The DE&I Depot

Deloitte is reaching out to Black people who left the firm to assess their experiences while they worked at Deloitte in order to improve the talent experience for Black Deloitters now and in the future. Is this a good step? What do you think will come of this? Deloitte

TRUE OR FALSE? In your workplace, raising concerns about unfair treatment, discrimination, or harassment tends to make things worse for the person raising a concern and put that person’s opportunities, role, reputation, and/or job at risk.

What would you advise in this case?

This is a safe, judgement-free,anonymous forum for seniors, leads, managers, partners, & principals to ask questions & get support around workplace situations which may have a DE&I component. This is also a place where leaders can learn more about DE&I without fear of asking “the wrong” question or saying something which will get them labeled as a “racist” “ignorant” or “insensitive” in the workplace. If you are providing answers/info, be informative & kind to everyone who posts questions here.

DE&I is now a core leadership competency. If you are managing diverse talent, it’s important to understand what the term “privilege” means within a DE&I context so you can lead your team to higher levels of inclusivity+develop optimal strategies for solutioning around team issues/challenges. Everyone has some aspect of privilege depending upon the context. Privilege means the absence of obstacles/barriers, not necessarily the presence of perks. Though some would say *that* itself is a perk.

Do you know what "BIPOC" means? What about "LGBTQ"? What about "mysogynoir"? As a leader, it's your job to know. Get thee to google, my friends! 🙂

Do NOT claim you are "colorblind" in the workplace. 1. DE&I knowledge is now a core leadership competency. Colorblind claims will earn you the reputation of being DEI-ignorant at best & racist at worst. 2. Colorblindness within the context of workplace diversity is an obvious lie. You do NOT want to be painted as an intellectually dishonest leader. 3. Colorblind claims signal that you lack the leadership skills & vocabulary to have key conversations. Ask questions here, in this safe space.

You CAN be that leader that people want to work with. 1st, self assessment is required. Be honest: As a leader,have you engaged in/accepted Attribution Bias with a dash of gender &/or race bias? (See the pic) This is something we all need to be aware of as we lead our teams, provide performance feedback, & model the behaviors we'd like to see more of on our teams. Be on the lookout for Attribution Bias in yourself & on your team. It's a hindrance to creating a high-performing, inclusive culture.

When you encounter an unfamiliar name, do you laugh or say it's hard to pronounce? Here's what you can do instead.