Much research has been done over the years proving that diverse (or more heterogeneous) teams are smarter, more creative, and solve more complex problems. Moreover, companies with more diversity on their leadership teams, executive teams, and on their boards of directors report being more innovative, profitable, and seeing higher returns on their investments. But leading a diverse team to achieve this kind of performance isn’t easy and too many leaders are still lagging in their understanding, and effectiveness in doing so. In this presentation, our expert will detail the research that proves how diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams. They will offer tips and strategies for how to assemble a diverse team and how to leverage the unique skills, talents, and perspectives of each team member. Additionally, they will present to participants some common practices for how to maximize the performance of a diverse team.

In light of numerous revelations of sexual misconduct that have been revealed perpetrated by high profile male executives from major media outlets, Hollywood, corporate America, the White House, and the Federal Government, it is clear that organizations cannot sit idly by in hopes that the news cycle will change the conversation. The reality is that these revelations are not new issues in the workplace. They have existed for decades, but far too many victims have felt silenced, fearful, powerless, misunderstood, and alone, and therefore lacked the courage to speak up. These attributes are directly correlated to a toxic workplace culture.

In this session, our expert will guide participants through a discussion on this important topic that has now evolved into a powerful movement. We will share personal stories, lessons learned, best practices and strategies for how to influence and initiate a workplace culture transformation—one that will empower more victims to speak up, leaders to stand up, and organizations to ramp up their policies, practices, and processes.

In this session, participants will learn about the business case for diversity—specifically how companies are using inclusion and diversity to create a competitive advantage through their employer brand, talent acquisition strategies, employee development, performance management, engagement, and retention. Our expert will describe the external marketplace and the changing global workforce that have necessitated the increased focus on inclusion; this will include an overview/refresher of the multigenerational workforce—describing all five generations, the unique challenges and opportunities that they bring to the workplace, and the strategies necessary to lead each generation, and bring harmony in any organization. We will also outline recent research that reveals how these changes have impacted job satisfaction, employee engagement, productivity, and retention of top talent and what are the financial implications.

Participants will reflect on how these changes may affect their organization’s culture, its customers, and its business strategy and how inclusive leadership behaviors can positively influence and build an inclusive culture.

Regardless of how much you pay, or how many weeks of vacation you offer, when your workplace culture is toxic, it has a significant impact on your bottom line. Research reveals that culture impacts morale, hiring, engagement, productivity, and health and wellness. In addition to that, it affects your organization’s brand, image and reputation.

So what does it take to create a winning and inspiring workplace culture that rocks—one that attracts top talent, increases performance and engagement, fosters collaboration and trust, and creates a WOW experience that makes great workers want to stay?

In this presentation, our expert will answer this question. We will share the latest research and best practices that reveal how winning cultures are created and how they lead to significant benefits to the employer, the employee and the bottom line.

Many companies tout how much progress they have made in their diversity efforts because they have recruited more diverse talent and offered D & I training. But if achieving representation, counting heads, and raising awareness is all that you do, and you don’t have a welcoming or inclusive workplace culture, your efforts will not be sustainable. So what does it take to create this kind of culture—one that attracts top talent, increases performance and engagement, fosters collaboration and trust, and creates a WOW experience that makes great workers want to stay?

In this session, our expert will detail the latest research and future trends on the global changing demographics and the implications for how the workers and the work will be impacted. They will also outline innovative strategies for how winning cultures are created and become great places to work. More importantly, they’ll identify what new leadership skills and competencies will be needed in order to achieve high performance, innovation, and inclusiveness.

Given the heightened sensitivities around race, hate crimes, inequities and injustices, intensified by how polarized we are amidst the current political climate, the demands have been overwhelming for those on the front lines of DEI work. Moreover, many have faced unprecedented resistance and been the target of attacks, and sabotage leaving them feeling increased levels of distress, exhaustion, and hopelessness. For many, DEI Fatigue is real! So, how do you handle it in a way that maintains your sanity, peace, and purpose, so that you don’t throw in the towel?

This session will provide DEI practitioners some real and practical principles for their mental, physical, and emotional self-care and outline some strategies for how to stand up to the pressures and resistances that come from outside.

The term “psychological safety” has gained much attention this past year as organizations recognize the need for greater inclusion, belonging, and enhancing the employee experience. Simply put, psychological safety means that employees feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea. In other words, employees feel empowered to express an idea or contribution fully, without fear of negative consequences to themselves, their status or their career. This term was coined by Harvard researcher and author Amy Edmondson and propelled into the spotlight by a Google study that identified psychological safety as the key characteristic of exceptional teams.

