Forced Happy Hour

Happy New Year...or at least we hope it's more happy moments than not. In the DEI space, we greet you with new terrain to navigate. The first episode of the year grapples with defining "engagement" in the workplace, feedback on DEI language usage, and new research on people who mourn the loss of being a grandparent. Word of the Week [2:18]: Posturing: More than just standing up straight, we define how this approach to equity work can be misleading and damaging. Phase 1 [5:20]: Engaging to Whom?: The word "engagement" is often used in workplaces by Human Resources (HR) and HR adjacent roles like DEI. Yet, we think it's ill-defined and therefore ill-measured by those who seek its development in multigenerational workplaces. Phase 2 [17:50]: DEI's Image Problem: As "DEI" becomes more of a buzzword and increasingly politically charged, those of us who've spent our life's work on this content rarely get to weigh in on how it is misinterpreted by those with the least expertise. Words matter, so how might our traditional DEI be critiqued, legitimately?Phase 3 [30:45]: No Grands for You: Recently a New York Times article shared the stories of Baby Boomers who both respected their kids for not having children but were left making sense of the void of not having grandchildren.References from the show:Best Practices for Engaging a Multigenerational Workforce – Harvard Business ReviewThe Unspoken Grief of Never Becoming a Grandparent - NYTBoomers Are Grieving Not Becoming Grandparents — And Millennials Aren't Having It- HuffPost