This Developing Direct Reports Conversation Starter is designed to help leaders and managers understand the impact and importance of inclusion in employee development.

The Power of Privilege Exercise is an interactive exercise designed to help participants explore the emotions associated with exclusion and how one can leverage his or her privilege to promote inclusion.

Consider sending a personally addressed letter from your CEO to each veteran thanking him/her for his/her service to “our country and our company.” Here is a sample letter

Sebastian Junger suggests there’s another major cause of pain for veterans when they come home: the experience of leaving the tribal closeness of the military and returning to an alienating and bitterly divided modern society. Listen and engage in an enlightening conversation about how we can created more tribal work cultures that support military veterans as well as all employees.

Many companies have Mentorship programs and Sponsorship programs, some consider the two interchangeable. However, there are vast differences between them and other options to consider, namely Coaching and Advocacy. Coaching, Mentorship, Advocacy, and Sponsorship offer a flexible platform to maximize Talent Management. This suite of options can also help increase the visibility of diverse talent.

The business case for diversity and inclusion is rarely disputed these days. But despite widespread
commitment and investment in diversity and inclusion efforts, most organizations fall short year after year. Here are a few tips to help you close those gaps.

The subject of race can be very touchy. As finance executive Mellody Hobson says, it’s a “conversational third rail.” But, she says, that’s exactly why we need to start talking about it. In this engaging, persuasive talk, Hobson makes the case that speaking openly about race — and particularly about diversity in hiring — makes for better businesses and a better society.

Despite investment and rigorous efforts dedicated to diversity and inclusion, organizations struggle with widespread disparity. This can often be difficult to explain and extremely frustrating on the part of D&I leaders.

Bias can lead to disparity and unfair treatment, can have a negative impact on individuals,
and can erode self-confidence and engagement. Here are some tips for mitigating the impact of bias on your decision-making process.

The Impact of Exclusion Exercise is an interactive exercise designed to help participants explore the emotions associated with exclusion. It provides a safe and fun experience to build awareness and understanding of how exclusive behavior and conversely inclusive behavior can impact coworkers.

In this short video Marshall Goldsmith explains the role we as individuals play in our own engagement. This exercise walks you through a step-by-step process for finding purpose and meaning in your work.

Employee engagement scores are down. As leaders, we grapple with the “why” and the “what to do.” Companies invest millions in employee engagement surveys and consulting services yet still struggle to make significant strides in those engagement scores. Read more below.

We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards? In this fast-moving and very funny talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that, actually, happiness inspires us to be more productive.

Employee engagement is a difficult nut to crack and there is plenty of information and advice readily available. We have culled through a lot of information and research and
pulled together this quick reference tip sheet.

All too often we think it is our employer’s job to keep us engaged at work. However, what can we
personally do to ensure that we take control of our own engagement? Below we provide some tips on how to stay engaged at work and lead a productive, happy career.

Your ERG branding and communications strategy is not much different than any other branding strategy and therefore you can easily apply the marketing mix or 4 Ps of a marketing strategy. Below you will find a template, example and worksheet.

The Inclusion Learning Loop™ ERG Strategic Planning Blueprint is an action planning exercise to support ERG leaders in the strategic planning process. The blueprint and worksheet pose key questions and ideas that must be explored throughout the creation of the annual business/strategic plan.

Organizations support ERGs for many reasons including a commitment to maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace, fostering a culture in which different perspectives, ideas and styles are valued and encouraged, and creating an environment where all employees feel valued and believe there is an equal opportunity to contribute and succeed. Well-integrated ERGs can have a major impact in an organization, which spans four key areas: People, Productivity, Profitability and Community. This document highlights some best-practice examples of how ERGs are supporting the company in these key areas.

This case study highlights the accomplishments the LGBT ERG has had with respect to community involvement, patient outreach and acquisition, quality of patient care, and talent pipeline development.

Organizations have been sharing best practices for decades. While all organizations approach Diversity and Inclusion differently, there are a few key tools and approaches that are consistently linked to success.

This assessment form provides a set of criteria to evaluate current and potential membership organizations.

As a passion-driven group of leaders, DEI practitioners continue to push boundaries, strive for change and positively impact our work environments despite all challenges. To be truly successful in their work D&I leaders must stretch budgets, leverage every possible resource available to them and seek champions in all places.

Leading an ERG can be a challenging undertaking as most ERG leaders need to be adept at leading through influence and getting things done with limited resources. Like with any leadership role, a bit of proper planning, good people skills and creative problem solving can instrumental in your success. Here are a few tips for effectively leading your ERG.

A key component of growing ERGs member base is the engagement of remote workers. Employee Resource Groups are tasked with expanding focus and program offerings beyond the national or central location. Here are some tips for engaging remote workers who are working remotely.

TIAA engaged in a strategic re-launch of its ERGs with the goal of expanding ERG impact beyond awareness building and development opportunities to include supporting the creation of innovative business solutions for an increasingly diverse marketplace. Inline with the ERG revitalization strategy was a need to improve the member experience in order to support membership growth and engagement.  This case study provides an overview of the why, how and impact of the ERG revitalization strategy.

VisionSpring’s Inclusive Leadership Competency Model addresses the concept of inclusive leadership from three main competencies: Leads Self, Leads Others, and Drives Results. This article is the third in our 3-part series and focuses on the competency, Drives Results.

This business alignment conversation starter is designed to help managers and their teams recognize opportunities to leverage diversity – particularly diversity of thought – to improve business results.

There are new studies linking gender diversity and better financial results every year. Read the latest updates. Read more>

DEI cannot be the responsibility of just the DEI practitioners in the organization. Every leader, every manager, and every employee must understand the power in DEI and how to leverage that power to drive business outcomes. Here are some tips to get you started.

The Card Game is a quick 15-minute ideation activity to help participants leverage diversity of thought and the infusion of multiple ideas into the idea generation process. The idea is to have the group, in a round-robin style lend their ideas to a challenge.