Dawn Burke HR

“There are champions of “diversity” and there are champions of a “demographic”. We need to be more concerned when something happens to one of us; it’s really happened to ALL of us. Being a champion of diversity means being a champion for everyone across ALL inter-sectionally, not just the familiar” — Candi Castleberry Singleton, VP of Intersectionality, Culture and Diversity – Twitter.

My professional HR relationship with diversity initiatives has always been, “meh.”

For that reason, I was thrilled to attend the “Beyond a Corporate Initiative: Making Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Real For Employees” panel at WorkHuman 2018. The panel included some mighty star power including Candi Castleberry Singleton, VP of Intersectionality, Culture, and Diversity at Twitter; Barbara H. Whye, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer and VP of Human Resources at Intel; Willard McCloud III, Global Lead of Diversity & Inclusion and Culture at Pfizer; and Barbara Williams Hardy, Global Head of Global Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Netapp.

I was sincerely inspired by this panel. To understand, you need to know more about my “meh” relationship with D&I initiatives, which I imagine that some of you have had too. It was not for lack of believing in their human value nor for a lack of believing all should be given equal opportunities to work, live, and be respected. My “meh” HR relationship was driven by the feeling that no matter what HR “did,” the task at hand was too big to tackle, too time-intensive, and, frankly, would drive limited results.

More importantly, I’m not sure I related enough to the stereotypical demographics affected. I’m a white woman. Yes, women are included in the “stereotypical” group, but to date, I hadn’t felt any professional pain because of my gender. How could I relate enough to lead diversity programs? Frankly, I didn’t feel I belonged.

The panel’s insights, given to a packed crowd, made me sit up in my seat. A D&I work theme loudly heard was that in addition to giving the oppressed a “voice,” D&I is also about creating safe workspaces for ALL to belong. For if one truly feels they belong, they can be their true selves. When you are your true self, you have more courage to speak your story to others. That’s the magic.

Belonging is a human issue, not just a demographic one. This was very powerful to me and to the crowd. So much so, I regretted not having this revelation in my earlier HR days, where the story I had in my head of “not belonging” in the diversity world was really off-base.

The panel also agreed that the issues we are seeing in society (#metoo, Charlottesville, transgender equality) are impacting diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. For new generations of workers are demanding companies to respond to social injustices in a very public way. This is new territory for stereotypically risk-averse corporations. They will need to navigate these waters now, or risk talent acquisition and retention problems in the future.

In the end, the panel hit home that no initiative or program, whether diversity-related or not, succeeds without the help and support of all. And for those leading D&I programs, it’s time to get clear on who your programs are championing. If your answer is not “all,” you may need to reframe your purpose towards creating a culture of belonging.

>>>This post was originally published on Globoforce’s WorkHuman Conference Blog.  To learn more about Globoforce and the WorkHuman Movement — click on the links.  Also, to continue the WorkHuman conversation, join your peers on LinkedIn by visiting workhumancommunity.com.

 

Hello Friends!

I am going to be covering the SHRM National Conference this month in Chicago, IL (yes, one of my fav states).  Since I go, speak, and write for a lot of conferences (I’m a nerd), I want to share some love with you.  I mean, we know HR pros and leaders need to sharpen skills to handle the modern organization.  Take a little time for yourself (for a change) and get your learn-on.

Here are four speakers I have seen whose sessions I recommend you attend at SHRM18.  They have smarts coupled with research.  They are entertaining and will keep your attention. They have books! So go see them. Pronto. Tag these on folks on your SHRM18 App asap.

• Tim Sackett
• Cy Wakeman
• Jamie Notter
• David Rock

To read all the reasons why — you must check out my full piece originally published On the SHRM Blog.  All of the links to these speakers and their sessions are just a click away.

Also, let me know if you are going! Let’s hug it out —

Hey Gang! 

If you are a leader of Culture, Engagement, HR, Learning and Dev, don’t miss this one.  I’m happy to host this webinar:  L&D “Selfies”: How To Customize Programs To Make Employees CEO of Their Careers.  This one is brought to you by the great folks at Clear Company and HR.com. 

