The transformation of an organisation is multifaceted. When looking for a top diversity and inclusion consulting firm to partner with on this journey, one needs to ensure expertise within the company is sufficiently broad-based to deal with the complex intricacies of transformation. It’s worth it to do one’s homework on diversity training companies. Embarking on genuinely sustainable transformation is not a short-term commitment. Engaging a top diversity and inclusion consulting firm that is the right fit for your company is, therefore, an absolute must.
Meaningful expertise
So what should you look out for in terms of this assessment beyond references and general credentials? At the heart of any first meeting between the parties needs to be the assessment of intent. A top diversity and inclusion consulting company will not simply be there to make a sales pitch that is impressive and to point out all the advantages of the transformation.
The focus will initially be on understanding exactly where the organisation is in terms of diversity and inclusion, current status, and the current expertise and information used and available as a basis for these assessments. An open and honest discussion will be the order of the first meeting beyond any initial clarity on the fundamentals of what adopting a diversity and inclusion program involves as well as the underlying principles.
The role of a diversity training company is not to dictate what is best for a particular organisation in terms of its diversity and inclusion path. The vision, goals, design, and aspirations of any company need to remain uniquely theirs. A lot of food for thought needs to be shared by diversity training companies during the first meeting with prospective new clients. This ranges from proper diagnostics, research methodology, information collection, analysis, trends, latest findings, potential timelines to working relations, roles, etc.
In essence, a balance needs to be struck between interrogating the scale of the challenge likely to be faced by a particular organisation as well as confronting the realities of what embarking on a diversity and inclusion program actually entails. Often the scale of the endeavor is fairly immense and it is important to approach transformation sequentially with a realistic and measured approach.
Meaningful choices
Diversity and inclusion consulting must never be an experiment given all of the variables and specific characteristics of an organisation. The parties need to discuss specific events as indicators of the true status of diversity and inclusion in the company. Patterns and trends in events will unearth the true nature of what is happening and this will be recognisable to top diversity and inclusion consulting firms allowing them to see and understand what forces are at play.
Root cause analysis is key to plotting a course forward and making legitimate proposals to move organisations forward rapidly in the preferred direction. Systemic structures, as well as mental models within organisations, must be brought to light to enable correct choices and decision-making. The amount of time diversity training companies invest in exploration is, therefore, a good indicator of their worth. They know cookie-cutter solutions simply will not do.
Organisational renewal is at the heart of the agenda. This means that diversity training companies must have expertise in organisation structure, organisational processes, as well as optimal performance frameworks and paradigms. The primary movers of transformation will be acceptance plus the embedding of changed attitudes and behaviour.
Whilst all top diversity and inclusion consulting companies will have a range of change models within their arsenal of professional applications, the truly exceptional ones know that integrity in implementation is everything. Their job is to help unleash capacity and wisdom within the organisation on diversity and inclusion. This enables competency to reside where it has the most impact and influence feeding the lifeblood of each organisation.
