Blog - MT Consulting Group

Does your diversity exclude fat people?

5 simple ways organizations can begin to cultivate a size-inclusive culture

One thing we ask of participants in our DEI Foundations course, is to reflect on the aspects of their identity that they think about the most. It’s an important question, because the identities that we are most aware of, those that are always on our mind, are the areas where we have the least privilege in our lives. For me, my size is always on my mind. It’s the aspect of myself I think of most – personally, socially and professionally.

In a fat-phobic, fat-shaming culture, there are real consequences for people of size, especially in the workplace. Overweight people are more than 50% likely to be given a negative performance review compared to their non-overweight colleagues, even when their outcomes and achievements are the same. Research shows that overweight employees, regardless of their performance, face negative workplace stereotypes that characterize them as lazy, less intelligent, sloppy and lacking in self-discipline. In a study on fat pedagogy and microaggressions, fat professors in higher education settings feel compelled to overperform, using overperformance as a strategy for combating assumptions that their research is less credible than that of thin professors. As an overweight professional with an academic background myself, these realities hit home.

Weight bias is ubiquitous in our society

Size bias exists in every facet of our society, across all industries. Healthcare, for example, is an industry that blames, shames, abuses and discriminates against fat people. When I was pregnant with my first child, the OB told me that I wouldn’t feel her kick because there was too much fat cushioning my womb. The humiliation of her comment (which, by the way, was false – I felt every single kick, punch and movement my daughters made from the first trimester) still shames me, a decade later.

Weight bias in our culture starts young

Research has shown that weight bias begins to develop in children as early as preschool age, with thin preference being entrenched between the ages of 9-11. Both of my girls went through a period when they were 3-4 years old when they would tell me they wished I was like the other moms. When I asked what that meant, they said “skinny.” Today, my youngest daughter, who is almost six, has changed her tune, telling me she’s glad I ate too much when I was young because now I’m squishy and perfect for cuddling. My husband and I have created a home where there are no Barbies, but plenty of diverse dolls; where there is no cable TV, but shelves of children’s literature featuring diverse characters; and, where we make it a priority to never comment negatively on our own bodies, or theirs. Still, the desirability of thinness is a message that creeps in from school, friends, movies, neighbours and extended family.

Microaggressions against fat people are rife

So much so, that #FatMicroaggressions has become a trending hashtag. All fat people are subjected to incessant, unsolicited comments and microaggressions about their weight, from “but you have such a pretty/handsome face” to “but you carry your weight so well.”

Fat people suffer indignities in the workplace every single day

My first real job as a teenager was as a cashier at Safeway. In those days, the uniform for women was a knee-length white polyester dress with crimson red piping. It was 1990, and the women’s size range stopped at a size 10. As a petite-height size 14, I had to have a dress custom-made by Safeway headquarters, which required three off-site fittings and took two months to arrive. For the first two months, I wore black pants and a white shirt (purchased at my own cost), while colleagues and customers unkindly peppered me with questions about why I didn’t have to wear a uniform like everyone else.

Later on in my career, I remember a colleague who was a subordinate and my direct report. Unprompted one day, he asked me, in front of three of my other direct reports, why I “hadn’t considered exercising?” At the time, I was the smallest I had ever been as an adult and, at 157 lbs, was running 5km, 5 times a week.

While working In Afghanistan, to reach universities outside of Kabul I flew in a tiny UN airplane. There was a battered old bathroom scale on the tarmac, where both luggage and passengers had to be weighed. Standing on that scale while the porter shouted out my weight for what felt like the whole universe to hear, was mortifying. If the plane was over the weight limit, would they just open up the door and throw me out?

Once on a work trip, I was 3 months pregnant and taking a flight from Kenya to Zimbabwe. I was assigned a seat in the very first row of economy class on an old airplane. The first row of those old planes always has armrests that don’t move up and down, and don’t have an open space between the bottom of the rest and the seat cushion. It’s like being in a vice-grip. I twisted and contorted. Tried lying on my side. Held my breath. Not possible: I literally did not fit into the seat. I discreetly explained my situation to the flight attendant and asked if I could be moved; she looked me up and down with disgust and told me the plane was full and there was nothing that could be done. I was too embarrassed to ask any other passengers. After take-off, during which I suffered horrific shoulder cramps from pinning myself into the seat, I spent the remainder of the 3 hour flight standing up in the galley by the washrooms.

