The Cost of Getting DEI Wrong: UPDATED
As a professional corporate keynote speaker, my work continues to grow, and the demand to provide different topics have emerged. I have noticed that many clients begin the discovery conversation focused on having me provide LGBTQ+ speaking topics for their programs to support their employee resource groups (ERGs) or Business Resource Groups (BRGs). As the conversation evolves, it's become more common for clients to want to expand to a broader focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, in general.
One new workshop I designed is called "The Cost of Getting DEI Wrong." In this workshop, I share many findings along with suggestions for building inclusion, whether focused on gender, age, orientation, sex, ethnicity, disability, or race. I continue to update this workshop based on current political and social changes. Inclusion and belonging needs to be support by both leaders, organizations, and their teams.
One study that I came across was by Accenture. In this study, they found that 98% of leaders think employees feel their company is inclusive. Only 80% of employees actually report feeling included in their workplaces. This gap of about 20 percentage points is called the "perception gap”. Closing the "perception gap”, or making more employees feel included, could save employers millions and boost US company profits by a whopping $1.05 trillion!
I frequently share about this study and their findings, especially when my client, in discovery meetings, shares that their executive team doesn't see a bottom-line impact to promoting inclusion, and thinks events and training in this area is a “nice to have” instead of necessary.
These findings from Accenture are compelling and current enough to change the perception of organizational executives, often resulting in renewed or newly-found support to obtain funding for DEI programs.
If your organization would benefit from a keynote, or facilitated workshop on The Cost of Getting DEI Wrong, I am booking programs now. LET'S CONNECT.
Learn more about DEIB consulting with Sarah Scala to support your business strategy and evolving culture.