And Why Your Company’s Bottom Line Needs Purposeful and Inclusive Culture To Stay Resilient

In this series of articles on the alphabet soup of corporate citizenship, I’ve pondered the changes in how we make impact; laid out some history & definitions of some concepts; shared a few examples of small and large companies leading the way; and delved into how individuals, companies and governments are influencing others and taking action.

In this article, I want to address more specifically, how embracing the “alphabet soup” is not about checking boxes and creating costs, but embracing a mindset that strategically manages people and change, and how it actually benefits a company’s bottom line, by increasing employee engagement, psychological safety, and creativity. This in turn keeps companies innovative, and keeps customers coming back.

It’s easy for the cynical to think of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, or sustainability (CS) and social responsibility (CSR) initiatives as marketing costs. Yet, we are humans not automatons, and the majority of us come alive when there’s purpose to our efforts, and when team or corporate goals align with our personal values. In addition, interacting well with community and colleagues is enjoyable and stress-reducing — part of the fun of healthy work environments. These practices also foster trust, patience & curiosity, diverse ways of thinking, innovative solutions. This is an eco-system that is accepting of mistakes and supportive of learning. It leads to comfort in exploring ideas and other’s perspectives, resulting in smoother collaborations — with some authentically curious, solution-building, occasionally stressful discussions, which sideline group think, maintain the goal of building a collaboration, and channel constructive conflict. This…

[Read on at this friends’ link]

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