Blog2024-01-23T14:57:20+00:00

The Orange Blog

Psychological Safety in the Workplace: What It Is and The Results You Can Expect

Psychological safety may sound like just a buzzword in the human resources world, but we’ve found that the value of creating a supportive and transparent environment at work is actually one of the key drivers of organizational success. A great environment created by leaders can have great bottom-line effects, and bad leadership decisions can be even more damaging to organizations. Building a psychologically safe environment starts at the top – which means you’ll need to train leaders with the right skillsets. After [...]

Good Leadership: Talent Management Decisions Are Business Decisions

The past year has witnessed waves of layoffs, with the tech industry being hit especially hard. The layoffs not only highlight recent economic challenges, but also the bad leadership plaguing many of today’s organizations – and many employees are pushing back publicly. A recent viral TikTok video showcases one example of a poor management decision. Former Cloudfare employee, Brittany Pietsch, filmed a video call where she was fired by two HR representatives. In the 9-minute video, Pietsch repeatedly asks for details on [...]

Top 3 Myths About Creating an Engaged & Inclusive Workplace

Creating an engaged and inclusive workplace may be all the trend these days, but with the buzz comes plenty of misconceptions about what that means. Whether you’re planning to kick off 2024 with new talent engagement goals or reevaluate your current strategy, you’ll want to know the most common myths surrounding the creation of a workplace where employees feel a sense of belonging. After all, the assumptions that people have about creating an inclusive organizational culture can hold employees back from advancing [...]

Build A Less Divisive and More Effective Workplace in 2024

Though 2024 may have just kicked off, there’s already plenty of division brewing across the nation. From culture wars to heated elections, Americans are confronted with a cauldron of conflict that has led to a polarization of political persuasions more than ever. And the one place where people of all backgrounds and beliefs are forced to come together in today’s society? The workplace. Since work has become the most common place where socialization of people from diverse backgrounds occurs, the workplace has [...]

Team Collaboration Program: Building Cohesion & Inclusion for Optimal Team Results

When pursuing your organization’s DEI goals, team functionality is key for employee engagement and effectiveness. Yet many teams struggle with dysfunction due to unresolved conflict, poor communication, and a lack of sustained collaboration. It’s clear that traditional DEI workshops – which attempt to tackle the issue with one-off trainings – haven’t been effective.   That’s why we’re excited to share more about our Team Collaboration Program, which was born out of the need for a more comprehensive approach to fostering inclusivity in the [...]

Employee Engagement: Why and How to Measure for Increased Engagement & Inclusion

To enhance your business performance in today’s competitive landscape, it’s not only important to look at diversity, equity, and inclusion, but also organizational development and talent management as a whole. After all, the principles of diversity DEI are actually a primary aspect of effective leadership and management practices. When measuring an organization’s performance, it’s essential to look at engagement across all types of employees, since engaged employees are more likely to positively contribute to bottom-line business benefits and refer the company to [...]

DEI is Good Management

The conversation surrounding diversity & inclusion (or DEI & DEIB depending on your preference) in recent years may have some people feeling “diversity fatigue” – or feeling frustrated that equity is too much work to achieve. But organizations shouldn’t be treating strategic management like a passing trend, because the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging are actually a fundamental aspect of effective leadership and management practices.  When managing your team from an inclusive lens, you’ll want to think about DEI from [...]

5 Steps to Effectively Prepare for Strategy Creation

Laying a strong foundation of strategy work is an essential part of the roadmap to achieve any organizational goals, including talent management, DEI, and engagement goals. Solid strategy preparation helps you set the stage for successful execution so that your organization can reap the long-term benefits of investing in your talent. To build an effective strategy plan, our team at Orange Grove recommends using the following roadmap: Understanding Organizational Objectives and Goals Before beginning strategy work, you’ll want to first understand your [...]

