How To Turn DEI Rhetoric Into Tangible Results?

As we navigate disruptions and societal change, workplaces where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered have become imperative. Organizations recognize more than ever before the need to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Moreover, studies show that DEI has become a compelling business case where higher diversity and inclusion substantially increase financial performance (Beich, 2022). Nevertheless, despite widespread acknowledgment and the significant amount of time and money spent on DEI efforts, translating rhetoric into action and tangible results remains a formidable challenge for many organizations.

To ensure DEI efforts are successful, the Association for Talent Development (ATD) recommends making it a part of a broader organizational strategy, which means that good intentions are transformed into sustainable behavior change through clear goals, accountability, and success measures. However, for tangible influence and results, more is required. DEI must be experienced in the organization's everyday life, where people feel committed to one another and the organization (2022). In other words, merely promoting inclusion is not enough; individuals must also experience, perceive, and feel a genuine sense of inclusion and belonging – fulfilling fundamental human needs (Kennedy & Jain-Link 2021).

Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy (n.d.) concluded in their case study of Cairn that DEI is not just about organizational initiatives; it requires a shift in assumptions and values toward a culture of belonging. Cairn started by assessing the organization and redefined leadership, how they attract, develop, and retain talent, and how the everyday job is done. They made intentional, continuous efforts and investments in long-term behavioral change.

The organization's journey toward building a culture of belonging is multifaceted, requiring efforts at all levels of the organization. How would you transform DEI rhetoric into tangible results?

References

Beich, E. (2022). ATD's Handbook for Training and Talent Development (3rd ed.). ATD Press.

Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy. (n.d.). Industry Case Study. Oregon State University. Retrieved February 21, 2024, from: https://outdooreconomy.oregonstate.edu/case-study

Kennedy, J. T. and Jain-Link, P. (2021, June 21). What Does It Take To Build a Culture of Belonging? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/06/what-does-it-take-to-build-a-culture-of-belonging

Integrated Coaching: Growth Catalyst Woven Into Daily Work

Today’s rapidly changing landscapes and technologies increase skills and talent shortages. More than ever, businesses must find practical and creative ways to develop their people to attract and retain talent and achieve their growth objectives. Juggling the individual development needs of employees, the organizational goals, and understanding that traditional classroom or online module learning fills only a part of the demand, we need to think outside the box. Let us imagine a workplace where learning is not limited to isolated training sessions but is masterfully woven into daily work. Here, pursuing knowledge is not an obligation. It is a shared commitment to achieve excellent performance.

To meet the challenge, the Association of Talent Development advises organizations to grow talent in the workplace through a learning ecosystem, which allows employees to interact with the personalized learning content, data, and technologies that facilitate and deliver learning experiences aligned with organizational governance (Beich, 2022). Indeed, modern learning ecosystems have proven in practice the potential to enable continuous learning and growth, increasing employee engagement and performance, and can be regarded as a cornerstone of transformative workplace culture. Nevertheless, while its effectiveness depends heavily on the underlying technologies, a key concern is to align the learning with the organization’s vision, mission, and strategy (2022). In other words, how does continuous learning catalyze strategic business growth?

A Case Study: Davines Group

Davines Group, an Italian premium hair and skin care company with a relatively broad international reach, sets an excellent example of expanding the business through learning. A case study reveals how Performance Consultants (n.d.) helped their leaders and teams unlock their potential daily. They enabled a collaborative, purpose-driven, high-performance coaching culture. Results were highly positive, with business growth surpassing expectations. Following coaching conversations, business area performance increased by 55% and turnover by 22%. Business leaders reported an excellent customer loyalty and satisfaction score (+67.5) and efficiency (1328% ROI). The case study reveals that the project was implemented through the following:

• 360-degree impact assessments helped leaders become aware of their leadership styles and define individual objectives;

• Transformational leadership training provided leaders with tools to foster a coaching mindset;

• Leaders received coaching sessions, which started with a debrief on their 360-degree impact assessment feedback;

• Follow-up sessions were held to support leaders to meet their objectives;

• After each step of the project implementation, participant surveys were used to facilitate continuous feedback;

• Evaluation sessions at the end of the project allowed leaders to reflect on personal and organizational benefits.

The case of the Davines Group demonstrates how organizational coaching can facilitate continuous learning, provide employee development, grow talent internally, and raise employee engagement. Inspired by this, let us explore how integrated coaching systems can be implemented to catalyze strategic business growth through two critical areas such as performance and talent retention.

