What are your IDEA goals?
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility
In today’s climate, advancing workplace inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. If you’re looking to create a meaningful, concrete plan that will actually move the dial on the recruitment, retention and advancement of equity-deserving professionals in your organization, we’d love to hear from you.
What IDEA can do for you
IDEA Consulting Group works with private and public sector organizations to provide strategic advice and design in the areas of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (IDEA). This includes workplace IDEA audits, strategic IDEA plans, concrete roadmaps for change, support for diversity and inclusion surveys, measurement plans and executive coaching. The IDEA approach is evidence-based, thorough, and intersectional. Focusing on your organization’s culture and structure, we will develop a customized and impactful IDEA plan that will improve your ability to attract, retain and advance members of equity-deserving groups, and elevate your brand. Our plan will address barriers faced by Black, Indigenous and people of colour, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, including those living with mental health issues, women of all communities, and people with caregiving obligations.
IDEA
by Nikki Gershbain
Nikki Gershbain (she/her) is founder and CEO of IDEA Consulting Group. Nikki is a lawyer with 20+ years experience in equity, diversity and corporate social responsibility as a litigator, c-suite executive, and non-profit leader. She is a thought leader in diversity and inclusion who has been invited to deliver hundreds of presentations, workshops and keynote speeches nationally and internationally. Prior to launching IDEA Consulting Group, Nikki served as Chief Inclusion Officer of one of Canada’s most preeminent law firms, McCarthy Tétrault. There, she created a market-leading, multiple-award winning EDI program called “Inclusion Now”. In 2021, Nikki was awarded the Canadian Bar Association’s LGBTQ Hero Award in recognition of her ground-breaking work on transgender workplace inclusion.
Follow the link below for more on Nikki’s career, achievements, and thought leadership.
What people say about Nikki
Good IDEAs are good for Business
If you’re here you believe, like we do, that promoting workplace equity is simply the right thing to do. But did you also know that:
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Inclusion is good for the bottom line? According to McKinsey & Company, companies who actively spearhead EDI strategies are 35% more likely to achieve above-average returns.
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Inclusion helps attract top talent? Today’s workforce is more diverse and socially conscious than ever. A 2021 survey from Glassdoor found that 76% of employees and job seekers said a diverse workforce was important when evaluating companies.
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An inclusive workplace is a more engaged workplace? According to Gartner, highly inclusive organizations enjoy a 26% increase in team collaboration and an 18% increase in team commitment.
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Diversity can help you serve your customers and clients? A study by Forbes found that diverse teams make better business decisions up to 87% of the time.
The IDEA Approach
IDEA is Bespoke
At IDEA, we design each engagement with attention to your organization’s current state and future goals. Our investigative process will include a careful review of your policies, processes, and protocols, and demographic data and engagement survey results, as available. Spending the time getting to know your business, culture and people will ensure that your IDEA strategy and action plan is as unique as your organization.
IDEA is Inclusive
Inclusion initiatives must reflect the diversity of, well, diversity. For many decades, these programs have had a narrow lens, focusing mainly on gender. Gains made primarily by white women now need to be matched by progress for all equity-deserving groups. Your IDEA strategy will speak to the particular experiences of Black, Indigenous and employees of colour, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, employees with disabilities, women of all communities, and employees with caregiving obligations.
IDEA is Structural
There was a time when diversity programs were focused on representation. Organizations wanted to bring more diverse people through the door, but few were doing the work internally to ensure that door was not a revolving one. At IDEA Consulting Group, we know that diversity is more than a box-checking exercise. We will work with you to identify where there may be unintentional bias in your policies and practices, and achieve real, sustainable change. Our emphasis on retention and advancement will leverage the potential of all of your talent.
IDEA is Impactful
Focusing on your organization’s culture and structure, we will develop a comprehensive, sustainable and impactful IDEA plan that will improve your ability to attract, retain and advance members of equity-deserving groups, and elevate your brand. We will leave you with a concrete and actionable strategy, as well as a measurement plan that will allow you to track and report on your progress.
IDEA is Collaborative
You cannot build a sustainable IDEA plan from the top-down. We will work with you to create a governance and consultation strategy for our engagement that will include individual and group discussions with your people and anonymous surveys. Centering the voices and needs of your employees will ensure the process is inclusive and help create buy-in from the bottom-up. We will also work closely with your leadership, to make sure you get the product you need and to equip leaders with the tools needed to champion the strategy.
IDEA is Intersectional
Diversity is as complex as it is broad. Intersectionality refers to the layers of social identities that create systems of disadvantage. Law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term over 30 years ago, to bring to light the limits of antidiscrimination theories and politics. An IDEA strategy that takes only one identity at a time into account – for example, gender or race, but not gender and race – will erase women of colour. Your IDEA plan will focus on equity practices that work for all of your people. See this article for more on this.
IDEA is Cultural
Inclusion and a sense of belonging is required for members of equity-deserving groups to thrive in the workplace. Shifting mindsets, behaviours and practices is critical to ensure that everyone in your organization can reach their full potential. We will work with you to create a culture of belonging, where everyone feels valued, and no one needs to leave parts of themselves at the door when they come to work.
IDEA will Challenge You
At IDEA, we know these can be difficult topics to discuss, and there can be discomfort involved in acknowledging privilege and letting go of power. At IDEA, we understand that everyone is on their own journey when it comes to appreciating what is truly involved in dismantling and confronting workplace barriers and discrimination. We will work with your leaders and your people to build relationships, and trust. This is hard work, but our shame-free approach will leave you feeling educated, not judged.
IDEA Consulting Group is headquartered on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. This territory is covered by Treaty 13 which was signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties which were signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands. IDEA Consulting Group is committed to the process of truth and reconciliation, and is donating a portion of its revenue to the Woodland Cultural Centre, which serves to preserve and promote Indigenous history, art, language and culture.
Let’s generate some IDEAs together
We’d love to hear from you! Fill out this form to schedule some time to connect with Nikki and discuss your IDEA goals