In this presentation, our expert will explain the concept of psychological safety—what it is and what it is not and help us to understand how to operationalize in our teams and across the organization. They will also identify the factors that drive psychological safety and those that can hinder your team. They will also highlight the well-known Google study that revealed psychological safety as the key characteristic of exceptional teams and will provide participants with some practical action steps for how they can contribute to fostering a psychologically safe workplace.

This course will give you a basic understanding of how diversity has evolved over 30 years and the role that it plays in the 21st-century workplace today and in the future. It also provides a broad overview of the definition of Diversity, Inclusion, Cultural Competence, and Strategic Diversity Management. Participants will be introduced to the evolution of workplace diversity (1950s-2014) and the distinctions between the definitions of Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Cultural Competence.

Our expert will outline the various practices that occur at each stage of the diversity journey—Diversity 1.0 (legal compliance and representation), Diversity 2.0 (nice to have, morally right thing to do), Diversity 3.0 (business imperative, competitive advantage, inclusion, bias conscious) to Diversity 4.0 (innovation, sustainability, unconscious bias, cultural competence) and allow participants to diagnose/discuss which phase of Diversity they believe that their organization is currently at in their I & D efforts. Participants will also learn what are the behaviors and practices that can be implemented in order to move to the next level of their diversity journey.

Never before has inclusive leadership been more important than it is today. Recent research reveals that inclusive leaders create inclusive work environments. Inclusive work environments produce higher performance, increase employee engagement, fuel innovation and creativity, increase retention, and positively impacts the customer service experience. The demographics of the 21st century are dramatically different than 20 years ago as the workforce has become more diverse, global, multi-cultural, multi-generational, hyper-connected, and are working more virtually. As a result, the ability to lead across differences, create a culture of belonging, inclusion, and high performance will be a key lever for attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent, new customers, clients, members, and donors. This kind of leadership requires new competencies, skill sets, and strategies.

In this engaging and interactive session, our expert will highlight key demographic disruptions and their impact on employee performance, satisfaction, and retention. They will guide participants through a model called the 6 C’s of Inclusive Leadership, reveal the most common pitfalls that leaders should avoid, and describe key competencies and skills needed today and for the future workforce of 2030. Participants will discuss the key challenges and common issues that leaders and workplaces face today but are reluctant and unskilled at addressing (e.g., religion, politics, different thinking styles, male/gender roles, LGBTQ, etc.), as well as the effects they have on talent acquisition, employee engagement, communication, and building high performing teams.

Through real-world case studies, group discussions, leadership assessments, trivia, skill practices, and an application exercise, participants will walk away with practical tips, skills, strategies, and inclusive leadership behaviors necessary for effectively leading a global workforce.

The work, workers, and workplace of the future will continue to undergo dramatic transformation. Research suggests that by 2030 workers will be older and younger at the same time, more educated and less skilled, hyper-connected through new technologies, and more ethnically diverse. How can we ready our organizations for this new workforce reality? What new strategies, competencies, and skills will be necessary to harness the benefits, yet counter the negative effects of these global disruptions? More importantly, what new leadership models will be needed in order to achieve high performance, innovation, and inclusiveness?

Our expert will answer all of these questions as they detail the megatrends and business implications that will shape the workforce of the future. Additionally, they will provide practical strategies that business leaders should employ if they expect to achieve greater Inclusion in 2030.

We all dream. We all imagine. And we all plan. But why is it that some people achieve their dreams and most do not? Experts say that when we are living a life of meaning, purpose, and significance we are happier, healthier, more productive, and come up with better solutions. So, what makes us press the pause button on our dreams and live our lives by default versus by design? What makes us settle for a life of mediocrity versus a life of greater meaning and fulfillment? What keeps us unable to get beyond “What If?”

In this life transforming session, Dr. Davis will expose the many limits that we place on ourselves that can hijack and sabotage our purpose, our power and our possibilities. She will reveal the common disempowering “What If?” questions that keep our dreams on pause and our destiny delayed. Dr. Davis will take participants on a journey of self-discovery and a search for significance that will enable them to release the limits so that they can realize their dreams and begin living beyond “What If.”

The coronavirus pandemic, economic downturn, and the civil unrest due to racial inequities have all turned our world upside down, and life as we’ve known it has been disrupted. Most of us were impacted emotionally, physically, financially and psychologically. But now that we are reopening our economy, one of the most common questions asked is how long will it take to get back to some sense of normalcy?

According to many experts, the reality is that many aspects of our daily lives and businesses as we knew it may never be the same. So how do we adopt a “new normal”? Join Dr. Shirley Davis, a certified leadership coach, global workforce expert, and best-selling author as she shares strategies for how to pivot out of the pandemic and other disruptions of life in a way that we come out stronger, better, and happier. She will also share some strategies for how to master the art of reinvention and effectively reintegrate back into a new reality.