During a period at work when I was the heaviest I have ever been, I regularly walked long-ish distances to meetings across campus. My supervisor at the time was thin and very athletic. She would often stop by my office and we would walk to meetings together, chatting along the way. Her pace was fast. Like, really fast. I was speed walking, sweating, barely able to keep up and desperately trying to hide that I was out of breath. I would actually hold my breath while jaunting up stairs, hoping she wouldn’t hear me panting and wheezing. She didn’t slow down or adjust her pace to accommodate me. I felt as though she didn’t notice I was struggling or that it never occurred to her that as a short, fat person I might not be able to walk that fast. It was the first time in my life that I experienced ableism. Disability is an outcome created by the barriers that society and the able-bodied erect against those with physical or mental impairments. My supervisor’s inability, or unwillingness, to accommodate me during those walks, made my size a disability.

How can an overweight employee be at their best and do their best work when the workplace steadily chips away at their confidence?

Here are five simple ways your organization can begin cultivating a size-inclusive culture today:

Review your onboarding process. For example, start asking employees about any equipment accommodations they may need (i.e. office chairs, etc.) before the person comes in for onboarding. Instead of making an employee sit or squeeze uncomfortably into their chair or workspace for weeks or months until newly ordered equipment arrives, make sure this is set up for them from day one. Annually, send out a survey and/or invite all employees to inform HR if adjustments are needed to any equipment. These actions benefit not just overweight employees, but tall people, people with back problems, people with disabilities, people with mobility challenges or anyone who needs some accommodations in these areas.

Review your policies. For example, does your travel policy include the purchase of a business class seat, or an adjacent seat, in cases where a person may require it? Is the booking and/or reimbursement process simple, and shame-free? Does your organization – or your industry – require frequent travel? If so, what kind of advocacy and/or education can you and partner organizations undertake to encourage airlines to address size discrimination in their own policies?

Safety. If you are situated within, say, the construction industry, is your PPE available and easily accessible in an extended range of sizes?

Uniforms. If your organization has a uniform dress-code, are uniforms available and easily accessible in an extended range of sizes, for both men and women? If an employee needs a uniform custom-made, is the fitting and ordering process simple, fast and shame-free? Can the start-date of the employee be delayed until the uniform is ready, thereby reducing the chance of the employee being singled out or stigmatized in front of colleagues by not wearing the required uniform for the first days or weeks on the job? Periodic and even seasonal shifts in weight and size are normal for human bodies. Does your organization have a simple, cost-free, and shame-free process for employees who need to request and/or order a uniform in a different size?

Swag. If you are giving branded clothing to your employees (or clients), make sure you offer an extended range of sizing, for all genders. Don’t humiliate women and trans women by forcing them to order from the men’s size sheet. Better yet, why not remove clothing entirely from your swag list and focus on things like bags and backpacks, bottles, journals, etc that don’t have the potential for humiliation?

We would love to know in the comments below how your organization is making size-acceptance a part of its culture of inclusion. If you need some more strategies specific to the needs of your organization, MT Consulting Group can help.

Exploring Inclusive Leadership

Meeting individuals where they’re at with personalized leadership

At one point in my career, my definition of inclusive leadership, among other things, meant a leader who would accommodate or recognize the need to accommodate my religious identity that may overlap with my work. At that time, I did have an inclusive leader who gave me space in her office so I could pray and who allowed me to adjust my working hours during the month of Ramadan because of fasting. She created a space and an environment in which I felt comfortable enough to express my religious identity and feel celebrated for it. There was the key.

