Creating an inclusive culture throughout an organization is not easy. Yet, when done well, it can have a lasting and positive impact. Are you looking to move the needle in your organization? Creating awareness and understanding is a great first step on the learning pathway towards building a culturally intelligent organization.
Medical research proves that everyone has bias. No exceptions! Bias creeps in where we least expect it — in hiring and selection, promotion decisions, when selecting high-potential talent for emerging leader programs, and in succession planning to name a few places. Unknowingly, we create barriers especially for individuals with visible diversity (gender, ethnicity, age) and those from underrepresented groups. Knowing this, we need to be intentional to manage our unconscious (and conscious) biases in order to attract, retain, and promote the top talent to and within our organizations.
Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) decided to do something about it. Just recently, RNDC had 11 of their HR leaders participate in an in-house Unconscious Bias Certification, a program that provides a scalable, customizable, and effective approach to managing unconscious bias in the workplace. We asked RNDC why they choose CQC’s Unconscious Bias (UB) Train-the-Trainer Program. They quickly responded that they have been evaluating training products on diversity awareness because they want to enhance their understanding of the effect of unconscious bias on workplace performance and engagement. Their plan is to build out a phased training plan and take a strategic approach to facilitating the Unconscious Bias workshops across the organization. They are also planning to have the remaining HR leaders become certified. An HR leader at RNDC shared, “We want to ensure the importance of diversity and inclusion is reflected in all of our business practices at RNDC.” Thank you RNDC for working hard to strategically move the needle in your organization!