This session is designed to provide you with a starting point to encourage transparent communication, establish trust, and uncover actions that can use to build towards a more equal workplace.

• Listen: To give one’s attention and be ready to hear something
  • Employer’s Role:
    • Be willing to hear that your organization isn’t perfect
    • Create a variety of safe spaces/platforms for employees to voice their concerns, suggestions, or feelings about racism in/outside the workplace
  • Employee’s Role:
    • Provide constructive feedback/suggestion to allow your employer an opportunity to address, investigate, solve for the matter.
  • Suggested Approach:
    • Listening Session – held by the CEO or Executive and allow the primary group to voice their immediate concerns, questions, share their emotions
  • What we did: Hold a monthly CEO Listening Session with our Black associates to discuss current events and the impact on black associates/community, discuss why it matters, and what can EWC do to bring awareness to the matter or contribute to a solution.
  • Why it was Impactful: Holding ongoing listening sessions demonstrates that leadership cares to continue the conversation, has a desire to listen to the concerns of their employees, and takes into consideration what they can do to enact change in their organization/community to improve the lives of their employees.

• Understand: To perceive the significance, explanation, or cause of something
  • Employer’s Role:
    • Recognize the cost impact racism can have on your workplace retention and employee production/morale
    • Treat this effort as marathon, not a sprint
    • Don’t expect solutions, but look to understand the impact/effect of racism on your employees
  • Employee’s Role:
    • Humanize the impacts of racism – share your personal experiences and its impact on how you perceive things
  • Suggested Approach:
    • Panel Discussion
    • Open Forums
    • 1:1 Dialogue
  • What we did: Panel series called “The Experience in America” where we tackled and discussed various challenges around racism, justice, and equality to help associates better understand everyone’s varied perception and experiences.
  • Why it was Impactful: In an effort to help others walk in the shoes of those who experience racism to gain a deeper understanding of its impact. It was also an opportunity to address misconceptions or misunderstandings to current events and topics.

• Act: The process of doing something to achieve an aim or bring about change
  • Employer’s Role:
    • Be clear and honest about your position
    • Know what you’re addressing and why you’re addressing it
    • Partner with the people of color to determine approach and messaging
  • Employee’s Role:
    • Outline a clear ask and plan
    • Educate leaders on how various work policies/practices and can create bias or act as a barrier to building a more equal workplace
    • Identify areas where the business can contribute to communities of color
  • Suggested Approach:
    • Establish this initiative as a business priority by making it a part of your strategy and ongoing dialogue
    • Utilize or establish ERG or diversity councils
    • Work closely with associates of color who are most effected to contribute to the strategy and decisions
  • What we did:
    • Communicated with our guests and franchising network our stand against racism and injustice
    • Black associates teamed up to develop a strategy outlining 3-4 areas that EWC could help impact in the workplace and in Black communities to present to our executive leadership team
    • Established a Diversity Council
    • Created scholarships and in the process of partnering with school districts to create awareness and opportunities within communities of color
    • Introduced an Unconscious Bias training
    • Executive leadership partnered with Black associates to identify and donate to a non-profit/cause (Equal Justice Program)
  • Why it was Impactful: By the organization partnering with those who were most effected by racism, it showed their commitment to driving meaningful change towards a more equal and just society. To get to this point it is critical that senior leaders and organizations do the work of listening and understanding to know why these efforts and actions were critically important and how to make it a part of the fabric of the company’s culture.