Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) trainings are essential for every employee to feel distinct, equal, and included. I had the great privilege of designing the first DEI workshop on LGBTQ issues in the workplace in 1986, and ended up training many thousands of employees throughout North America, England, and the Pacific Rim.
I began at Bellcore, the research division of Bell South and others. Years later, one banking employee from Bournemouth rode the train to London just to tell me how much his workplace had changed since my presentation there. “There are no more anti-gay jokes, and people are coming out and putting pictures of their loved ones in their cubicles.” My straight friend from high school, who worked at the National Security Agency, wrote me on his retirement that bringing me in to speak to the leadership was the highlight of his career.
In the war for talent, to attract and keep the best and brightest people, you must create a work environment in which everyone feels safe and valued. To optimize the effectiveness of a working team, each person must trust that their diverse background and perspective adds to the company’s ability to beat their competition. That’s what is meant by “valuing diversity.”
The bullying efforts to force corporations to drop DEI from all training is based on the belief that everyone already is equal, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training makes the straight, white, Christian man feel self-conscious that they had anything to do with the injustices experienced today. In my 36 years of doing such training I’ve not once received the message that my work was doing anything but helping build bridges between employees — straight, white, Christian males too — by telling my story to them.
The director of the Bellcore division, who required his 2,000 employees to take the class, wrote me upon his retirement to say, “It was the most popular diversity training in my eight years at the company.”
No one needs to feel inferior in order for others to feel equal. Those who are working to shut down the classes insist that DEI stirs up trouble. No, DEI classes help build teamwork. They enable employees to understand how their lives, and perspectives are different and have value. The Equity that’s taught affirms in the eyes of the corporation, everyone will be treated equally. Inclusion means the company’s goal is to have everyone feel included in the work and success of the group.
The NSA and others who are trying to recruit the best and brightest from the top schools in the country need to ensure that new employees will feel that their diversity, such as being LGBTQ, is truly valued, that they won’t feel like second class citizens, and that their opinion and work will matter. If not, they’ll leave the NSA for a company in which what they bring to the table makes a difference.
