Blog

August 30, 2022 – Participants of this month’s Breakfast for Champions learned about the common mistakes in measuring and messaging their organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) plan and explored the most effective ways to measure success. In other words, how do we build trust and bring people along on this journey? 

"DEI messaging is oftentimes not top of mind when thinking about how DEI will be addressed in an organization," said Elizabeth N. Laine, Head of DEI & Talent Development Clearway Energy, presenter for this month’s Breakfast for Champions. Most businesses focus on being fair in hiring, promoting and pay. It’s also important to understand how to talk about DEI. She said that ineffective reporting and poor communication are among the biggest risk factors to a company’s DEI plan. 

Elizabeth said that fear-based communications frequently backfire, creating an inauthentic tone. When the company message doesn’t align with the actions of the company, harm is caused to the organization and its employees. To create communications that align with values, Elizabeth introduced a concept called A.D.E.P.T. It’s a way for companies to bridge the gap between communications and systemic DEI work. 

To learn more about how to integrate communication into your DEI plan, members can access the recording of this session by visiting the resource page.