Challenge: In the face of significant growth, a series of mergers and acquisitions, and a pandemic, the leaders of a global enterprise felt compelled to act in response to the lack of inclusive behaviors by some members of their sales team- there was “bro” culture. The opportunity was to move individual groups from working in silos to a “One Team Culture” that provides equitable sales lead opportunities, fairness around promotions, and a sense of belonging for all its members.
Our Approach: DILAN engaged in a robust discovery process to establish a baseline in the following five areas:
- Diverse Workforce
- Engaged and Inclusive Culture
- Accountable Leadership
- External Partnerships
- Market Visibility
Through this discovery process we identified opportunities and delivered key initiatives including…
- A virtual Sales Leadership Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion workshop series across the U.S., APAC, & EMEA sales organizations.
- At the start of the workshop series each leader was paired with a DILAN coach for a series of post-workshop coaching sessions aimed at deepening their self-awareness and empathy. As part of each coaching session an action plan was so that new skills could be readily transferred back into the workplace.
- To ensure that the values and skills learned in the workshops were embedded four asynchronous curricula were developed and rolled out to the entire global enterprise. These on demand workshops provided a means for new employees to be exposed to the same values and behaviors as part of their onboarding process.
Outcome: These workshops gave participants a shared vocabulary and the skills needed to effectively discuss Inclusion & Belonging issues. As a result, this team identified new ways they could cultivate an inclusive “One Team” culture. Examples of their action plans included the use of bias interrupters, micro-affirmations, and identifying strategies on how to be a true ally in the workplace and hold colleagues and leaders accountable when they engage in non-inclusive behaviors.
“We all come from different backgrounds and viewpoints. We all need to listen and remove preconceived assumptions. Being aware of having a single viewpoint is key to improving this skill.”- Sales Leader
Type of Industry: SaaS