However, I am not the same person I was when I was working there years ago and that is imperative to highlight. I am not a monolith; my professional needs constantly change, my definition of inclusivity expands, and my thoughts on inclusivity in the workplace shift all the time. As a Palestinian and a second-generation Canadian, my thoughts on inclusive leadership and inclusivity in the workplace continue to shift and change every so often based on so many factors. Why is that important? It is important because I never appreciate blanket statements or efforts towards inclusivity. Without connecting with your employees first, how can a leader know what will work best for their team? Can a leader who does not even know their employees or co-workers create an inclusive environment? Better yet, how can a leader be inclusive and promote an inclusive workplace if their employees are too scared to approach them?

There is a need and a beauty in personalizing and individualizing inclusive leadership so that it aligns well with the needs of those you work with. It is easy to assume that inclusive leadership looks like a leader going around asking visible minorities or BIPOC how they could make the work environment better for them. Some may look towards the opinions or suggestions of those same employees to inform their decisions and consider that inclusive. To me, that just does not cut it.

An inclusive leader cares about YOU. You are not just a number or another employee. You are important and you matter, and so does your identity…if you want it to matter. Some people want their cultural identity at the forefront of who they are in the workplace and others do not. A cultural identity, I should mention, encompasses all elements of a person’s identity (nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, sexual orientation, locality, etc.). An inclusive leader needs to connect enough with those they work with to know what works for each person.

Inclusive leadership looks like a leader that communicates and connects enough with you to understand what inclusivity means to you. It is so easy to assume that every employee from a specific culture, background, or religion defines inclusivity in the same way; that is simply not the case. Everyone might have a different definition of inclusivity in the workplace, and it is the leader’s job to understand those definitions and to come up with one that works for their team dynamic.

So, what does inclusive leadership look like to me? A leader who takes the time to ask the right questions. A leader who engages in deep and open dialogue. A leader who creates an open and comfortable space for everyone to feel seen and heard. Ultimately, an inclusive leader asks, what does inclusivity in the workplace look like for you?

As part of our ongoing Inclusive Leadership Lab, today’s guest post was contributed by Dina Shamlawi, who earned her M.Ed. in Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of Alberta in 2015. She has since worked as an educator and within the higher education sector. Dina is currently pursuing her MA in Counselling Psychology at Yorkville University. Are you looking to develop your competence as an inclusive leader? Our Executive Certificate in Inclusive Leadership can help.

#WIRE Roundtable

In Episode 2, we discuss: What is psychological safety and why is this as inclusion, reconciliation, and equity?

The costs of not supporting healthy workplaces are high.

According to research reported in “Workplace Mental Health – A Review and Recommendations” by the Canadian Association for Mental Health (2020), the economic burden to business and the economy of mental illness in Canada “is estimated to be approximately $51 billion each year, with $6.3 billion resulting from lost productivity. By 2041, it is estimated that the cumulative cost of poor mental health to the Canadian economy will exceed $2.5 trillion.”

Leadership is critical in creating psychological safety so how do they do this and what kind of difference does it make? Beyond the financial impacts, there are immediate human impacts in a post-Covid world to ensure sustainable equitable workplaces.

Join Sherilyn and Sky of MT Consulting Group and Trisha McOrmand of McOrmand Coaching &Consulting at 1:00pm MT every Tuesday for the #WIRE Roundtable on LinkedIn Live. Follow us on Instagram to receive alerts and reminders each week before the event.

#WIRE Roundtable

Discussing inclusion, reconciliation, and equity in Alberta and beyond, two EDI experts and one specialist in root cause analysis and creating psychologically safe work environments, Sherilyn, Sky, and Trisha bring years of policy and program development and lived experience to the challenges that face a post-Covid world. In this inaugural episode, we talk about who we are, what our goals are, what drew us to doing this roundtable, and why we think this conversation is one we all need to be having.

Women in the Workplace: Busting Gender Bias and More

Two women drink coffee while seated at a meeting on gender bias and ways to support women in the workplace

Thinking about gender equity beyond International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day was last week, and while there is cause for appreciation and awe for working women everywhere, many are not so satisfied. The team at the Founders’ Fund highlighted on Instagram some of the ways women in Canada in particular have shouldered more struggles and faced more gender bias than ever, especially exacerbated by the pandemic. On Twitter, a bot account that calculated and posted ongoing gendered pay gaps in companies “celebrating” equality on the 8th made the rounds and pointed out ongoing issues with equal pay in the workforce.

