How to hold your company accountable

Happy Monday, friends! Can someone please explain to me how we’re two weeks into spring and it snowed last week in Chicago? All these years in the Midwest yet somehow the weather still surprises me. 🙄 At least it gives me something to talk about in those awkward 45 seconds of waiting for everyone else to join the Zoom, amiright?

Today’s tunes: In unrelated news, how about those photos of Harry Styles and Emily Ratajkowski “Late Night Talking” in Tokyo…

—Rod

Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Work

The reality: 83% percent of millennials believe an inclusive workplace allows them to feel more empowered and engaged.

Also the reality: All of this →

• Only 3.2% of executive or senior leadership roles are held by Black professionals.

• Women working full-time make about 84% of what their male counterparts do, a stat that hasn’t changed in roughly two decades.

• Two out of five employees have felt discriminated against in the workplace because of their race, gender, or ethnicity.

As it turns out, your company changing the logo to a rainbow every June or posting a single Instagram infographic February 1 doesn’t do a whole lot—for all the talk of how important diversity, equity, and inclusion (aka DEI) efforts are these days, lots of employers have failed to put their money where their mouths are.

So how do we determine what’s the real DEI deal and what’s a load of BS? I’ve pulled in my good friend Natalie Lee, a former HR manager, Love is Blind cast member, and co-host of the new podcast Out Of The Pods, to help us figure out how to hold our higher-ups accountable to create the diverse workplaces we know we want.

The more specific, the better. In life as in ordering your custom Chipotle meal as in sussing out DEI efforts that are legit and not just marketing…specificity is key. Natalie’s take? If a company can’t get really specific about its DEI efforts—and whether they’re working—that’s a 🚩.

• She says companies that set specific goals with tangible metrics are most serious about DEI.

• An example? McDonald’s, which publicly reports its DEI progress—in 2021, the number of women in leadership roles at Mickey D’s increased from 37% to 41%, and the goal is to reach 45% by 2025. And suddenly I feel better about how excited I am for the new McFlurry.

It starts with the top brass. Managers, this one's for you: Two must-have ingredients for a successful DEI recipe? Good leadership and transparency, Natalie said.

• “Employees typically take cues from leaders,” she noted. “So a leader’s visible participation in initiatives is essential in strengthening and sustaining employees’ commitment to DEI across the company.”

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. You can’t retain a diverse and inclusive workforce if you don’t hire one in the first place. Natalie recommends 1) making connections to organizations dedicated to getting diverse groups hired and 2) going through diversity training to recognize and overcome inherent biases.

Gotten this far and realize your company needs to be on Extreme Makeover: DEI Edition? We can help with that.

Don’t be afraid to, as my boss says, run this up the ladder. “It really takes one person asking the right questions to make a change,” Natalie said. So schedule some time to talk to your higher-ups and ask them…

• What are the overall goals of our DEI plan and how are we measuring them?

• Who from leadership is spearheading this effort?

• How will our new DEI plan be communicated to employees?

“Successful DEI initiatives are typically part of the company’s broader business strategy,” Natalie said, and a DEI-forward strategy is a good one: According to McKinsey & Company, the most diverse companies outperform their less diverse peers by 36% in profitability. Your boss can’t argue with those numbers 🤷

Things to Slack your work besties

…instead of jotting down the notes your boss asked you to take in your regroup.

Today I learned that self awareness was the No. 1 skill this ex-Google VP hired for. Today I also learned that 95% of people think they’re self aware…but only 10–15% actually are, and the bulk of us fall into one of these four categories of “self” “awareness.” Put your hands in the air if you’re a true…pleaser.

16 years ago, Rihanna released “Umbrella” and changed the world forever. Five years ago, Tom Holland decided to perform his own rendition on Lip Sync Battle and also change the world forever. Never forget.

Ever since the first time I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I knew I could always count on Jason Segel to deliver. His new-ish Apple TV show Shrinking is hilarious, serious, wholesome, and maybe my new favorite binge.

That’s it for today! Meet you back here Friday for something fun…!

IDK WHAT DO I KNOW?! LMAO!

—Rod