Leaders frequently ask me how to implement DE&I in organizations. Usually, I answer "it depends". This is because there are many ways to start, and the leadership needs to give the tone. Latin America is a region that is incredibly diverse, both in terms of its geography and its population. This diversity can create challenges when it comes to inclusion and diversity initiatives, but it also offers many opportunities. One might say that is a growing number of Latin American businesses that are committed to diversity and inclusion. These businesses understand that a diverse and inclusive workforce is a competitive advantage.

At first, it is essential to understand that there are no formulas or magic sticks. DE&I is an area such as any other in the company, so it needs management. It is necessary to encourage the leaders to learn that there are many challenges in implementing DE&I, especially cultural aspects inside and outside the company, but one step at a time, it is possible to move the wheel.

DEFINING THE ROADMAP:

Overall, there are seven main challenges that cannot be overlooked by leaders:

1) How to start: the decision to have at least one person be exclusively focused on implementing and implementing the new area of DE&I.

2) Raise awareness with the top management to be closely involved and the sponsorship of the CEO. By synchronizing the Executive Team in an inclusive leadership, they can be the ones that lead the change.

3) Communicate well what you are doing. Regular newsletters about the topic, and webinars about challenges, barriers, obstacles, and how to overcome them-for each of them it is relevant to invite one key leader to make the "keynote speech" signalizing his or her commitment. Get employees familiar with this new need, with new concepts for them to be aware of the reasons WHY is important to have an inclusive diverse workplace without depreciative or sexist jokes, and prejudices and learn to overcome resistance. Then, when deciding to communicate to external channels, be sure that you are really talking about your walk. This generates respect, credibility, and Sustainability. As a potential result, you may achieve a shift of mindsets.

"When different perspectives are brought together, it can lead to more creative problem-solving. Inclusive leaders empower their teams, pay attention to psychological safety, and focus on team cohesion. These open the chance to build trust and relationships.”

4) DE&I needs to be aligned with the values and strategy of the company: the message needs to be clear from Top Management in Every local where the company operates. From the Global to the Local Leaders.

5) Review R&S processes to awaken recruiters and managers of their own biases (it can be by implementing guidelines, policies, and campaigns and reinforcing the decision-making based on data.

6) Diversity in the supply chain: still a huge challenge that should be addressed according to the sector in which operates its business.

7) Decision-making for the best strategies (no formula) according to the data, the country, cultural aspects, operations, geographics and so. For this, it is a must to have the best references worldwide in terms of benchmarks, champions, and data analysis. No activity is more important than decision-making. Because business decisions impact many people, exchanging emails, and endless meetings, they are difficult to undo. They are never trivial and sometimes very strategic and in general, involve more than one person. Together they have a huge impact on how a company performs. Most of the time, homogeneous teams make decisions for diverse teams to implement the strategy. Sometimes the teams struggle to put their decisions into action and can mislead the goal. The worst combination is homogeneous decision-making and a diverse team to execute.

The DE&I ICEBERG

Building an action plan according, one might say it is possible to avoid classical mistakes such as assuming that the root cause of the diversity gap is a DE&I issue, promising something impossible, going for best-in-class prematurely, and going for the easy fix. It is easier to provide information on a particular topic or learn skills. However, what differentiates one approach from another is about challenging the resistance on the topic, fear of taking risks, and a Paramount: to make sure professionals understand the reasons why they need this change.

Bitumen on the topic

Depreciation

Fear of taking risks

Reasons why we need to translate.

Despite these obstacles, there are many opportunities for diversity and Inclusion in Latin America. One example is the increasing number of countries that have passed laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

FINAL REMARKS:

Paving the way for DE&I: The key is to know what works the best according to your current situation, sector, real needs, and maturity. Nevertheless, Always remember to say what you are going to implement-implement-communicate how it was. Then, observe the reactions and evaluate the need to change in order to transform the status quo. Budget is crucial.

Governance: diversity intelligence to integrate different countries respecting their differences and establishing clear roles and responsibilities. This is to guarantee continuous improvement and an assertive approach. 

• Inclusive leadership is not about occasional grand gestures, but regular, smaller-scale comments and actions. When people from different backgrounds work together, they are more likely to trust and respect one another. This can lead to better communication, improve effective collaboration, and build safe workplaces.

• Some of the non-measurables KPIs: testimonies from leaders are just as important as the numbers. This starts to happen When people come to you and share their achievements and feel accomplished. This tells us that the Transformation is ongoing.

Finally, companies leading their geography and industry for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging perform better than their market average across a wide range of key performance metrics. The good results popping up are the consequence of all the steps working aligned with different areas in a transversal way. It is a whole package along the journey. Just training the recruiters is important and may change some numbers, but doesn't change a culture. Fostering an inclusive culture goes beyond simply throwing a mix of people together and it does not guarantee the impact of diversity on performance or mindset changes - it is not sustainable in the mid and long term. Employees need to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion into a learning experience for a cultural mindset change.

When different perspectives are brought together, it can lead to more creative problem-solving. Inclusive leaders empower their teams, pay attention to psychological safety, and focus on team cohesion. These open the chance to build trust and relationships. When people from different backgrounds work together, they are more likely to trust and respect one another. This can lead to better communication, improve effective collaboration, and build safe workplaces.

Where do we go from here? Well, the Horizon is over there with plenty of opportunities. Let us together continuously create the future we look for. Care to Join us on this Journey?