Diversity Month is coming

Two important months are approaching: May as the Diversity Month and June as the Pride Month. Those two are more visible regarding DEI and for the same reason - more stressful for DEI #leaders.

Ideally, Diversity Month is "the 🍒 on top of the cake", a culmination of a year-round commitment to #allyship and inclusion. But often it's also a time when employees get frustrated most with performative actions - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬.

It's not an easy task for DEI leaders to plan #diversitymonth celebrations. As such, it's important to begin by first checking your organisation's intentions and ensuring that your organizational plans align with your consistent, sustainable efforts to remove structural barriers to #inclusion.

If they don't, then it's a structural problem to fix and it won't happen with a series of webinars. It's then time to re-define the little but real you can fully commit to and start from there.

In other case, to ensure a well-planned Diversity Month, consider the following:

🔹 Focus on initiatives that align with your DEI strategy priorities

🔹Avoid reactive initiatives that may come across as performative

🔹Plan with intention and responsiveness to actual needs and challenges within your organization

🔹Consult with Employee Resource Groups (#erg) to ensure that your plans are relevant and meaningful to them. Listen to their feedback and ideas.

🔹If you plan to invite self-advocates from ERGs, ensure proper recognition and compensation for their time and expertise.

𝘐𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥?