August 5, 2024Articles What are organizations missing when framing their diversity, equity and inclusion strategy? Time and again, studies have shown that organizations that embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) are more successful, can attract top talent, improve employee engagement and enhance customer satisfaction. By all accounts, organizations that embody these values earn a competitive advantage that can’t be overlooked.So why do many organizations continue to miss the mark when it comes to framing their DE&I strategies?Natasha Ferguson, the self-proclaimed “First Lady of Construction” and the first woman to own a full-service construction company in Canada has valuable insights about DE&I strategy from both an employer and employee perspective. Ferguson was recently recognized with a 2024 Ascend Leadership Award for her work breaking down barriers in the construction industry. She has brought attention to the ongoing challenges that exist in creating gender diversity and inclusion in a historically male-dominated sector and made significant impact in bringing more women into the trades. In 2021, she opened the first all-women training trade school, A Women’s Work, which supports women through training, self-esteem programs and career placement. Her construction company, EthelFox Construct Group, funds the organization. A woman of colour in a male-dominated industry, Ferguson recently spoke with us about the challenges she has faced over the course of her career, the value of diversity in the workplace, opportunities organizations have to enhance their DE&I strategies and ways to embed these values in their everyday culture and operations. Hers is a commonsense approach that is underpinned with education and support. Join as a member Represent all voices by including all voicesFor organizations that aim to create a diverse and inclusive atmosphere for all employees, it can be easy to try to be all things to all people. But in doing so, the strategy can go off the rails pretty quickly. “If we tried to please every single culture, that wouldn’t be a very good use of time for an organization,” says Ferguson. “And it may make things very convoluted. The idea of diversity has everything to do with being open to other people, as well as open to different ideas.”Ferguson’s suggestion is rather to create simple changes to the environment to ensure all employees feel welcome. In terms of strategies, she again advocates for simplicity. “That’s an easy one,” she says, when asked how organizations can ensure strategies are truly inclusive and representative of all voices. “You talk to people. You talk to your employees, and you talk to the people that are going to be part of these initiatives – those that are actually feeding into this. Having everybody in the room, voicing opinions and coming up with strategies together.” Join us at our events Communication and education are keys to inclusionFerguson adds that general communication is a major element of creating an environment that embodies the values of diversity, equity and inclusion – and that this holds true on an individual employee level. “Communicating with your upper management, looking at how you can champion and bring them ideas on how to be more inclusive is important. Being of good courage and speaking your word, speaking your truth is something that has always helped me to communicate what I’m feeling.”Ferguson recognizes that unconscious biases play a big role in organizations and can negatively affect efforts at building diversity, equity and inclusion. The solution she suggests involves education – for both those who hold the biases and those affected by them. “Unconscious biases can be very damaging and can affect a person’s mental health,” she says. “So, it’s important to create better brain health – and this doesn’t just go for the people that are being affected, but for the people that are putting out that type of energy as well. Because some of us are taught from a young age how to act towards people – maybe we pick this up from our families – so to reverse that, it takes psychological training and education.”Achieving results, measuring progressBeing a woman of colour, Ferguson reveals that getting ahead has been difficult. “I have always had to work a little harder than my Caucasian counterparts, whether they were male or female. And as a woman of colour, instead of giving maybe 70% – 80%, I have had to give 200%. I always have to be the best, because I feel that is the only way that I will get people to notice me.” This mindset has led to exemplary work and work ethic, and enabled Ferguson to excel in a very male-dominated industry. But it has taken significant resolve and self-belief – and she admits that not everyone has the same thick skin. Still, her advice for others is that while not everyone is going to like you because of who you are or how you look, it’s important to let that go. “I have been able to say, ‘it’s none of my business what you think of me.’ That is a huge phrase for me. How I adjust to situations is purely based on how I’m feeling and what I’m putting out there – because you can’t control what anyone else is going to think.”Although Ferguson is proud of her accomplishments in the face of such challenge, she is encouraged by the progress she sees as a result of more focus on diversity, equity and inclusion programs – which may mean that women and people of colour may not need to fight as hard to feel welcome.“You have organizations like Ascend, and organizations like mine – A Woman’s work – and many others in the non-profit sector that are creating tangible results. But time is the master – we won’t see change overnight. What I do see is the willingness to recognize that diversity, equity and inclusion be an important part of their mandate.” She adds that in the case of her industry, a change has been evident because it’s been necessary. Citing a workforce that has high rates of retirement, she says, “who will build our homes, who will fix our toilets? What happens when you have a leak in your roof if there are no people to do this because you are ignoring an entire gender or undeserved minority? Then it becomes a problem to people’s bottom line. There is now a rush to solve a problem.” And the solution is a greater emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. Still, she encourages organizations to measure their progress to ensure their efforts are moving in the right direction. “Understand how many women you have hired this year and how many people of colour you have hired. How many people have you hired with disabilities? How is your industry doing as a whole? Those are the metrics I would like to see.”Diversity, equity and inclusion shouldn’t be a trend – it should just “be”While Ferguson is encouraged by the movement to greater focus on DE&I within organizations and industries, she doesn’t like to think of it as a trend. “Diversity, equity and inclusion shouldn’t be a trend. It should just be something that is weaved into any organization.” She is also adamant that organizations need to define DE&I. “Everybody is jumping on the wagon of diversity and inclusion – but what is it really? What do they see it as? That’s an interesting question that I think every company should be asked.”At Ferguson’s company, she takes her own advice to heart and makes the workplace comfortable for the people who work there. She creates a balance she did not experience when she was an employee. For instance, she works with many women who have family responsibilities. “So, I start my job sites a little later – not five, six or seven in the morning, because people who have children can’t be somewhere at seven in the morning. Their children are way more important than a job that I’m giving.”It’s commonsense actions like these that characterize Ferguson’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. And what she feels is missing from many strategies out there today. Embodying these values doesn’t need to be complicated – it just needs to be intentional and representative of the voices in the organization. And, any strategy should be underpinned by an element of support and education for all employees – wherever they are on their DE&I journeys. Read more FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn