| | JUNE - 2023MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionINCLUSION IN OUR PLANS FOR DIVERSITY IN OUR PEOPLE:A ROADMAP FOR LATIN AMERICABy Erika Zoeller, Head of Diversity, and Inclusion, ENGIE BrasilLeaders frequently ask me how to implement DE&I in organizations. Usually, I answer "it depends". This is because there are many ways to start, and the leadership needs to give the tone. Latin America is a region that is incredibly diverse, both in terms of its geography and its population. This diversity can create challenges when it comes to inclusion and diversity initiatives, but it also offers many opportunities. One might say that is a growing number of Latin American businesses that are committed to diversity and inclusion. These businesses understand that a diverse and inclusive workforce is a competitive advantage.At first, it is essential to understand that there are no formulas or magic sticks. DE&I is an area such as any other in the company, so it needs management. It is necessary to encourage the leaders to learn that there are many challenges in implementing DE&I, especially cultural aspects inside and outside the company, but one step at a time, it is possible to move the wheel.DEFINING THE ROADMAP:Overall, there are seven main challenges that cannot be overlooked by leaders:1) How to start: the decision to have at least one person be exclusively focused on implementing and implementing the new area of DE&I.2) Raise awareness with the top management to be closely involved and the sponsorship of the CEO. By synchronizing the Executive Team in an inclusive leadership, they can be the ones that lead the change.3) Communicate well what you are doing. Regular newsletters about the topic, and webinars about challenges, barriers, obstacles, and how to overcome them-for each of them it is relevant to invite one key leader to make the "keynote speech" signalizing his or her commitment. Get employees familiar with this new need, with new concepts for them to be aware of the reasons WHY is important to have an inclusive diverse workplace without depreciative or sexist jokes, and prejudices and learn to overcome resistance. Then, when deciding to communicate to external channels, be sure that you are really talking about your walk. This generates respect, credibility, and Sustainability. As a potential result, you may achieve a shift of mindsets.4) DE&I needs to be aligned with the values and strategy of the company: the message needs to be clear from Top Management in Every local where the company operates. From the Global to the Local Leaders.5) Review R&S processes to awaken recruiters and managers of their own biases (it can be by implementing guidelines, policies, and campaigns and reinforcing the decision-making based on data.6) Diversity in the supply chain: still a huge challenge that should be addressed according to the sector in which operates its business.7) Decision-making for the best strategies (no formula) according to the data, the country, cultural aspects, operations, geographics and so. For this, it is a must to have the best references worldwide in terms of benchmarks, champions, and data analysis. No activity is more important than decision-making. Because business decisions impact many people, exchanging emails, and endless meetings, they are difficult to undo. They are never trivial and sometimes very strategic and in general, involve more than one person. Together they have a huge impact on how a company performs. Most of the time, homogeneous teams make decisions for diverse teams to implement the strategy. Sometimes the teams struggle to put their decisions into action and can mislead the goal. The worst combination is homogeneous decision-making and a diverse team to execute.
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