December 22, 2020
By Roberto Aburto and Cindy Kou, Gowling WLG
Repeatedly, we hear the terms diversity and inclusion (D&I) thrown around within the context of initiatives to be undertaken within organizations to improve work culture and client service. Nevertheless, herein lies the problem: initiatives are only meant to be short-term and D&I requires far more than a short-term fix.
In this episode of Diversonomics, our hosts Roberto Aburto and Cindy Kou have a very insightful discussion with former in-house counsel turned chief legal officer, Naveen Mehta. Together, they delve into the common pitfalls organizations face when trying to prioritize diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and new ways in which employers can think of and approach D&I for long-term, sustainable change.
Episode tip:
“We’ll do the lunch and learn. Everybody’s in unconscious bias training. We use Likert-style surveys… God forbid, ethnic lunches! Diverse hiring panels, hiring quotas… All of the research tells us that those aren’t effective ways in which we bring inclusion, belonging and very importantly, something we don’t talk enough about in this space—safety, into the equation.”
— Naveen Mehta, Chief Legal Officer, MESH/diversity