To begin, consider evaluating your employees based on how well they moderate discussions to make sure everyone has a chance to contribute, share opinions and give colleagues proper credit for their work.

The Takeaway:

Hiring a diverse workforce is not enough. True inclusion as a hallmark of the workplace experience is what allows employees to feel valued and represented, leading to more diverse hires that stay, grow and thrive.

An easily understood and truly participatory inclusion policy enacted at all levels of your company not only serves as a business driver, but as a way for your company to connect with its increasingly diverse workforce.

And if you do that, then you’re on your way to creating a culture of belonging that allows employees to realize their full potential.

Time to get up and dance.

REMOTE TEAMS: 3 Effective Managing Strategies During COVID-19

// by Peter LoFrumento Leave a Comment

For many CEOs and managers, COVID-19 has catapulted their businesses into a forced global experiment of working from home.

Companies are now scrambling to change the way they conduct business. In fact, how to set up an effective remote working environment for your team has not only become essential, but in many cases, existential.

Case in point: we were recently hired by a multinational B2B brand to help their executive team adjust to this new day-to-day and codify best practices that facilitate remote high-performance teams.

Here are a few tips about what works and what doesn’t when managing remote teams. Hopefully, these will help you to maintain a successful business and keep your employees connected and inspired.

1) Communicate! I know, obvious, right? But you’d be surprised how often we get wrapped up in our own heads and forget about our people until we need answers.

What’s most important here is keeping a steady rhythm of communication that’s right for your team or company.

For example, daily check-ins with team members help in more ways than one: they allow you to know what everyone is working on, and what direction they’re headed. The latter is key to ensuring projects are done on time. And certainly, the morale boost you can give your remote team with a casual conversation can’t be overstated.

Remember, interaction with your team is more than just communicating. It is about sharing ideas and discussing new projects. Try some team-building exercises, such as having them list a few facts about themselves, or even just talk about their likes and dislikes. The goal here is to get your team to interact in this new remote environment and to know each other better.

One note of caution about emails: It easy for managers to simply rely on emails as their main channel of communication. The last thing you want is for your team to get hammered with nonstop, nonessential emails. Pick your spots.

Key takeaway: the more often you effectively interact with your team, the more trust and sense of collaboration you build, which is essential for achieving goals.

2) Relate! COVID-19 has taken health officials, governments and all of us by surprise. It has restricted our movements and closed schools. As a result, we are all stressed.

And your employees, who may have never worked remotely, now find themselves having to do it for the first time.

This adds up to being a significant transition and an adjustment for everyone.

As a manager, practice empathy. Try to understand these dynamics from their perspective and anticipate potential problems. Be proactive. Talk to your teams and see how they are doing, and that goes beyond simple work issues. Try to make sure they have what they need to get the job done. Establish regular one-on-one calls with department heads to review any obstacles or challenges they are facing. This could also be very helpful in identifying team-wide problems.

3) Time Management: As challenging as it may be at times to ensure office-based meetings are productive, doing them remotely can take this challenge to another level. To be most effective, consider the following in your preparation:

* Choose the right platform: whether Zoom, Livestorm or GoToMeeting, the last thing you want to do is frustrate your team by wasting time on something that doesn’t work very well for your needs;

* Set the schedule: it is important to set expected work hours. Create a specific time frame for when employees are required to be responsive and check-in with each other. This can be your normal business day hours;

* Agenda: be sure to have an agenda that you can alert team members to ahead of time;

* Stick to your plan: keep things moving along. There’s nothing worse than a meandering conversation that’s hard to hear during a video or phone conference;

* Tools: consider using project management tools like Trello to help you track projects and tasks with ease. These allow for your team members to add their tasks onto the relevant projects/boards, ensure tasks have deadlines and create a system where your employees can comment on any project roadblocks;

* Finish: end the meeting promptly and make sure to summarize your key takeaways; and

* Follow up: send a post-meeting email that summarizes these key points in writing

Here’s the unspoken truth: managing your teams remotely can be as easy or as difficult as you make it. The secret is preparation. These challenging times don’t have to be about fear and panic, especially in your organization. Certainly, there’s a lot out of our control, but there are things you can still do.

You can lead.

And that means creating new structures and routines that enable your employees to quickly adapt to the remote workplace.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or wish to share any comments.

Becoming a Better Entrepreneur

// by Peter LoFrumento Leave a Comment

5 Brief Tips from Legoland

“Madness is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.” (The Joker/Heath Ledger).

And nowhere do you see this more than with children. In particular, my godson. A precocious five-year-old, he can go from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds.

Case in point: he recently attempted an epic jailbreak from the confines of his New York City apartment. The discord started as a debate between him and his dad. It was time for dinner, but he wasn’t ready to give up on building his Lego Death Star. Unable to persuade his dad of the merits to assembling his soon-to-be Lego masterpiece, he declared he was leaving. For good.

He retreated to his closet, grabbed his Star Wars backpack and proceeded to fill it with dozens of color-coordinated Lego pieces, his toothbrush and a juice box.

Unfortunately for him, opening the heavy apartment door proved too much of an obstacle in his excited state and he tripped over his own backpack. Now sitting in the doorway, he began kicking his legs up in frustration.

“Well, that was a short trip,” his dad said, trying not to laugh. At which point, my godson looked up and began to giggle through his tears. A big hug, some dinner and a completed Lego Death Star later, and peace was once again restored throughout the universe.

For me, this slice of life contains several helpful tips for bettering ourselves as executives and entrepreneurs:

Pace yourself and remember not to react in the moment

Especially when things don’t go your way. Frustration is normal and setbacks are part of growth. You’re more likely to choose the wrong course of action in the heat of the moment. Remember, the slower you go, the sooner you get there.

Preparation, not desperation

Once you decide on a course of action, ensure that you and your team have the resources necessary to help you carry it out (just don’t forget the toothbrush and juice box).

Obstacles vs. Challenges

View obstacles as challenges. In other words, see them as valuable learning experiences and never give up because of them. Remember, in business as in life, perceived adversaries may actually be the ones who help you achieve your goals.

Mentors

Similarly, mentors come in all shapes and sizes. Warren Buffet had Benjamin Graham, Steve Jobs had Robert Friedland, and Richard Branson credits his parents. Recognize relationships that are important to you and work to keep them alive.

Don’t Forget to Laugh

A cliché perhaps, but work to maintain your sense of humor. It will help you keep perspective and prevent you from succumbing to Chicken Little Syndrome (the sky isn’t ever really falling).

Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is what’s optional. Be open to the wisdom you find in everyday life, even from kids, and you’ll avoid the kind of gravity that drags you down.

leadership