The world of work has shifted. No longer are people willing to put up with bad bosses, low paying wages, and workplaces that don’t value them as an individual. This is happening just when employers desperately need more staff to help at their thriving businesses and want to expand recruiting efforts to an increasingly diverse workforce.
Join human resource and workforce development professionals from across the country for two days of engaging, interactive learning and conversation about the role diversity, equity, and inclusion play in a post-pandemic workplace and how to build or continue to build a workplace culture in which all can thrive and excel.
When, Where and Cost
The conference will be held virtually on January 12-13, 2022. The cost is only $149 per IAWP member and a discounted group registration option is available for workforce agencies and other organizations.
Learning Programs
Get ready for two days of disruptive ideas and ground-breaking insights – we’re really proud of the speakers, panels and activities we’ve put together.
The Importance of Pay Equity
As outlined in the federal Equal Pay Act, Pay Equity principles and practice center on guiding employers to pay men and women equally for “substantially similar” work, in which the same or similar job duties are performed, while accounting for other factors, such as their experience level, job performance and tenure with the employer. By ensuring employees are paid equitably, employers can increase efficiency, creativity and productivity by helping to attract the best employees, reduce turnover and increase commitment to the organization. Many states have additionally expanded fair-pay requirements beyond gender to include race and other protected characteristics.
We present several key recommendations that organizations can take to conduct a structured pay audit in order to ensure fairness in pay:
- Create transparent compensation systems and objective metrics around recruitment, performance, advancement and compensation to help ensure consistency.
- Communicate regularly and honestly with employees about the metrics and their progress, to build trust within the entire organization.
- Train all decision-makers about the compensation system and teach them how to properly document decisions.
- Consider implementing standard pay ranges or guidelines for each position or job classification.
- Keep job descriptions up to date to ensure that the work being done, and the skills required to do the work are accurately reflected.
Dr. Kammy Haynes and Bill Ewing – Principal Consultants with – Transformance Consulting. Experience in Human Resources, Workforce Development and Personnel Performance Management
From the Classroom to the Conference Room: Understanding Micro-Interventions for Microaggressions
While many of us may have heard of microaggressions most times we do not know what to do when we are a witness or victim of them. This workshop will provide tangible tools to combating microaggressions with a focus on environments inclusive of adult education, workforce development, and the workplace. Attendees will have the opportunity to create plans at the individual and system level that will decrease the likelihood of microaggressions while supporting those who are victims of microaggressions.
Attendees will leave with the knowledge of how to combat and reduce microaggressions while providing supports for those who are affected by them. They will create plans to confront microaggressions with microinterventions at the individual and systems level. From their fellow attendees they will receive encouragement to better their plans (collegial support has been found to bolster the follow through of work plans). Their plans will be unique to their work environment leading to a higher likelihood of follow through.
Daquanna Harrison – Owner, Elevation Educational Consulting Group. Daquanna ELEVATES the effectiveness of educators, workforce professionals, and organizations by bringing together talented experts to strengthen systems and ELEVATE people.
Cultural Intelligence (CQ®), Your Yellow Brick Road to Inclusive Best Practices
Participants will understand how to use David Livermore’s CQ® Strategy model of Cultural Intelligence (CQ Drive, CQ Knowledge, CQ Action, and CQ Strategy) to drive effective Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). Our focus on CQ® Strategy will highlight practical skills leaders need to plan for multicultural interactions. Participants will be introduced to implementing CQ® Strategy via the Inclusive Culture Pyramid at four levels of an organization.
Participants will:
- Understand CQ® Strategy (checking, planning, self-awareness)
- Understand how to implement CQ® Strategy into an organization to drive effective diversity and inclusion (D&I)
- Identify area(s) in their work to immediately employ CQ®
Dr. Shannon Parish – Principal Consultant at Choice Consulting International. Dr. Parish is the Principal Consultant at Choice Consulting International, Incorporated (CCI). CCI is a consulting firm with over 21 years of experience, which includes educational administration and corporate leader development. CCI is committed to transforming good organizations to great ones, by training and developing global leaders to perform with agility and proficiency.
“Let’s Walk and Talk Together!”
We will present information and examples of common ideology many individuals have lived with over their lifetimes; then allow discovery of alternative views for those same individuals to consider and share with their peers and families.
Our focus will be on the following: *Self Awareness *”Ism” and Racism Awareness *Working Together Each category will open up a chance for deeper conversation delving into our selves and others around us concerning our views and practices when engaging with family and coworkers.
