Top Takeaways to Creating an Employee-Driven Culture

A sense of workplace connectivity and belonging has fluctuated so much over the past couple of years that now more than ever, companies can benefit by prioritizing employee-driven cultures. The was a core theme from the Michigan Chamber’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion event – the second in the 2023 series held June 14. Angela Minicuci with Martin Waymire moderated an engaging conversation with Bridget Hurd of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Diane Antishin of DTE. Together, our panelists analyzed how to craft a truly inclusive work culture and ways to generate a sense of belonging that employees are seeking while building company affinity, team connectivity and boosting job performance.

Here are some top takeaways from the discussion:

1. Everyone’s responsibility is to build and uphold company culture and DEI – not just HR. In order to cultivate a fully inclusive work culture, a company cannot expect one role or department to carry the weight. A recognition or priority shift cannot happen unless the majority of a team believes it worthwhile. Diane brought up the saying “work culture eats strategy for breakfast,” because the technical logistics of implementing a plan cannot compare to the empathy needed to develop meaningful relationships and atmosphere long-term.
2. A core characteristic the talent pool seeks in organizations is belonging. Energy rises not only in someone’s attitude toward a workplace when they see and feel they belong, but in their camaraderie, job performance and task output. With belonging, employees gain a sense of being valued and respected for their unique contributions. While an abstract concept, belonging can be addressed through a wide range of tools and actions, from acknowledgement or gratitude to bonding opportunities with colleagues.
3. Quiet quitting persists in the workforce, in large part due to lack of connection or loneliness. Wellness, diversity and inclusivity all go hand-in-hand; the more inclusion an organization has, the more belonging is fostered and loneliness squashed. Over 40% of Americans report feeling lonely or alone at work, so we have the much-needed opportunity to go deeper, asking questions, seeking feedback and learning how to mitigate it.
4. One way to achieve leadership buy-in to the DEI cause can be done through an intercultural development inventory. This is a tool where leaders assess themselves to see where they land in terms of cultural competency. As part of the tool, Bridget meets one-on-one with her colleagues to review their results and what respective action steps could look like.
5. Two trainings that can help are a cultural competency learning session and unconscious bias education. The former involves assessing where your identity fits into the larger web, whereas the latter focuses on beliefs and attitudes you may not even realize you have hold toward other groups. Bridget models these tools at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, where they offer employees hundreds of other training materials. *Please note, while these trainings can be helpful, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce isn’t endorsing a particular option. 

While memorable, these takeaways are far from all the insights Diane and Bridget shared. The recording is available to stream now:

We also would like to thank our sponsors: our platinum sponsor, Salary.com; and our supporting sponsor, CATA – this support helps make programming like this available and accessible. Save the Date for Oct. 4 to tune into our next program: How to Have Courageous Conversations.