The “she-cession” has seen hundreds of thousands of women in Canada (and across the world) laid off, with recovery still a ways off. In the spirit of the PayGapApp’s header image slogan, “Deeds not words”, we are highlighting ways that organizations and businesses can better support women and restructure their workplaces to create real change.

Close that gender pay equity gap!

This one should be fairly obvious, considering our opener this week. Look at the average median pay rate of your employees, broken down by gender. Are equal responsibilities and performance being recognized with equal pay?

Something to consider as well is your org’s performance review rubric, and how it may be stacked against non-men. Many traits seen as leadership strengths in North American corporate work culture favour masculinity and whiteness, and such gender biases can impact women’s — especially Black women’s — ability to advance or receive merit increases. Consider using a tool like this series of implicit bias tests to increase awareness of biases. Building this awareness is a great first step towards making informed decisions on making meaningful changes. We also recommend looking at the Government of Canada’s 50-30 Challenge for further information on increasing diversity in meaningful, non-harmful ways.

Office Comforts

Especially if your organization is planning to “return to the office” as the COVID vaccination rates grow and infection rates diminish, consider basic care and comforts you can bring with you! Basic things like budgeting to have free menstrual products in bathrooms, and bumping up the meeting room thermostats are physical demonstrations of valuing women’s comfort at work.

Mentoring and development

Internalized misogyny occurs every day: because of the way that people are socialized to consider men to be more “natural” leaders and women to be the exception, sometimes something called “the queen bee effect” can occur. Crucial to counteracting this phenomenon is to provide opportunities for women to support other women. Don’t just promote your female employees and teammates to higher positions: set up juniors for success and support as well through mentoring opportunities.

Breaking the Gender Bias by Shifting Assumptions About Childcare

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: women need more support when it comes to child care. Advocacy to make childcare affordable continues to be a big topic; smaller, seemingly innocuous mistakes also stand to be corrected when it comes to parenting.

This year on IWD, a thread on Twitter went viral with the hashtag #BreakTheBias, posted by a UK judge describing an incident where she was called by her child’s school despite her husband being listed as the primary contact in the student’s records. Replies with similar examples from other women and men, describe this gender bias as a common practice when it comes to childcare. In your workplace, make sure that equal opportunities to participate in child care are available between parents of all genders, not just mothers.

Changes, big and small, help to continue advancing women in the workplace. What will you start with from this list? Tell us below.

Accommodations in a Post-COVID Workforce

What has your organization learned about accommodation in the pandemic?

There is no denying that workplaces have changed in enormous ways since 2020 and the current COVID-19 pandemic. One of the biggest conversations in the aftermath has been that of accessibility and accommodation at work.

Prior to the pandemic, many disabled activists have (correctly) pointed out the ways in which accommodation requests which have been denied for years– such as flexible hours and working from home — suddenly became possible as soon as larger swaths of the workforce could no longer safely work in the office. For the chronically ill, the base level of sick time, flex hours, and the like have been insufficient to support their needs in the long term.

As we began to consider in our last blog post, employers must increasingly consider what they are doing to support more flexibility as we collectively strive to recover from the recession brought on by the pandemic. Monitor Mag points out that “The COVID-19 crisis [has shown] that a hyper-individualized approach to access is inadequate.” Creating plans to accommodate individuals’ needs will always be necessary, but before that, we must re-examine standards, cultures, and collective approaches to making work more accessible.

Shifting workplace culture can be difficult, but an easy place to start can be in the policies and practices used by your organization that affect everyone. Consider countries like Belgium, who have adopted a 4-day work week to allow for easier work-life balance. Or, as is already popular in other European countries, regularly closing for lunch breaks and parts of the afternoon to allow for more resting throughout the day. Closer to home, Twitter has implemented a permanent work from home model for their employees.

Practices like these provide more flexibility for employees to make health appointments, prioritize rest, and feel more prepared to tackle their tasks throughout the week. As the effects of “long COVID” include decreased stamina and other symptoms still under study, the key to caring for and retaining teams must include broad accommodations and empowering individuals to attend to their needs with support from their employers.

