Global Grassroots Consulting is a business development consultancy rooted in the values of impact entrepreneurship. In our latest blog post on the impact of social entrepreneurship on society, we discuss how impact entrepreneurship positively effects society as a whole. By serving the community and helping people, businesses are able to make money in a manner that uplifts others. However, it isn’t just businesses that have the power to positively impact others! In a recent video created by our CEO, Ian Shepardson, he discusses how individuals have the power to positively impact people in their community.
One major area that we at GGC focus on, is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Through our business development consulting services (see blog post to learn more), GGC supports several organizations that work to improve DEI within the workplace. These clients of ours are impact consulting agencies that work with their partnering organizations to evaluate current DEI standards. Our DEI clients then provide strategy and implementation support to help their partnering organizations create a more equitable and inclusive work environment for all. Curious to learn about our clients’ work? Check out their websites through visiting Our Clients page on our site!
You may be wondering, “how does DEI consulting create a more equitable and inclusive work environment?”
Problems that a DEI Consultancy Addresses
In order to understand how a DEI consultancy works, it is important to first understand the problems that they address. Today’s society and organizational power construct is majorly white. According to a New York Times article from September 2020, 80% of the 922 most powerful people in America were white. In a truly equitable society, that number would be closer to 72% -- the true percentage of the American population who are white. This does not even account for the disparity between men and women in power. With a larger percentage of white Americans in power, it means that much of the work environment is constructed by white ideals.
What is the problem with the work environment being constructed of majorly white ideals? For starters, White America has a history of discrimination and to think that these issues do not persist today, is to ignore many headlines in the media. Furthermore, a work environment – a society – built off of the concepts of one race, ignores the voices of many other valuable employees who identify with another race. By ignoring these voices, employees feel undervalued, unappreciated and unhappy. This creates a toxic work environment.
In conversations with our clients, and countless other minorities in the workforce, we understand the issues of workplace discrimination to be plenty. Well educated and highly skilled minority employees recount to us times when they felt their opinion did not matter to their employer, simply because of their identity. Patronizing language, biased selection processes for promotion and unequal treatment are all examples of problems that minority employees must deal with on a day to day basis. So how does DEI consulting positively impact DEI in the workplace?
DEI Services: Impact Consulting for Today’s Organizations
A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consulting organization works to address company’s issues of inequality at the core. Many DEI consultancies are led by scholarly professionals who are skilled in reviewing the current setup of an organization, before moving forward to strategize and implement positive changes within. Many DEI consultancies are also led by minority leaders who have personal experience in dealing with the inequalities of today’s work environment. Because they are skilled in organizational development and have personal experience with discrimination in the workplace, they are well suited to create a more equitable work environment for their clients.
From our work with our clients, we at Global Grassroots Consulting have learned a lot about the services that these social impact companies provide. DEI impact consulting is rooted in listening, understanding and non-judgement. It is having open and honest communication with employees and executives to understand the current setup. It is providing instruction to amplify the voices of minority employees. It is creating a more equitable work environment so that the company is more attractive to a diverse applicant pool. At the end of the day, diversity only works if there is equity and inclusion for all.
The Impact of a Diverse Workforce in an Equitable and Inclusive Environment
Companies should welcome DEI with open arms. People from different backgrounds who have different identities, offer a diverse set of perspectives that can positively influence an organization. According to a Hult International School article, “diversity of thought has been shown to breed creativity and drive innovation”; characteristics that are important for the success of a company. Additionally, a diverse workforce affords companies the ability to reach different more, diverse markets. Minority employees are able to provide insights into markets to improve a company’s advertising and sales efforts. With other benefits such as an increase in employee happiness and productivity, it only makes sense for companies to focus on DEI, and therefore work with a DEI Consulting organization.
Reach out to Primed OD and Humanity thru Equity to learn how they can positively impact your organization!
View the rest of our site to learn how we make a positive impact through our business development consulting services.