Designing and Implementing
DE&I Strategies That Work

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace is a relatively new business imperative. There is a concern for DE&I in all aspects of people's lives, as social media has given people around the world a front-row seat to social and political injustices. Fostering meaningful change and creating a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is a key focus for today's companies.

As DE&I initiatives become ingrained into the employee experience of the modern world, diverse companies also see the benefit of increased profits and more engaged workforces. The World Economic Forum's "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0: A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work" states that "companies leading their geography and industry for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging perform better than their market average across a wide range of key performance metrics." These metrics include:

• Profitability. 25%-36% more likely to outperform on profitability.
• Innovation. Up to 20% higher rate of innovation, and 19% higher innovation revenues.
• Decision-making. Up to 30% greater ability to spot and reduce business risks.

It is more important than ever that businesses take their DE&I strategies seriously. Yet organizations often encounter challenges in their bid to design and implement DE&I Learning and Development (L&D) programs that drive change for their employees, partners, and customers. Many organizations want to invest heavily in DE&I strategies, but the truth is that most do not have unlimited time and resources to dedicate to it. Some also encounter challenges securing executive buy-in and making their DE&I L&D programs relevant and engaging. The key to overcoming these challenges partnering with a company that specializes in helping businesses address these pain points.

HSI Blue Ocean Brain is one such company. Their comprehensive DE&I learning and development offerings provide a valuable resource and guide leaders through uncharted waters. HSI Blue Ocean Brain specializes in microlearning that makes learning and development seamless for L&D leaders and their learners. Focused on providing companies with tactics for helping them make measurable progress on their DE&I goals, its award-winning library of DEI microlearning and other skills-building lessons help foster healthy cultures of inclusion and belonging.

Alongside its microlearning library, HSI Blue Ocean Brain also provides Leadership Briefs, developed to help people leaders act on DE&I and drive important conversations and learning moments with their teams. Combined with the DE&I microlearning content, it helps all employees feel engaged and valued by their leaders.

One company utilizing HSI Blue Ocean Brain's expertise is AWS. As a global technology powerhouse, AWS employs over 100,000 builders worldwide. The size and scope of its workforce makes it critical for AWS to offer an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming environment, but this scale can make it more difficult to achieve. HSI Blue Ocean Brain and AWS overcame this challenge by designing an "Inclusion Pledge" and delivering biweekly inclusion lessons.

To strengthen the impact of the pledge, HSI Blue Ocean Brain designed a customized lesson that builders could take before signing the pledge. Accompanying resources were then available on the HSI Blue Ocean Brain platform for any builder interested in boosting their inclusion journey. Since the pledge launched in July 2022, over 50,000 builders have taken it, and the platform has evolved into an Inclusion Portal dedicated to AWS. Builders receive the biweekly inclusion lessons by email, with links to additional learning. This encourages active participation in DE&I standards and related topics such as emotional intelligence, leadership, communication, mental health and well-being, handling change, and more.

AWS builders around the globe recognize the impact of DE&I initiatives, and the partnership between AWS and HSI Blue Ocean Brain demonstrates how powerful a tailored DE&I strategy can be. By turning to true experts, organizations are confident that they support each employee and create a culture of lasting inclusion.

To find out more about how HSI Blue Ocean Brain is helping companies build leading DE&I learning and development programs, and how they can help your company do the same, click here to schedule a consultation.