Fostering Fairness In The Workplace

As educators, we’ve noticed a polarity between two distinct groups in the classroom: those advocating for social justice and those resistant to change. Proponents of social justice want people to own their labels and demand for immediate change. On the other hand, resistance to social justice rejects challenges to the current (perceived) meritocracy and doesn’t want any mention of bias at all, as they believe that the entire movement has gone too far. Some even fear that they will be unfairly marginalized [...]

Unleashing the Power of DEI Analytics To Build Inclusive Workplaces

In today's evolving business landscape, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have become urgent priorities for organizations worldwide. Recognizing the need to address DEI challenges, companies are increasingly leveraging data analytics and reporting to gain valuable insights into their workforce and drive meaningful change. Here’s a brief description of how we use DEI analytics and reporting to address systemic biases and build inclusive workplaces. The reason we utilize HR analytics is with the aim of shedding light on critical touchpoints in the talent [...]

Rethinking Affirmative Action: Exploring Alternative Approaches For Fostering Inclusive Organizations

The Supreme Court has delivered its long-awaited ruling on the legality of affirmative action in higher education, sparking intense debates and discussions across the nation. The Supreme Court ruled a ban on affirmative action specific to a case in university admissions, however this likely means affirmative action for other institutions will follow suit. Companies that have relied on this policy must consider alternative approaches to achieve diversity and inclusion. So what does that mean for you?    To get started, you’ll need [...]

The “Summer of Networking”: Breaking Bias and Fostering Inclusion

In today's ever evolving workplace, the power of networks can’t be underestimated. The people we interact with and the communities we engage with often shape our beliefs, perspectives, and understanding of the world. But our social networks can also inadvertently perpetuate bias narratives, leading to echo chambers and limited viewpoints. That’s why we’re excited to announce our “Summer of Networking” initiative here at Orange Grove. The initiative is a collaborative effort to diversify our networks of professionals and thought leaders and highlight [...]

Embracing Inclusive Leadership in the Era of Hybrid Work

The “back to the office” wars moved to a new level recently when it was leaked that some Google employees have been on the payroll for almost a year without doing any actual work. DEI proponents have responded negatively– rightfully so – since we know the office often caters to the needs of one group (one that rarely has childcare responsibilities, for example) at the expense of diversity and inclusion. Concern about a remote workforce is not unfounded – there are a number [...]

Why Women’s History Month Isn’t Enough: Taking Action to Achieve Workplace Gender Equity

Women's History month may have just passed, but the conversation around the lack of representation of women in leadership roles is an ongoing effort. After all, performative actions for one month are not enough to drive change — so what are you doing to really make a meaningful difference? Women have been historically underrepresented in leadership positions, and despite some progress, there’s still a long way to go. One of the key issues is the lack of representation of women in mid-level [...]

Revamping DEI Training: The Importance of Active Learning and Safe Environments

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) training has been a hot topic in recent years as companies aim to demonstrate their commitment to racial justice. However, a recent opinion piece in the New York Times – “What if Diversity Training is Doing More Harm Than Good?”-- highlights that despite promises of improved intergroup relations, better employee retention, and recruitment, there is little evidence that many of these initiatives work. The article argues that mandatory training without a clear objective may actually have a [...]

Here’s How To Integrate Change Management In Your DEI Initiative

The conversation surrounding DEI in the workplace often centers on setting initiatives for the workplace with the assumption that employees will be able to simply adapt to the new processes without any difficulty. But the reality of creating inclusion at work requires a deep understanding of what’s going on in your pipeline development – from hiring to promoting employees – and a willingness to make significant changes to both policy and behavior. That’s because DEI is so much more than recruiting a [...]

Kick Off 2023 With These Inclusion-Related Resolutions

2023 has just kicked off, which means now is the perfect time to set your sights on finally achieving your DEI goals in the new year. Resolutions and/or intentions are a way to be proactive about defining your personal or your organizational goals for an equitable workplace before you achieve them strategically. Setting benchmarks for your DEI strategy keeps you aligned with the future you. The team at Orange Grove shared their inclusion-related resolutions/intentions for 2023, which range from keeping yourself accountable for [...]

