Dolapo Agbede FIMC, ACIPM, LDS’ Post

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Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Expert I Transitions Coach I Tech Enthusiast I Inclusive Etiquette Coach I 360 Safety I Culture Transformation I Board Member

I have been in so many closed and open door strategy meetings where the major focus has been DEI and how the organisation or the governing body in question can become more inclusive. The questions have always evolved around - How do we become more diverse as an organisation? - What diversity programme should we do? - What Initiative should be carried out? - How do we reform our hiring process to be more inclusive? - How will diversity impact our bottom line? - This is a separate conversation. While all these questions are important and show the heart of the organisation to be more inclusive, the focus of DEI should largely begin internally with the leadership. Programmes are good but if the leaders of an organisation have not set a vision and an accountability path, the true business gains of DEI will not be achieved. DEI is not a short term project. It is beyond ticking a box or filling a quota. It’s about creating a space where EVERYONE can thrive. Leaders must be the ambassadors of their organisations DEI initiatives. #DEI #leadership

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Tosin S.

AI, Digital & Business Transformation |Business & Enterprise Architect | Empowering Organizations to be AI-Ready |Requirements Engineering | I help Organisations Build Scalable Digital Solutions

7mo

Beautiful question... A good bottom-up question would be: "What diversity verticals do we have in this organisation and what do they actually want/need?" One thing I have seen many organisations do is to either hire more of a particular gender or race, or create generic programmes for a particular gender, race or colour... However, these people usually have different aspirations... Eg a black man in West Africa has a different approach/perspective to issues as opposed to a black person in the UK, the US or the Caribbean... A young single lady has different aspirations or desires versus a mother of 2, returning from her 2nd 3-6 month maternity. I can go on and on.. But hope this helps....

Kemisola Obembe ACIPM, MNIM

Secretary to the Vice President Finance @ African Development Bank Group | Cross-cultural communication

7mo

You are right, it can no longer be termed as a short term project but one that has truly come to stay. Organisations need to start projecting their buy-in by actually creating a Unit with actual Staffing, that is committed to doing this. They need to come up with policies based on area of need, we will not lump things together. What is a DEI issue in the West is not what obtains in Africa, our diverse nature should inform the initiatives that apply best to the issues at hand.

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