This one is Thursday, May 10th, 1pm – 2pm Eastern Time (12pm – 1 pm Central).

REGISTER HERE : ) 

Today, all generations in the workforce are smack in the middle of the “i” generation. From the iPhone to Amazon, our world is tailored to individual needs. New ways of receiving information (Facebook, anyone?) have also changed how we absorb information. That includes how employees interact with learning and development programs within the workforce. 

Join me, to examine how we should be empowering employees to drive their own development. She’ll discuss how this method is not only what most modern employees want, it’s also key to retention and engagement of your top talent. 
  
We’ll Discuss: 

• What makes up the modern “career”
• How developing leaders has risen to the top of executives’ priority list
• The top current ways adults absorb information
• New employee-driven learning and development techniques that not only teach skills but also drive employee engagement
• Why creating great employee experiences, including learning and development programs, is critical for success

REGISTER HERE and NOW: 

https://www.hr.com/en/webcasts_events/webcasts/upcoming_webcasts/l_jgcqg36j.html

Rebels are few and far between.  But when they stick, they stick.

Rosa Parks, David Bowie, #metoo leaders, Galileo, the Star Wars Rebel Alliance, Abe Lincoln, and the rebels in the Paris Uprising of 1832. (OK, they lost, but we got Les Miserables). There is something these rebels have in common:  They take action. They do something. They don’t talk, they do.

And now, with the rise of the internet, we’ve witnessed in real time, our latest rebels – the modern worker.  And this has been very good. Freedoms afforded all through social channels, including instant access to knowledge and the ability to vote through “likes” have become the norm everywhere.  Everywhere, except the workplace. This has been very bad. But never fear, we’ve got a new bunch of rebels changing that. Corporate leader/rebels that have decided to do something to make the workplace a better and more profitable place to work.

These “rebel companies” are highlighted in a new book I a happy to introduce, Build It: The Rebel Playbook, For World-Class Employee Engagement.  Written by Debra Corey and Glenn Elliott of Reward Gateway, they have used their expertise creating employee engagement solutions as a basis for their “Rebel Playbook”.

Why is this important? The playbook spells out to us curious, yet time-crunched “trench HR” pros, how 59 “rebel companies” took baby steps to create engagement cultures. From McDonalds to VaynerMedia, and Krispy Kreme to Brewdog, there are plays for everyone. Did I mention the book spells this out for you.  Did I mention, baby-steps? It makes the impossible, possible.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Debra Corey, and very much liked what she had to say.  She’s what people in the South refer to as, “my people”. A trench HR vet herself, she has worked for the likes of big players like the Gap in addition to smaller tech companies – so she’s seen most everything.

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Debra stated, “The companies represented are big and small.  We didn’t just want (to highlight) the “biggies” on purpose.  That being said, all who created successful engagement experiences had a few common themes:

• They had a strong rebel driving the change.  Sometimes is was HR, sometimes other leaders, but they said things boldly to get attention.
• There was support from leadership.
• A majority of the companies saw connection between employee engagement initiatives to the total company engagement experience — including the customer experience”.

Although Debra is seeing a shift in a less “risk-adverse” HR culture, there are still pros that enjoy their place as risk mitigators and rules regulators. This is OK.  “However, some of these people may not be your workplace “rebels”.  These may not be the ones who will lead a cultural shift that centers on employee engagement”.  

Personally speaking, as an HR vet and someone who has read the book, I feel the “non-rebels” will still benefit from The Rebel Playbook. The best risk mitigation is to create an engaged workforce, one that understands the purpose of their work, feels they are being heard, and are connected to the organization.

So go get the book!  It’s a fun, practical read that will be worth the $10 Kindle price! That’s the cost of 2 Starbuck’s Tall Flat Whites. Then let me know what you think. Then be on the lookout for more of my posts about The Playbook, Debra and employee engagement topics.