Why invite Great Women into the room?...Â
1. Because they impact the viewer.
2. Because they can shift mindsets.Â
3. Because they create inclusive-feeling workplaces.
Research shows simple design interventions - like hanging portraits of Great Women in your boardroom, as RBC Dominion Securities has done here (background image) - can do what DEI training workshops often can't do: have a lasting impact. Research also shows that inclusive, diverse organizations aren't just better places to work. They actually work better. Â
There's lots of data showing how compelling the business case for creating a culture of inclusion is; today's generation of job seekers want to work at diverse, inclusive organizations. Not surprisingly, organizations have been using a variety of tactics and strategies to embed a 'sense of belonging' in the workplace. Â
Meanwhile, U.S. corporations spend more than $8 billion annually on diversity and inclusion training efforts - even though...
research shows diversity training doesn't seem to work.Â
What does work? Simple 'design interventions'... like hanging portraits on your walls of great women who've historically shaped the world - or shaped your company or industry in significant ways.
What you hang on your walls reflects what is valued. It impacts company culture. What do you want your walls to say?
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ââAre the portraits that hang in the hallways of your organization only of past male leaders? Know that this is impacting what employees or students believe possible for themselves.ââ Â
Imagine four people: a banker, an investment advisor, an engineer, and a scientist. If you saw men in your mindâs eye, thatâs no surprise. Most people would. We all have unconscious biases that cause us to imagine men in traditionally male-dominated professions.
Diverse, inclusive organizations are, in many measurable ways, better. Among 1,000 publicly- traded companies in 12 countries, those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 21% more likely to outperform the industry average (McKinsey Report). Culture drives productivity, and overcoming the unconscious biases that are big deterrents to gender-based equality is worth the investment.
How do you make your organization more diverse and inclusive? Companies spend a lot of money every year on training programs that have limited success. However, new behavioral science research coming out of Harvard, and other universities, shows simple âdesign interventions' can have a big impact on organizations.
Choose simple tools to create big change. Just updating the portraits on company walls from 'Great Men' to âGreat Womenâ can change in-house mindsets, and client conversations. It can impact employees' perceptions of whatâs possible. And public perception of what's valued.
