In 2016 and as part of its ongoing work to better retain professionals of color in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region, Make It. MSP. partners launched a new toolkit designed to aid employers in building more inclusive workplaces. The BE MSP Workplace Toolkit is a free digital toolkit designed to drive meaningful conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace no matter where you may be at in the journey.
In 2019, the BE MSP team worked with partnering employers who had used the toolkit across their own teams to identify opportunities to enhance the resource and increase engagement. We are proud to release an updated version of the toolkit featuring new how-to webinars, expanded content, and ADA improvements across the platform.
Informed by insights from Make It. MSP.’s professionals of color survey, the toolkit uses real stories and experiences from professionals of color in the MSP region to guide teams through conversations and exercises that move beyond the surface. Through honest, authentic conversation and exploration into real experiences, leaders, managers and colleagues can begin to understand the nuances and everyday actions that can truly change workplace cultures.
BE MSP Workplace Toolkit – How To Build a More Inclusive Workplace
This how-to video provides a quick view into how you can use the toolkit.
What Does The Toolkit Contain?
The toolkit contains research, interactive exercises and workshops to foster workplace inclusion conversations. Conversations will be different for every organization and every team. In the spring of 2018, 14 cross-sector employers convened in a cohort to use the toolkit and share how it can be applied to organizations at different stages. Even if an organization already has a diversity and inclusion process underway, the toolkit can complement wherever your organization may be at in the journey. For example:
- A smaller organization just beginning its journey found the combination of data and stories allowed them to make a more effective case to executive leadership for new meaningful action.
- A mid-sized employer shared how the toolkit helped reframe the organization’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion by emphasizing that it’s about learning, not training. That realization is now changing how they conduct workplace culture conversations.
- A large company with well-established diversity and inclusion efforts shared how the toolkit has allowed them to integrate conversations in teams across different departments, moving their efforts beyond executive leadership to individuals who have the most direct impact on everyday workplace culture.
The BE MSP Workplace Toolkit is a starting point: we hope you’re able to explore the power of conversation and commit to the next step in your journey.