Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2021 - 15

DR. KRISTAL WALKER, CPTM
DIVERSITY AND
INCLUSION
3 LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE
IMPROVEMENT
Companies don't become great by
accident. It takes creative, committed
and skillful people to do exceptional
work that results in exceptional
customer experiences. This level of
performance may come naturally to
the highly engaged and motivated
employee, but not necessarily for
those who feel ostracized or lack
access to the resources they need
to be productive. So it is no wonder
why companies who don't invest
in diversity, equity and inclusion
training experience periodic
performance challenges.
Over the last 18 months, organizational
leaders
across
most
industries
have been challenged with keeping
employees safe while improving
inclusivity. These leaders are relying
heavily on individual and team
performance to handle day-to-day
operations. As a result, stakeholders
are going back to the drawing board
to
strategize new ways to achieve
business goals, manage talent and set
new performance expectations. The
best way to do this is to redefine what
success looks like at the individual,
team and organizational levels.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
As basic as this sounds, individual
performance begins with a job
description. A " one-size-fits-all " approach
will only sabotage any possibilities
of a successful onboarding. It is
imperative to be intentional about your
processes from start to finish. Modern
employees are looking to examine the
heart of the organization even before
considering applying.
If
the
employment
ad
does
not
present a welcoming culture,
the odds of attracting a diverse
pool of qualified talent increases
dramatically. The same goes for the
job description. If the responsibilities
seem notably different for individuals
from marginalized populations or if
the task that these employees are
expected to perform don't position
them to add value to the company in
any way, the recruitment stakeholders
(i.e., human resources and hiring
managers, etc.) could possibly be
setting the employee up for failure.
That failure might resemble untimely
resignation, disengagement or some
level of toxicity. When performance
expectations are designed with
individual diversity, equity and
inclusion in mind, leaders are less
likely to have employees with
performance issues.
TEAM PERFORMANCE
Even with
the
highest level
of
collective organizational goals, it takes
great team effort to accomplish them.
Bruce Tuckman - who identified the
four stages of team development
- described how team formation
will eventually lead to a storming or
conflicting stage, before the team
aligns on performance norms. If this
is the case for teams in general, how
much more might the team experience
- or even prolong - the storming
stage when certain members don't
feel welcomed, valued or supported.
They will be less likely to see conflict
as a healthy way to initiate creativity,
but rather disengage and ultimately
perform the bare minimum. The
challenge is to find ways to even the
playing field for every member of the
team regardless of their background.
INDIVIDUAL
PERFORMANCE
BEGINS WITH A JOB
DESCRIPTION.
ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
There's tons of research that describes
an organization's potential to be
successful when diversity, equity and
inclusion are woven into the fabric
of the organizational culture. Yet,
there still seems to be a disconnect
with obtaining genuine buy-in from
some
organizational leaders. The
reality is that we may never come
to a complete consensus. Despite
these challenges, there are some
practical things that
organizations
can do to improve performance at the
individual, team and organizational
levels. Whether it's stepping back
to ensure larger goals are clearly
communicated, job descriptions are
more aligned to these larger goals or
simply managing team expectations,
performance improvement starts with
a willingness to do the work.
Dr. Kristal Walker, CPTM, is the vice
president of employee wellbeing at
Sweetwater. Kristal is also a facilitator
for
Training
Industry's
and Inclusion Master Class. Email
Dr. Kristal Walker.
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
| 15
Diversity

https://www.trainingindustry.com/wiki/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/glossary/onboarding/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/continuing-professional-development/master-classes/building-diversity-inclusion-training-programs/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/continuing-professional-development/master-classes/building-diversity-inclusion-training-programs/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2021

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