Coaching for Improved Performance

The case of the Davines Group demonstrates how coaching is used to enhance the achievement of an organization’s strategic goals. It is worth noting that Performance Consultants, who led the Davines Group to integrate coaching into their organization, was co-founded by workplace coaching pioneer John Whitmore (1937–2017). His seminal work introduced the GROW model, which provides a framework for the four action-focused stages: goal, reality, options, and way forward (Wang et al., 2022). Besides collecting data that is fundamental for assessing professional development needs and behavior caps to improve an organization’s performance (Beich, 2022), 360-degree impact assessments enabled the leaders in Davines Group to set goals, assess reality in the context of organizational goals, explore improvement opportunities, and decide a way forward.

The effectiveness of an integrated coaching system and improved performance depends mainly on how we train leaders for their daily one-on-ones and foster a coaching mindset and culture. While culture significantly influences how people in the organization interpret events and perform tasks, implementing culture change rests upon organizational trust; therefore, neuro-leadership science advises fostering simultaneously leadership strategies that generate trust, such as (Pittman, 2020):

• Recognizing excellence and celebrating relationships;

• Setting reasonable expectations for performance;

• Providing discretion in performing tasks;

• Encouraging “job crafting” and alignment;

• Communicating, listening, and sharing;

• Building authentic relationships;

• Facilitating whole-person growth (personal growth);

• Leading with integrity and humbleness.

A Key to Well-Being and Talent Retention

Today's organizational landscape is marked by recognizing that trust and employee well-being are critical factors in productivity, innovation, and retention. When Davines Group implemented a coaching culture, their employee well-being and overall satisfaction blossomed – 93% of 80% of employees who participated in the employee engagement survey expressed 2021 pride in working for Davines Group, compared to 2019, where these percentages were respectively 63 and 55%. Their employee retention improved significantly (387% ROI).

The success of Davines Group can be explained by the findings of a recent systematic literature review, which identifies that the key predictors of employee happiness and engagement are employee role, employee skills and career management, supervision support, and social relationships; coaching has here a pivotal role and is essential in enhancing transversal and social skills (Salvadorinho & Teixeira, 2023, p. 2790). Therefore, a technology ecosystem that aligns with the identified predictors of engagement integrates coaching seamlessly into daily work and is supported by a genuine coaching culture, which has the potential to boost employee well-being and engagement.

What Is Your Way Forward?

As we delve into the compelling case study of the Davines Group, the transformative power of integrated coaching systems becomes vividly apparent. The Davines Group demonstrates how coaching, seamlessly woven into daily organizational operations, unlocks potential and propels growth beyond expectations. However, the journey does not end here. Let us ask ourselves – what is our goal as talent development professionals, what is the reality we confront, and what options lay before us?

As we navigate the intricate terrain of continuous improvement and growth, the path forward invites us to foster learning and trust. Consider how your current strategies align with your organization's vision, mission, and strategy. Finally, what actions will you take to elevate performance and retain talent? Let us wove the growth catalyst into the daily work.

References

Beich, E. (2022). ATD’s Handbook for Training and Talent Development (3rd ed.). ATD Press.

Performance Consultants. (n.d.). High-Performance Coaching Culture. Retrieved February 2, 2024, from https://www.performanceconsultants.com/creating-a-high-performance-coaching-culture-davines-case-study

Pittman, A. (2020). Leadership Rebooted: Cultivating Trust with the Brain in Mind. Human Service Organizations, Management, Leadership & Governance, 44(2), 127–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2019.1696910

Salvadorinho, J., & Teixeira, L. (2023). Happy and Engaged Workforce in Industry 4.0: A New Concept of Digital Tool for HR Based on Theoretical and Practical Trends. Sustainability, 15(3), 2781-2809. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032781

Wang, Q., Lai, Y.-L., Xu, X., & McDowall, A. (2022). The Effectiveness of Workplace Coaching: A Meta-Analysis of Contemporary Psychologically Informed Coaching Approaches. Journal of Work-Applied Management, 14(1), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-04-2021-0030

Strategic Change: Creating A Better World With Fries

In a dynamic business environment, organizations must be adept at navigating change to stay competitive and thrive, which requires change managers' excellent management and leadership skills – skillful navigation between complex processes and humans who bring the strategy to life. Inspired by an example from a business, this article explores the critical aspects of managing and leading strategic change.

Beyond Management

Managing strategic change requires skillful planning and execution to achieve specific objectives. The success of change goes beyond traditional managerial functions. It is also about navigating the intricate human dynamics within an organization. Changing human factors always requires leadership. However, as Henry Mintzberg (2019) from Canadian McGill University highlighted, there is no good leadership without good management, and we should not see leadership as superior to management. He also recognizes that there is no successful change management without leadership, which creates a synergy between the strategic vision and those who manage change and drive its implementation.