Studies have also shown that in an 8-hour work day, the average worker only accomplishes about 3 hours of actual work, leading to an overall waste of time for both the employee and employer. This may have also shifted in the increased normalization of working from home: where workers have had the opportunity to take care of their household duties alongside work ones, with the elimination of their commutes. This frees up more time for balancing work focus with family time, leading to healthier, flourishing, more invested members of the organization.

We want to know: What practices have you implemented in your workplace in the pandemic, that you plan to keep in the long term? What further changes are on the horizon for you and your team in the coming recovery period?

DEI trends and priorities for organizations in 2022

While no one can look into their tea leaves or crystal balls to predict the future, it’s not hard to make some educated guesses on the future of the workplace just by looking around. Industries must continue to adapt to the unknowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and consumers continue to grow their consciousness when it comes to their consumption.

Over the last few years, a huge amount of time, money, and attention has been paid to more than just the name brands: consumer attention has been trained on the actions, pledges, and follow-through of businesses to create a more inclusive and socially responsible world.

Here are the main themes that we think every organization should be thinking about as they make their plans for the near — and long-term — future.

Creating Diversity Conversations at EVERY level

Beyond adding more Black and Brown bodies to your boardrooms, customers and clients will be looking increasingly at where businesses are spending their money — and using that to determine whether they take their own dollars elsewhere.

Revisit and re-prioritize your organization’s budget. Where are profits still being prioritized over people? Have you increased spending in HR, namely in wellness supports like care time and health care coverage? While the purpose of a business is to make profit, no one gets ahead if the people working for you are unwell.

What commitments have you made to increase equity in your organization and community? What progress has been made on them? If you are coming up short on ideas, we recommend looking through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

Employ a bottom-up approach in tandem with a top-down approach to ensure that all levels of your organizational chart experience the right kinds of change to produce lasting results.

The Great Resignation, Gender, and Recruitment

Recruitment and talent acquisition is a challenge on its own; with the phenomenon increasingly known as the Great Resignation, dynamics in the recruitment, interviewing, and hiring processes are shifting. Workers have become more aware of their collective power, and will likely start to have more (reasonable) demands for their working conditions.

Are you offering enough in salary or wages to actually support employees to be able to take time off and not have to commit to multiple jobs to support themselves and their families? Consider the salary and wage range compared to the living wage, not just the legal minimum wage.

The truth is, even in the 2020’s, more women than men take on caregiving roles in their families and homes, and this became even more stark in the Great Resignation. Reliable child care has become even more difficult to find in the pandemic. Questions that all workers are likely to ask in their interviews, which you should be prepared to answer:

What supports are there for families with different caregiving needs? Consider kids, increased numbers of people with disabilities (eg. due to long COVID), and other dependents.
What kinds of flexibility exists in working hours — is it offering hours that can change along with growing families and developing needs, such as school pickup or medical appointments at odd hours?
Is mental health care supported in your benefits packages?
What is the culture in your office regarding taking time off for mental health and illness?

Studies have shown that having more women in the workplace makes an organization more desirable to work at, so prioritizing the needs and interests of women as a starting point can increase your retention and diversity in your teams.

Accessibility, Ongoing “Zoom Fatigue”, and More

While working from home was and continues to be a viable option for many workplaces, considering how you will continue to improve accessibility is key. Accessibility is more than just allowing for flexible work locales; it also means accounting for the basic needs of all employees. Some basic ways to make online meetings more inclusive and accessible include:

Taking breaks at regular intervals, such as a ten minute break for every hour of virtual meeting time. Allow for bathroom breaks, rest time for tired eyes, and standing/stretch breaks.
Being cognizant of the volume of meetings: without the need to commute between a meeting room and a workstation, meetings can stack up! Are you over-scheduling yourself, your colleagues, your employees? (see above point) Consider capping the average number of meetings each day to allow for project time and rest.
Including pronouns during introductions to allow employees to affirm their identities, and normalize the use of neopronouns* (*pronouns other than “she/her”, “he/his”, “they/them”).