We’re in this together, and we will thrive through this.

Given the current state of affairs, it couldn’t be a more opportune time than now to reinvent yourself. We’re currently living in an era of disruption–experiencing accelerated change, increased competition and overwhelming complexity in the marketplace, workforce, and in our personal lives. As leaders, we must not only effectively help our organizations to navigate through the waters of uncertainty and change, but we have to manage our own major life disruptions.

In this session, Dr. Shirley Davis CSP, will assume her role as a certified life coach, success business executive, and the author of the best-selling book, “Reinvent Yourself: Strategies for Achieving Success in Every Area of Your Life,” and describe some of the most pressing challenges/issues that business leaders face at work and beyond. She will also outline how these issues have a significant impact on how we show up every day in life (e.g., sense of self-worth, self-confidence, attitude, performance, etc.). Be prepared to laugh, learn, and be inspired, as she shares from her 25+ years of experience some proven strategies and tips for how to become the master of your own reinvention, take control of your destiny, and live a life of significance and fulfillment at work and in every area of your life.

Have you been grappling with the proverbial question of “How do I get a seat at the table?” Or maybe you have a seat at the table but still feel invisible. Then you know that it’s not enough to have a seat at the table. If you are a leader and have a seat at that table, then you understand the pressures, the pervasive biases, and the responsibilities that go along with having that seat. So how do you make it count, not only for sustaining your seat, but for driving results to the organization’s bottom line and for opening up seats for other leaders that may be overlooked? In this session, learn 12 strategies and other bold moves that highly successful leaders have used to get invited to the table and their tips for how to influence, initiate, and impact culture change while at the table.

Employees today are demanding at the very least, that our workplaces be more inclusive, welcoming, respectful, create a sense of belonging, and be free from harassment. For some companies with legacy cultures and those who have existed over decades, this is an extremely difficult change management process. But it’s necessary in this era of demographic shifts, increased competition, and where the global workforce and marketplace is much more diverse, multicultural, multi-generational, and working more virtually and flexibly.

So how does this happen? How do you really move the needle beyond training activities? In this session, our expert will show why training is not the solution to responding to poor decisions made by management, or to public outrage when revelations of bad behavior go viral and threatens your company brand. If the necessary systemic changes are not in place to drive sustainable change, the huge investment of training time, money, and resources will be deemed a futile exercise. Instead, our expert teaches several proven strategies on what is needed to implement a more comprehensive and robust culture transformation strategy, rather than a quick fix.

Organizations today are still recovering from the effects of the global pandemic and at the same time millions of workers have quit or plan to change jobs in the coming year. Additionally, the job market is heating up and companies must find ways to fill jobs, keep the great talent they already have, and keep them engaged and productive. The challenge is that the workforce has changed dramatically, becoming more diverse, competitive, global, and hyper-connected, and this new generation of talent has choices of where they want to work.

In this presentation, our expert will summarize some of the most significant demographic shifts of 2021 and beyond that will redefine the work, the workers and the workplace. They will highlight the latest research findings on key drivers of employee engagement and loyalty and share real-world examples of how organizations are attracting, engaging, and retaining talent and transforming their organizations into great places to work.

Many organizations invite employees to bring their full selves to work. And with that, comes many specific aspects of their identity. Let’s face it, some topics are just tough to have. In fact, many organizations urge employees not to talk about certain issues such as religion, race, politics, their sexual identity or any other sensitive issue because if they are not handled with care, they can leave a person feeling offended, devalued, demotivated, and misunderstood. But there are healthy and effective ways to talk about these taboo topics. In this session, our expert will outline the key challenges and common issues associated with taboo topics that workplaces face today but are reluctant and unskilled at addressing. They will also detail a framework for how to keep these conversations professional and respectful.

Everyone has bias. It’s a part of the human make up. But when left unchecked, biases can have a negative impact in every interaction. With the vast amount of diversity that makes up our global workforce, the level of complexity and potential conflicts that can arise from unconscious bias is sure to increase. The goal of this presentation is to underpin the discussion on diversity and inclusion and cultural competence by helping participants move from unconscious to conscious awareness of their own biases.

Through video vignettes, group discussions, and self-reflection activities, our expert will guide participants through several real world examples of how biases play out in the workplace and impacts individual and organizational behavior. They will outline their impacts on selection and hiring decisions, collaboration, team effectiveness, and productivity. They will also discuss them in the context of micro aggressions, micro advantages and disadvantages. Our expert will conclude this session with strategies for how participants can/should address bias in the workplace.