Big Changes in 2019: Racial Equity, Learner Journeys, and Transparent CEOs
By Shilpa Pherwani, IBIS Principal
As we look ahead to a new decade, I’m eager as always to stay on the cutting edge and to begin working on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in a new way. The DEI field evolves rapidly as people build new levels of understanding, consciousness, and empathy, and yet it is needed more than ever as bias and discrimination remain painfully, persistently, everywhere. With more of this work being global, we need common dynamics for our focus.
Below is what I envision to be the next iteration of work for the 2020s.
1. Bias Awareness Is Growing, But Deeper Dialogue Is Needed
Unconscious bias has long been such a hot topic. We’ve seen real success in raising people’s awareness, but as people have gotten more comfortable with the idea of bias, they sometimes miss the opportunity to go deeper. It’s time for meaningful dialogue on issues where we haven’t seen the needle move enough – like race. A client request for racial equity dialogue and assessment helped us put this topic front and center.
2. The Importance of Action-Oriented Allyship
I was excited about our program on allyship because it took people beyond bias and focused on action. I was thrilled to see that repeat assessments truly measure results. For example, one client saw a 22% increase in employees who understood the business rationale for DEI from 2016 to 2019. This shows that consistent hard work in DEI communication is key to driving real change.
3. Global DEI Work Resonates Across Cultures
As an immigrant from India, our global work with a large technology company is so close to my heart. One exercise we used, called Power of the Person, was tweaked for every location and resonated deeply with everyone. Although biases appeared different on the surface in places like China, Prague, Argentina, and Germany, the dynamics around exclusion are universally similar.
4. CEOs Are Embracing Vulnerability Around DEI
Several CEOs this year expressed fear around DEI, asking, "How can I be vulnerable as a leader and show I’m also learning?" The best thing to do is show your vulnerability. Be transparent and make it clear that you are learning alongside everyone else.
5. DEI as a Sustainable Learning Journey
A final trend this year is the emphasis on sustainability in the DEI learner journey. Training alone may not always change culture, so we must ask: What’s the follow-up? How will we measure impact? Can we help learning translate to action? Training must be seen as part of a broader learning journey to truly drive change.
On that note, here’s to more great ideas in 2020. I want to thank each of you, and wish you growth, peace, and transparency in the new year.
Shilpa Pherwani, the principal of IBIS and a leading expert in diversity and inclusion, has been guiding global organizations for over 16 years on leveraging diversity as a business advantage. An organizational psychologist by training, she partners with organizations to effect sustainable organizational change by conducting cultural assessments, developing comprehensive strategic diversity action plans, and designing compelling and interactive classroom-based and online training.