Success Story: Leading Executives

A case of Agristo, published by Callebaut Collective (n.d.), illustrates vividly the importance of skillfully managing both the technical and people sides of the change, applying both transactional and transformational leadership, which was necessary because of the scope and need for culture change to support sustainable transformation (Whittington, 2023). This company was founded in 1986 and is a Belgian gem, one of the significant players in the potato products sector, generating more than 600 million euros in turnover from sales in at least 120 countries and hiring merely around 1000 employees. They process potatoes into world-renowned French fries, providing the highest quality to consumer brands and private labels on a global scale. Despite an increasingly complex environment, this family-owned business has grown exponentially in recent years. In 2022, the Belgian financial and economic magazine ‘Trends' nominated Agristo as ‘Supergazelle’ – the most substantial growing company within the large company category, and later the same year as ‘Company of the Year.’

How did Agristo do it?

Following is an overview of how Agristo tackled the critical aspects of the strategic change:

• Agristo’s executives exercised self-reflection, asking, “How can Agristo define a supported ambition and strategic plan to ensure its sustainable growth in the future?”

• They thoroughly analyzed the current situation, collecting information about internal and external contexts to gauge the most relevant trends and dynamics. They identified different visions within the organization and the voice of the customer from external conversations.

• Agristo strengthened its strategic position as a reliable private label and consumer brand partner by establishing the end consumer as a starting point for Agristo’s value proposition.

• They created a shared understanding of the desired future, renewed strategy to enable the organization to achieve its expected sustainable growth, and wrote a story of their ambition.

• Agristo’s strategy and story in one-pager made it tangible and enabled clear guidelines for practice and communication.

Finally, they assigned leads to facilitate change implementation projects and set objectives, goals, KPIs, and timelines. They continue monitoring the progress of the strategy and implementation, revising it if necessary.

Agristo’s distinctive value proposition allows it to compete successfully in the market. They provide high-quality products to customers, which can be achieved only through excellent management, processes, balanced control, and transactional leadership. The ‘Technical Team of the Year 2023’ title reveals that they support process excellence but also people to collaborate (Bemas, 2023). However, Agristo’s new growth strategy is to create value and a future for their end customers – indeed, ‘creating a better world with French fries.’ Their people, culture, and vision require transformational leadership.

Insights To Remember

Hence, successful strategic change demands more than traditional management. It involves skillfully recognizing and managing technical and human dynamics within an organization during transition. Leadership is pivotal in addressing human factors and creating synergy between strategic vision and those responsible for managing and implementing change.

The case study of Agristo provides an excellent example of how transformational leadership often needs to be balanced with skillful transactional leadership. Agristo's executives engaged in self-reflection thoroughly analyzed the context and strengthened their strategic position by focusing on their value proposition. They created a shared understanding of the desired future, crafted a strategy for sustainable growth, and translated it into a compelling narrative. Agristo's approach was made tangible through a one-pager, providing clear guidelines for practice and communication. This facilitated shared understanding and ensured the strategy could be effectively implemented throughout the organization. Last but not least, they continuously monitor and adapt their approach and its implementation in dynamic business environments.

Key To A Strategic Change

Successful strategic change requires skillful navigation between complex processes and humans who bring the strategy to life and the ability to think, act, and influence an organization to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Passionate about creating a better world with French fries, Agristo is an example of strategic change, sustainable growth, and excellence. Co-CEO Filip Wallays said the key to Agristo's success was self-reflection – questioning the company's strategy and themselves (n.d.). Likewise, Pant (2023) suggested that for an organizational change to succeed, change leaders must first be capable of changing their behaviors. The path towards each change starts through self-awareness, changing the habits of the mind and behaviors (2023).

References

Bema (2023, March 22). Agristo is Technisch Team Van Het Jaar 2023, A&S Energie Wint De Publieksprijs. https://www.bemas.org/nl/updates/agristo-technisch-team-van-het-jaar-2023-energie-wint-de-publieksprijs

Callebaut Collective (n.d.). From Supplier To Potato Partner: How Agristo Lets Its Customers Thrive. Callebaut Collective. Retrieved November 29, 2023, from: https://www.callebautcollective.com/en/cases/conquering-the-world-with-belgian-fries-at-agristo/

Mintzberg, H. (2019). Bedtime Stories for Managers: Farewell to Lofty Leadership ... Welcome Engaging Management. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Pant, N. (2023, September 20). Leading Change May Need to Begin With Changing Yourself. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/09/leading-change-may-need-to-begin-with-changing-yourself

Whittington, R., Regnér, P., Angwin, D., Johnson, G. & Scholes, K. (2023). Exploring Strategy: Text & Cases (13th ed.). Pearson Education Ltd.