These are all simple steps to take towards creating the workplaces of the future. Simplicity does not mean ease, however: they will all take work to accomplish, and require ongoing practice to do it right. If anything we have learned over the years is true, it’s that DEI work will never have overnight solutions. Allyship takes practice, intention, and effort.

Tell us in the comments below about your organization’s DEI priorities for 2022!

Happy Black History Month (BHM)!

While this commemorative month was started in the United States, Canada is not unaffected by the history of Black oppression and anti-Black violence in the past and present. As such, we take this month to pay particular attention to how we can uplift Black communities and practice our anti-racism allyship.

According to the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH), this year’s BHM theme is “Black Health & Wellness”. This theme brings communities of Black health care workers — doctors, nurses, and researchers — to the forefront. It also makes space for other ways of knowing and caring for health: from doulas and midwives for family care, to herbalists and naturopaths, Black wellness begins in many places. “The 2022 theme considers activities, rituals and initiatives that Black communities have done to be well” (ASALH, 2022).

Why is Black Health & Wellness important?

In mainstream, Western medicine, Black people experience high rates of gaslighting and medical racism in healthcare systems. These experiences lead to overall poorer health and lower life expectancies than non-Black people. Harmful stereotypes in medicine include, among others: false studies about Black people having a “higher pain tolerance”, racial biases about Black people and addiction to medications, and even seemingly minor issues like not having diagrams depicting darker-skinned people, making it harder to recognize symptoms of some diseases and disorders. (Although, one Nigerian medical student in California is making great strides in improving this last problem with medical textbook illustrations featuring Black bodies!)

Black health and wellness providers can help to combat these biases and beliefs, through increased presence and representation in the system. However, just like adding Black professionals to a boardroom does not create an inclusive workplace, placing more Black people in medical school and hospital teams is not enough.

One way to help ensure that Black wellness professionals can thrive is to “vote with your dollars” by shopping at and otherwise supporting local businesses. To mark this month and this year’s theme, we are making space for Black health and wellness professionals local to our home in Edmonton! Know someone who is in need of some TLC this month? Recommend them to some of the businesses below!

Wellness Services

Alberta Injury Management (Physiotherapy, Massage, Acupuncture, Dietitian, etc.)

Alberta Black Therapists Network

Bridging The Gap – Young Black Doula

Wellness Products

Afrodisiac Naturals

Restaurants & Foodstuffs

Food, particularly culturally-specific food, has inextricable ties to cultural awareness and belonging. It’s also probably the most delicious way to get to know your Black neighbours!

Jovic Bakery (Keto baked goods)

Langano Skies

Greenhouse Health Food Eatery

Vitaliteas Tea and Chai Blends

Collectives

Community and connection are imperative to mental and spiritual wellness and health. These collectives provide communal space for Black creatives and business owners to grow their businesses and networks.

Black-O wned Market (BOMYEG)

Edmonton Best Black Businesses

We would love to hear from you in the comments below about your favourite Black-owned businesses to add to our list.

Embracing Inclusion: The Impact of a Comprehensive Diversity Calendar in Your Workplace

A laptop, ipad and mobile phone open to Instagram show company's diversity calendar celebrating Hanukkah, Ramadan and Mental Health Awareness Month.

Updated January 2024

January is more than just a time for resolutions; it’s the season for contemplating calendars. And as teams grow more diverse, integrating a diversity calendar becomes crucial for navigating the relevant workplace holiday seasons. Empower your colleagues, employees, and clients to embrace inclusivity through this powerful tool — the diversity calendar.

What is a diversity calendar?

The winter holiday season may seem wrapped up, but many other holidays have happened or are swiftly arriving, even if they aren’t observed by legally mandated overtime pay or a greeting card genre. A diversity calendar is what it sounds like: a calendar that lists more than those mainstream, typically Western-centered holidays, throughout the entire year. A tool like this helps organizations and groups to increase their awareness of significant dates in communities outside of their own, and can help to promote inclusion in a variety of ways.

Why use a diversity calendar?

