As companies scramble to action in the face of nationwide protests denouncing racial injustice after the appalling deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, real change will require more than just messages of solidarity.

July 15th, 2020 by the sr4 team

Diversity, equity and inclusion. These words, and the issues they address, are looming large in today’s world. It’s nearly impossible to scroll through the news or social media without seeing a trove of companies highlighting their commitment to diversity and their strong stance against racial injustice. And although less likely, you’ve also probably stumbled upon other examples of mistreatment and oppressive workplace practices, with employees of color openly calling out racist actions in their own organizations.

What’s been made clear over the past several weeks is that issues related to race, equality, belonging, and psychological safety are more important than ever. And they will continue to shape our workplaces for the foreseeable future. Organizations hoping this is just a “hot topic” issue that will fade in the coming months are in for a rude awakening. Simply returning to “business as usual” will not happen. In fact, it’ll be the companies using their influence, voice, and leverage to fight racism and build a more diverse and inclusive workplace that will lead in employee engagement, retention and overall business performance.

While there is much work to be done, we believe there is no better time to dig in and commit to change. Messages of solidarity are great, but they are only the beginning. Thoughtful and strategic actions are needed to address the impacts of racial injustice in the workplace. It'’ll take a long-term investment in recognizing bias and dismantling it to make progress.

At sr4 Partners, we’ve had dozens of conversations with our clients over the last month on how we can better support organizations of all sizes who want to be a part of the solution. Below we’ve outlined our evolving thought process on what organizations can do from a short, medium and long-term perspective to become more anti-racist, stand against injustice, and ultimately create more diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces.

Here at sr4 Partners, our work over the last 15 years has supported companies, both big and small, to lead on organizational health issues relating to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Our approach is to focus on authenticity, belonging and influence, helping companies to shape their short and medium efforts, in addition to their long-term strategies. We are dedicated to life-long learning in this important area...and life-long commitment in order to get better ourselves. You can read about our stand against racial injustice and access a PDF we compiled with recommended resources, articles and ideas to help organizations support Black employees and the Black community at large. As a team, we recently took time on Juneteenth to personally reflect and learn. We made a company donation to a local nonprofit fighting racial injustice, and are offering an employee match for similar personal contributions.

More importantly, we are committing to being a part of the long-term solution by helping companies take action.

So we’re also announcing an initiative to provide pro-bono workshops on cultivating trust and psychological safety for nonprofits involved in racial justice work. (If you work at or know of a nonprofit in this line of work, reach out here).

And for any larger-scale project we take on (regardless of the topic) we will also include a free DEI consultation to better support our clients to lead on these issues.

Lastly, to continue to support organizations, teams and leaders on this important work, we’ll be writing regular blog posts on what we are learning and doing with our clients - highlighting our commitments, thoughts, and insights from a leadership perspective. We hope to share exercises you can use to examine your own understanding of DEI and help you create a strategy for advocating within your organization. Our goal is to create honest conversations starting from the top and a shared understanding of DEI together.

If you’d like to learn more about sr4’s DEI framework, how we are supporting companies or would like information on our pro-bono workshops for nonprofits, reach out to us here.

Cultivating Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Workplaces Requires Long-Term Commitment