DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION SERVICES
Gwen, Inc. specializes in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) services for individual leaders, companies, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. Trend data indicates the workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. Prospective employees and the companies hiring them must develop the philosophies, skills and behaviors to ensure this dynamic workforce is recruited, hired and positioned for leadership opportunities. Our company can help you achieve this outcome with these services:
Executive Coaching for Unexpected Leaders
Gwen, Inc. trademarked the term the Unexpected Leader® to describe the unique experience of a leader who upon hire or promotion “breaks the glass/cement ceiling.” In our work, this leader is typically a woman or minority and is not the traditional expected choice for mid to executive level positions. When this happens, it sets off a series of dynamics impacting the leadership experience and perceptions of effectiveness.
These dynamics are:
- Isolation of being the “first and only” in the leadership structure.
- Struggle to gain and sustain credibility which is seldom due to a lack of qualifications but to unchecked microaggression and unconscious bias.
- Personal pressure to pay one’s leadership forward to other Unexpected Leaders in the company.
- Navigating entry into existing leadership circles which are disrupted by the new leader’s presence.
Gwen. Inc. specializes in executive coaching for Unexpected Leaders designed to help create specific strategies for navigating the dynamics of unexpectedness. Emphasis is placed on onboarding strategies for the first 90 days in the new position. Executive coaching engagements are personalized to meet the specific needs of the Unexpected Leader.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Facilitation Services
Companies, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions desire to find ways to demonstrate commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of their work. Gwen, Inc. uses an organization development approach in offering professional facilitation to help achieve this outcome.
Professional facilitation services offered include:
- Creating strategic framework documents to guide decision making about diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Design and facilitation of topic specific diversity, equity and inclusion business discussions for leaders charged with implementing diversity, equity and inclusions initiatives.
- Assistance in creating advisory boards, employee relations groups or community conversations in support of achieving diversity equity and inclusion goals.
Executive Briefings: DEI 2.0 and Leadership
Executive briefings are two-hour educational sessions for executive leaders charged with leveraging outcomes of initial DEI initiatives to yield ongoing greater impact and outcomes in a company or organization. Executive briefings provide a high-level overview of best practices/topics our company recommends leaders focus on when transitioning to new phases of DEI work. During this high energy interactive presentation participants will discuss these and related topics.
- Why Executive and Operational Leadership Matters in Diversity 2.0 Initiatives
- Changing Demographics and Diversity 2.0 Initiatives
- Recruitment and Retention of a Diverse Workforce (Unexpected Leaders ®)
- Success Strategies for Managing Diverse Teams
- Company Strategies for Moving to DEI 2.0
Executive Briefings: Thriving Through Change
- The manager’s role in leading and supporting staff and the organization through change
- The dynamics of imposed and chosen change and how they affect workplace teams
- Specific strategies for helping the workplace team thrive during change
- The attributes of an effective change agent and what this means to members of workplace teams
Executive Briefings: Trust as a Strategic Business Resource
- Factors that lead to a low trust environment
- Behaviors of a high trust culture
- Specific strategic priorities to create a high trust environment
- Methods used to maintain a high trust environment to increase your company’s productivity
High-trust companies “are more than 2½ times more likely to be high performing revenue organizations” than low-trust companies.
Interaction Associates 2015 Study
According to Stephen M. R. Covey, when trust goes down (in a relationship, on a team, in an organization, or with a partner or customer), speed goes down and cost goes up. This is what he calls a “low-trust tax.” The inverse is equally true: when trust goes up, cost goes down, and speed goes up resulting in a “high-trust dividend.”
