Assess

Plan

Dialogue

Learn

Communicate

Act

A problem well stated is a problem half solved.

Before you map out your organization's diversity strategy, you have to first articulate where you are today and where you want to go in the future. 

A Needs Assessment enables you to articulate your specific objectives, the internal and external challenges your organization may face in achieving those objectives, and the steps you need to take to translate your commitment to diversity into a reality.  No matter how big or small or your organization is, a Needs Assessment is a critical step in setting forth in the right direction.

We assess workplaces using innovative survey, interview, and focus group tools to provide you with the objective information you need to create strategies that will work for you.  We also examine external factors such as regional demographics, market competition, client demands and best practices to help you understand your needs in a comprehensive manner.

Do you want to know what works or do you want to know what will work for you?  General research will tell you what generally works, but a carefully tailored Needs Assessment will tell you what will work for you.

Before beginning, plan carefully. 

A Strategic Plan for diversity with stated objectives, action plans to achieve those objectives, times frames, implementation tools, delegation strategies, and accountability mechanisms provides you with a road map on how to start your journey, travel consistently in the right direction, and stay the course when challenges surface.

We work with you to create a Strategic Plan that is aligned with and integrated into your organization's overall business plan.  The Strategic Plan is your plan for success in diversity.  Our process in helping you plan successfully for your success is a comprehensive and individualized approach that focuses on leadership, recruiting, hiring, retention, promotion, mentoring, evaluations, internal communications, external marketing and other critical areas that impact the achievement of sustainable diversity.

Without mutual knowledge, there can be no mutual understanding; without understanding, there can be no trust and respect; without trust, there can be no harmony...we have to be willing to familiarize ourselves with the way people of other cultures think and perceive the world around them, but without losing our own standpoint in the process.

The cornerstone of creating diversity and inclusion in any organization is the facilitation of candid dialogue between individuals to create mutual understanding, respect, and trust.  Without dialogue, differences lead to conflict.  With dialogue, differences become fuel for innovation and excellence.

Our Diversity Dialogues empower individuals to have candid, respectful, and productive conversations on differences and inclusion so that they can maximize the opportunity that diverse perspectives bring to any task at hand. 

Our Diversity Dialogues are not traditional diversity trainings.  Before we developed our Diversity Dialogues model, we conducted several research studies on the effectiveness of traditional sensitivity/awareness trainings in legal workplaces.  Our research demonstrates that the traditional models, although successful in many corporations and educational institutions are not effective in legal workplaces.  Guided by this research, we developed our alternative model which focuses on effective sharing of information, awareness, and dialogue specifically in legal workplaces.

We work with each of our clients to develop an individual session or a series of Diversity Dialogues that work for their individual needs and objectives and facilitated throughout the firm or at specific events such as:

In many situations, we recommend that Diversity Dialogues be facilitated by internal facilitators, and we develop a Train-the-Trainer program for you which enables internal facilitators to get trained in our model.

Learn

I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.

Many of our clients who have experienced our Diversity Dialogues are so energized by the process that they immediately ask us: "What's next?" or "How can we keep the momentum going?"

In response to our clients' requests, we have developed a series of Skills Building Workshops that teach individuals how to translate the information and awareness from the Diversity Dialogues into tangible skills that they can use in their daily interactions in the workplace.  The Skills Building Workshops listed below are a representative sample of the carefully researched workshops that we have successfully implemented in many law firms.  As is our philosophy with all of our services, we tailor these workshops carefully for your individual organization.  The workshops are a great follow-up to the Diversity Dialogues or as stand-alone workshops.

Brochures.  Websites.  Intranet.  Extranet.  RFPs.  RFIs.  Conference sponsorships.  Recruiting materials.  Internal memos.  Public relations.  Community relations.  Talking points.  Visuals.  Advertising.  Marketing.  Client development materials.  Conversations.  Presentations.  Annual Reports.

The list of communication vehicles through which your diversity initiative must be communicated is often complex and overwhelming.  The process of translating your efforts in diversity and inclusion into a comprehensive message for all of your constituents can be equally complex and overwhelming.  At the same time, creating a comprehensive communications strategy for your diversity efforts is critical to ensuring a solid foundation in which diversity can flourish within your organization.

We can help you create that cohesive message and work with your internal marketing resources to ensure that you are effectively communicating what you are doing.  We can also help you evaluate the effectiveness with which your message is received so that your communications strategies are appropriately revised.  In other words, we can help you better tell your story so that your critical audiences are actively listening and engaged in your efforts.

Translating commitment into action can be one of the toughest challenges in realizing diversity and inclusion in your organization.  We can assist you in your endeavors by developing and delivering focused presentations, implementing one-on-one coaching, or serving as mentors for you.