United States: DEI In The Workplace: Taft's Experience Offers Lessons For Others

Diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are buzzwords every business in America is touting—and for good reason. The social move- ments of the last few years made racial, economic, and social dispari- ties impossible to ignore. But we're two years out from the racial reckoning of 2020, and while buzz- words are well-intentioned and can move the ball in the right direction, they can feel hollow. Now is the time to be persistent with our DEI efforts to ensure they are making meaningful and lasting change.

How do we do that? How do busi- nesses use the momentum of the last few years to solidify diversity, equity, and inclusion in their corporate structure? There's no one answer, and we at Taft are still figuring it out. But we've learned that the one thing you can't make progress without is buy-in: the belief that diversity in the workplace really matters and a continued commitment to achieving that goal. Unfortunately, buy-in from all employees won't happen without effort. So, you need buy-in from the top that doesn't fade with time. The rest will follow.

While buy-in is necessary, it isn't sufficient. That top-down support must be transformed into meaningful action. At Taft, our firm leaders have bought in. They've recognized that by embracing and celebrating diverse perspectives and life experiences, we offer more rewarding careers for our attorneys and staff and more creative solutions for our clients.

But they didn't stop there—they took action. Taft created a new Diver- sity and Inclusion division within the firm. We named Adrian Thompson, long-time partner in Taft's Cleveland office, our first Chief Diversity Officer in 2015, and gave him a well-funded budget to put Taft's money where its mouth is. And recognizing that our legal professionals won't have all the answers, Taft retained sociology and culture-change experts, Dr. Arin Reeves and Michelle Silverthorn, to educate all employees and provide real- time insights on how to improve Taft.

From them we've learned that there's no sure-fire method to achieving a diverse and inclusive culture. And conversely, there are infinite ways not to. Our answer is to try: to brainstorm ideas, try them out, and ditch ideas that do not work in favor of those that do. We've invested in initiatives to recruit and retain diverse talent, and we've measured our successes and failures and modified accordingly.

For example, Taft created its Diver- sity and Inclusion Fellowship Scholar- ship program—a summer internship offered to historically underrepre- sented law students that includes an opportunity for post-graduate employ- ment. Taft created its Mentor-Cham- pion Program to provide our diverse associates access to different perspec- tives firm-wide and the opportunity to develop mentors and sponsors who will support them on their path to partnership. Both programs have undergone several iterations. We've fine-tuned them by accepting feedback and implementing changes. This is critical. To get better, we've learned that we must acknowledge our failures along with our successes and must change course as necessary.

We've also learned that while numbers are an important metric, diversity, equity, and inclusion is so much more. To be truly inclusive—to really tap into the benefits of a diverse team—organizations need to create an environment that makes diverse talent feel like they belong and have real opportunity to succeed. So we hold an annual diversity retreat to bring all Taft's diverse talent firm- wide under one roof. Its purpose is two-fold. First, it develops commu- nity. It gives our professionals an opportunity to commune over shared experiences with others who look like them. And second, it formalizes an occasion for Taft to look in the mirror, learn from its team, and seize opportunities to get better. There's little more harrowing than a room of diverse professionals raising the disparate obstacles they face within their organization every day—but you cannot address a problem if you don't understand what it is.

Originally Published by Indianapolis Business Journal on 01 July

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