D&I: More Than Just Policy

This week, in the wake of the shocking shoe description found on one of Amazon’s sellers, I’m thinking about how policy translates to practice.

When a shoe is not just a shoe…

Last week a friend of mine sent me a screenshot of a shoe found on Amazon (in the UK).
I glanced at the image of a brown men’s shoe and didn’t pay much attention. But when I later made some time to really look at it, and read the description, my eyes grew wide.

There, in black and white was a list of colours the shoe came in, and one of those descriptors was “N-word brown” (except spelled out).

I kid you not…. You can see for yourself in this article.

Clear Policies are the Start

Amazon was quick to take it down and respond that their policies for sellers are clear – but here is the thing: many policies are clear, and then sit on shelves in binders or in files on our computers.  Policies are important and not just a “nice to have”.

They have to live.

And to do so, we need to know what they are, find ways to make them come alive in our workplace and for our customer care and service, and then make sure they are being followed.

I recognize that this is a big undertaking. But if we want to make change, we have to DO what we say we are going to do.

So the big question today is:

How do you keep your policies on your employees’ radar, and help them to understand what they mean in practice?

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