Events

"Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Virtual Working Group Series"
Session 1: Facilitating Constructive DE&I Conversations in the Workplace
February 24, 2021 | 2:00-3:30pm (EST) WAIT LIST STARTED

As organizations respond to growing calls for racial justice and gender equality, existing commitments to diversity along these – and other (e.g., age, sexuality) – lines have only grown deeper. While this represents a profoundly positive shift, translating it into action and, ultimately, results, presents new challenges for HR leaders.  Given this, it is not surprising that a recent CAHRS survey found that DE&I is a top priority for HR leaders heading into 2021.  This CAHRS Series of working groups is aimed at helping our partner companies address these challenges and explore how to prepare HR leaders for companies’ reinvigorated approaches to DE&I. Attendees to these sessions include individuals responsible for different aspects of their companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.      

In this first working group in the series, CAHRS Academic Director and William J. Conaty Professor Brad Bell will lead a discussion about how companies are taking steps to help facilitate constructive DE&I conversations in the workplace. The session will begin with a short presentation from Microsoft that will showcase their recent efforts in this space and then the group will engage in open discussion. Some of the questions we may address include:

•    What factors have you found often pose a barrier to constructive DE&I conversations in the workplace?
•    What initiatives have your organization undertaken (or are planning to undertake) to help facilitate more open and constructive conversations about DE&I? What has worked well/not so well?
•    What feedback and data are you using to monitor the impact of these initiatives?


About our CAHRS Series of Working Groups
The CAHRS Series of working groups are designed to examine a particular theme or topic from a number of different perspectives. The other sessions included in the “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” working group series are listed below and can be found in the events section of the CAHRS website.  Individuals are encouraged to sign up for as many of the sessions in the series as match their interests and availability. 

•    Addressing Bias in Internal and External Hiring | March 10, 2021,
•    Building Inclusive Cultures | April 13, 2021,
•    DE&I Analytics | May 6, 2021 

Our virtual working groups are kept small (15-20 participants) to allow for rich discussion and best practice sharing.  Given the limited size of each session, we ask that you only register for a session if you will be able to attend for the duration.  Prior to the session, attendees should give some thought to the questions included in the description, so they are prepared to share with the group.  We also strongly prefer that participants be on camera during the session to allow for more engaging interaction.  If for some reason after you sign up for the working group, something comes up last minute (especially while many of us are working from home), it would be great to get even a last minute e-mail advising us that you cannot attend as we sometimes have a waiting list.