Bethany Forss & Carrie Farrell The Hanover Insurance Group 10 Things We’ve Learned Through Inclusion & Diversity Efforts, with 10,000 still to Learn Bethany Forss & Carrie Farrell The Hanover Insurance Group

The Hanover Insurance Group

A little about us

Where we’re at in our Inclusion & Diversity journey

What we’ll focus on today Exercises on circles of influence and bias 10 lessons we’ve learned thus far in our I&D work

Circles of Influence Exercise

Lesson learned # 1- Getting grounded in the business case I&D has emerged over the past decade as a business imperative. Many of us intuitively see that diversity is a good thing. But why is it important in a professional setting? Innovation Creativity New products Enhanced customer interactions Balanced decision-making Ability to attract and retain talent “Companies with more women in executive positions have a 34% higher return to shareholders than those that do not” (http://www.catalyst.org/media/catalyst-study-reveals-financial-performance-higher-companies-more-women-top) “Companies with inclusive talent practices in hiring, promotion, development, leadership, and team management generate up to 30% higher revenue per employee and greater profitability than their competitors” (https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/HCTrends2018/2018-HCtrends_Rise-of-the-social-enterprise.pdf)

Lesson learned #2- leadership support and buy-in

Lesson Learned #3- I&D work starts with “I” Recognizing your own bias and doing a lot of self-reflection There’s no on/off switch for bias Need to actively work to mitigate it Getting comfortable being uncomfortable Being REALLY open to feedback Shifting your mindset

Bias Exercise # Warmth Competence Occupation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

When bias occurs “Numerous cognitive neuroscientists have conducted studies that have revealed that only 5% of our cognitive activities (decisions, emotions, actions, behavior) is conscious whereas the remaining 95% is generated in a non-conscious manner.” http://www.simplifyinginterfaces.com/2008/08/01/95-percent-of-brain-activity-is-beyond-our-conscious-awareness/

Fast thinking and slow thinking “Fast thinking is unconscious, emotional, instinctive. Fast thinking results in snap judgments and, sometimes, prejudice. Slow thinking is conscious, deliberative, and mostly rational. We use both fast and slow thinking when we process information and make decisions. Slow thinking is more work for our brain and consumes more resources.” (Daniel Kahneman)

Lesson learned #4- lean on experts when you need to

Lesson learned #5- Communicate We learned we need to communicate Then communicate again Then communicate in a different way Then communicate once again Then reinforce Then reiterate slightly altered Oh yeah…and LISTEN

Lesson learned #6- singing from the same song sheet Cohesive definitions Inclusion Diversity Belonging Everyone has a different definition of what these terms mean to them, get your employees speaking about what this means at your company

Lesson learned #7- I&D work has no quick fix Some days you feel like you’re barely making progress Other days you have huge wins Look at the quantitative AND qualitative “wins” Stop every once and a while to look back on what you’ve accomplished The anecdotal stories count too

Lesson learned #8- Assume positive intent Forgiving yourself when you mess up There was no mal-intent With others Cultivate an environment of respect

Lesson learned #9- Put systems and structures in place In 1952, the Boston Symphony was looking to diversify it's male-dominated orchestra, so it conducted an experiment with a series of blind auditions. For the auditions, the musicians would be playing behind a screen, in an effort to remove all chance of bias and allow for a merit based selection only - a selection that would hopefully increase the number of women in the orchestra. To their surprise, their initial audition results still skewed male. Then they asked the musicians to take off their shoes and they put a carpet on the stage… The reason? The sound of the women's heels as they entered the audition unknowingly influenced the adjudicators. Once the musicians removed their shoes, almost 50% of the women made it past the first audition. The moral of the story? Overcoming unconscious bias isn't as easy as one might think.  BUT, we can put systems and structures in place to diminish it.

Lesson #10- Lean on your champions Inclusion & Diversity Council Mirrors organizational makeup Visible identity markers Invisible identity markers Generational breakdown Functional areas Cognitive diversity Find additional champions throughout the company to embed inclusion so it becomes part of the organizational DNA

Bonus- Keep researching and learning Delivering through Diversity McKinsey and Company 2018 report 2018 Global Human Capital Trends Deloitte 2018 report Why Diversity Matters McKinsey and Company 2015 report

Questions