Taking the time to recognize a more diverse calendar of significant events creates a more welcoming environment for all. By opening up your professional calendar to include more than the mainstream, you:

Normalize more than the dominant cultural events — all year long.
Open opportunities for a more varied clientele to feel welcome or acknowledged by your organization or business, creating more meaningful connections!
Make it easier for all of your team to learn about other cultures through significant dates or rituals.
Foster a sense of belonging, as individuals see their cultural and religious observances acknowledged, contributing to a more inclusive workplace.

Take it beyond cakes and calendars

While it’s not realistic to make everyone on your team observe every single holiday or important cultural ritual, there are ways to empower staff to make the best decisions for themselves and their families’ traditions, without sacrificing your organization’s efficiency or bottom line. For example, consider adjusting your paid time off (PTO) practices or policies to allow more flexibility for those celebrating non-standardized holidays.

Be sure to avoid putting the burden on staff with marginalized identities to do all the labour of acknowledging each of the days that you choose to celebrate at work. Provide briefs about and supplies for celebrating, where relevant. For example, if you choose to start observing the Lunar New Year, avoid relying on your Asian colleague to explain its significance.

And while the word “holiday” typically invokes a sense of celebration or joy, some significant dates may call for other kinds of acknowledgement. For example, in 2021, the Government of Canada officially recognized September 30 as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. A party with a cake would be inappropriate to mark the day, but providing staff with orange shirts and a list of resources on how to practice reconciliation can be a good place to start.

Acknowledging the diverse tapestry of holidays doesn’t just enrich workplace culture; it lays the foundation for a harmonious and empowered team. As you strive for inclusivity through your diversity calendar, remember that the smallest gestures can lead to profound impacts. Consider our toolkit for the actionable steps and practical insights you need to seamlessly integrate a diversity calendar into your organization’s fabric.

If you’re a small business or organization looking to embrace diversity and inclusion, but you’re just not sure where to start, our Diversity Calendar Toolkit is your practical first step. No jargon, no complications – just a straightforward guide to understanding and celebrating your diverse teams and clientele. Elevate your team dynamics, innovation and success with this simple, effective tool that makes diversity and inclusion an everyday practice.

buy the diversity calendar toolkit today

It’s a New Year! Will you be a new you?

Happy New Year! Tis the season of refreshment and reinvention, and of the dreaded New Year’s Resolution. While some folks have great success with setting resolutions, studies have started to show that it may not be the best strategy for self improvement. This year, we are intrigued by an alternative strategy from Marla Tabaka: choose a word of the year to guide your decisions and goals.

Rather than carrying the weight of a resolution to try and live up to, your word can give you more space and flexibility to help set yourself up for success. Where resolutions are heavy, full of expectation and high stakes, a theme word can give you more room to breathe, make mistakes, and get a little messy as you work towards your goals.

Here at MT Consulting Group, we can help you include anti-oppression and inclusivity as the new year unfolds. Like Tabaka’s word-of-the-year method, equity and inclusivity work is expansive, and requires intention and gentleness. We have some reflection questions to help start you on your journey towards inclusivity and equity practice:

When you think of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) work, what feelings come up first?
When did you first become aware of systems of oppression? Where did you notice it (workplace, home, social circles)? Who was significant in that moment in time? What would you do differently if you could experience this again?
Where do you feel yourself getting stuck when it comes to DEI work?
What barriers or obstacles to DEI work can you recognize?
What power or spheres of influence do you have, and how can you leverage them in your DEI work?

Consider these questions and more to help guide your goal setting. Be honest with yourself, even if it is uncomfortable. Reflecting in a journal or aloud with trusted peers or friends can also help you solidify your thinking.

Then, visit Tabaka’s question: “What mindset will help you to move forward?”, in this context. What do you need to get started on making changes? What theme will help motivate you? What touchstone do you need to stay inspired to learn and grow?

If you are getting stuck, feel like you need some guidance, or would like to start your year with a retreat or workshop related to these themes, we can help. Visit our Services page for more about what we can offer, or drop us a line with your questions. We are more than happy to help with a listening ear and our expertise.

What word did you come up with to start 2022 on the right foot? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

Close that gender pay equity gap!

Breaking the Gender Bias by Shifting Assumptions About Childcare

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