How To Celebrate The Holidays Inclusively At Work

With the holiday season in full swing, now is an especially important time to encourage a sense of belonging and honor your employee’s diverse identities. After all, how you opt to celebrate holidays in the workplace impacts your culture and employee experience.  Since many holidays are centered around faith-based or cultural beliefs, employees can feel uncomfortable or excluded when some celebrations get more attention than others. Ignoring individuals’ backgrounds and identities can lead to employee disengagement and negatively impact your business performance.  [...]

Here’s How The “Broken Rung” Could Be Affecting Your Promotion Pipeline Part II

In our last blog, we introduced the “Great Breakup” – a major workplace shift occurring across the country as women switch jobs in unprecedented numbers, according to a new report published by McKinsey in partnership with LeanIn.org. The report sheds light on how women have been underrepresented in leadership for years due to the “broken rung” that prevents women moving up the ranks at the very first step to manager. The fact is that there are a multitude of steps over a period [...]

Here’s How The “Broken Rung” Could Be Affecting Your Promotion Pipeline

There’s a major workplace shift happening in businesses nationwide as women switch jobs in unprecedented numbers, according to a new report published by McKinsey in partnership with LeanIn.org. In what’s been coined the “Great Breakup,” women are relocating to companies that more align with their values – and the phenomenon is shedding light on the workplace dynamics that are still preventing women from moving up the career ladder. McKinsey’s annual Women in the Workplace report reveals that in 2022, “women leaders are switching [...]

Should Your DEI And Organizational Values Be Aligned? Part II

In our last blog, we introduced how organizations can decide whether DEI and overarching organizational values should be aligned – or if having a separate set of core values is beneficial. We help organizations both establish DEI values or take existing company organizational values and define them from a DEI standpoint. What we’ve found is that there’s no single approach to deciding on core values since all organizations start off at different points in the DEI journey. If your organization opts [...]

Should Your DEI And Organizational Values Be Aligned?

When strategizing a diverse and equitable workplace, a question that often comes up for organizations is whether DEI and overarching organizational values should be aligned – or if there’s merit to having a separate set of core values. Since all organizations begin at different points in the DEI journey, there’s no uniform approach to deciding on core values. A good starting point is to look at how embedded your pre-existing organizational values are to begin with by getting feedback from employees [...]

Orange Grove Consulting Case Study: Access Fund’s JEDI Journey Part II

In our last blog, we introduced  non-profit climbing advocacy group Access Fund’s vision and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) journey. In their February 2022 JEDI journey report, Access Fund shares that its vision is to build a community and workplace with a “staff from a multitude of backgrounds” that feel “ respected, valued, heard, and able to fully reach their personal and professional potential.  Access Fund began their JEDI journey by conducting their own internal assessments, which included a quantitative aspect [...]

Orange Grove Consulting Case Study: Access Fund’s JEDI Journey

Awareness that a diverse and inclusive workplace is crucial to bottom-line business benefits has spread across the country in recent years. The effective implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has resulted in increased employee satisfaction, greater innovation, and so much more. Organizations that are seeing the tangible, long-term results of DEI initiatives are making a proactive effort to level the playing field. They focus on using objective data to implement solution-based strategies in order to achieve equity in the workplace. One [...]

The Steps that Lead to Promotion Bias

Two weeks ago we talked about how conscious or unconscious biases could be preventing your organization from hiring and promoting leaders. Leaders are struggling to identify the best talent, and making plenty of excuses to defend why women and people of color are not being promoted at the rate of other demographics. One story we hear over and over again is that organizations just aren’t ready for DEI, and that there aren’t enough qualified candidates in their talent pool to get the [...]

Sign Up for our Newsletter

We share insights and news on improving talent management and leadership development. 

Contact Us

Go to Top