We will have some role play, some open dialogue, and creating a safe place for sharing. We will provide written materials for each attendee with the critical points of discussion to record notes, ideas, and views.
Each attendee will be provided with written materials to create an action plan for how to apply the information and lessons they have learned when in the workplace and on the job
Dr. Rhetta Baker – WorkFirst Counselor/ Job Coach, WA State Employment Security Department. Her greatest desire is that others would understand the value of educating themselves and practicing those things that can be learned through engaging in DEI training. Completed Intensive DEI training and regularly participate in workshop and training facilitations.
Cheri Willoughby – WorkFirst Counselor/ Job Coach, WA State Employment Security Department. I currently serve as the Education Committee Co-Chair of the Black Employee Inclusion Networking Group (BEING), and the Recording Secretary of the Professional Development and Leadership Support Subcommittee of the Washington State Blacks United in Leadership & Diversity (BUILD)
Changing the Face of Inclusion
Participants will be able to use content to identify and improve current hiring practices in the corporate sector, learn effective ways to champion the inclusivity of system-impacted, and re-adjust workplace culture to promote DEI while decreasing recidivism and increasing retention.
Learning Objectives
- Identify current hiring practices for system-impacted individuals in the corporate sector and discuss policies to improve job performance, productivity, and overall company revenue.
- Understanding how the current hiring practices may be exacerbating the core problems of DEI and its aim to solve by averting those system-impacted.
- Facilitate conversation to discuss workplace culture and the current environment; and what factors are needed to foster a culture of inclusivity.
Charolette Garnes, Founder and Executive Director, Reinforce. Charlotte is a trained Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion professional with a DEI certificate from the University of South Florida.
For many people, mingling with strangers is an unnerving prospect. For Rob Lawless, however, it’s a dream — and a full-time job.
Lawless is the man behind Robs10kFriends. Every day, he sits down with about four strangers for one hour each, with the goal of eventually spending 10,000 hours with 10,000 different people.
The Penn State graduate didn’t always hang out with strangers for a living. However, after spending a few years in finance and sales, he realized that his true passion lay in human connection and forging new, meaningful relationships.
“I set a goal of meeting 10,000 strangers because I saw it as an opportunity to tap into my passion for meeting people while doing something entrepreneurial, all the while allowing me to set a positive example of what human connection should look like,” Lawless told In The Know. “As I’ve built my project, I’ve also strived to encourage others to treat human connection as an experience rather than a transaction.”
In this session, you will learn how to refine the complexity of your life into a simple, easily understandable narrative. You will also learn how to use meaningful questions to unpack the narratives of those around you. You will know how to form connections for a stronger sense of belonging, more empathy towards your colleagues and future opportunities from both personal and professional standpoints!
Rob Lawless, Founder Robs10kfriends. Rob educates corporations and universities on his approach to creating empathy through conversation. To date, he’s delivered a TEDx Talk, and has spoken at places like Amazon and Pepperdine University! Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Penn State University, and worked for Deloitte Consulting and the venture-funded RJMetrics before taking his mission of connection full time.
Be ALL STAR! Situation, Tasks, Actions, Results (STAR): Handling Tense Situations
Handling tense situations where employees or customers have made a sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise prejudiced remark requires skill and tact. An analysis of the role of leadership, grievance procedures, and the notion of ‘resolution’ within organizations is needed to understand group dynamics. An assessment of how racism is handled and what constitutes an acceptable outcome, especially from the person experiencing racism is also required in diversity paradigms. In terms of ‘resolution,’ it is important to ensure that apologizing is not a means of conflict avoidance, regardless of the status quo. Simultaneously, grievance procedures must not force the person who has experienced racism to accept an apology. Instead, an act of apology should be part of a broader process that addresses the nature and scale of bias, implicit bias, micro aggressions, and macro aggressions in the workplace. Therefore, utilizing the Situation, Tasks, Actions, Results (STAR) method to reduce conflict is a method to reinforce positive cognitive behavior. Managers must understand the root cause of conflictual situations to determine conflict mitigation strategies. After obtaining evidence, managers are in the best position to recommend corrective action, mediation, litigation, or dismissal. The STAR method is traditionally utilized in the interview process but is easily translated to conflict mediation and mitigation.
Dr. Abeni El-Amin, Professor, Fort Hays State University (FHSU) Robbins College of Business. Globally recognized thought leader on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
More to come
Please check back as we’re adding new programs.