1. 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

2. The Hanover Insurance Group

3. A little about us

4. Where we’re at in our Inclusion & Diversity journey

5. 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

6. Circles of Influence Exercise

7. 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” (
“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” (

8. Lesson learned #2- leadership support and buy-in

9. 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

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

18. 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.”

19. 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)

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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

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

25. 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.

26. 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

27. 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

28. Questions