Guest Blog Written by Jen O’Ryan, Inclusion, Diversity, and Representation (IDR) Strategist

Leading as an “Accidental” expert

What is an “accidental” expert? Well, if you’re reading this, it’s probably you. Accidental experts usually fall into one of two categories: they are very good at managing projects and getting things done. Or they are someone who leans into an unfamiliar role that is likely frustrating, exciting, and daunting all at the same time.

Working for a small company involves wearing a lot of metaphorical hats. One of these hats is likely to include developing an inclusive and welcoming culture. Create an environment and experience that brings people in and, more importantly, where they can thrive. A place that values their perspectives, talents, and contributions.

How do I do this? And where do I start?

Excellent questions. The answer is a resounding “it depends.” Satisfying, I know.

What I’ve found in doing this work is that most organizations don’t notice there’s a problem. Rarely does an unwelcoming or exclusionary environment spring from malicious intent. Can it? Absolutely. But we’re focusing on the middle of that bell curve: business leaders and owners who think their company is welcoming, or at least okay enough to get by for now. Maybe they have a gut sense that it could be better but can’t pinpoint anything specific missing. Or they simply don’t know how to unpack the culture gap without becoming overwhelmed.

Business leaders tend to start by giving more attention and energy to actions that reflect how they’d like the company to be perceived. Things like branding, value statements, and recruiting campaigns. All of these are important for sure. But these are the macro influencers—words and images designed to convey an ideal standard. They provide the floor (policy) and ceiling (company values). Micro-influencers are the spaces in between. They are the doors (who gets in/out), windows (internal/external interpretation), and all the other ways your company is experienced.

When it comes to inclusive teams and activating diverse perspectives, start with the micros—all those experiential blips, exchanges, and interactions at an individual level. Focusing on macro influences causes businesses to miss the influence of day-to-day practices.

Think of it this way, what happens when macros are successful and potential employees show up? If the environment and interactions aren’t intentionally designed to support, things start to fall apart.

So, for leaders and change agents operating in those small-but-mighty companies, here are a few approaches I always recommend.

1: Use business size to your advantage

Startups and small businesses are uniquely positioned when it comes to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Belonging. Organizations of this size can more effectively influence culture, norms, and interactions across the employee lifecycle. Leaders have more control over the words, images, and micro experiential blips that shape how the company is perceived.

Investing in a welcoming culture creates a healthy, more productive employee population. It’s a differentiator that benefits conversations with potential business partners, clients, customers, and the communities in which you operate. Have a plan of micros that build on each other and inform your future macros.

And remember, micro does not mean insignificant. Micro-influencers shift how individuals interpret and experience your organization. Shifting to more inclusive language, noticing absences and bias in images—these are micro-influencers that lead to substantial change when implemented safely and with intention.

Hot tips:

Get to know your micros. A key benefit of a smaller organization is less complicated internal processes. Identify one or two areas that directly impact a human experience. Then map each from beginning to end. This will start to uncover places where barriers or design flaws can creep in. For example, if you notice high abandonment rates at certain points of registration, look closer. There could be exclusionary or offensive wording or something else that causes people to go elsewhere.

Is this process optimized for humans? Asking this seems funny, I know, stick with me here.

Most of the repeatable, predictable processes that involve experiential blips get ignored. Once you’ve mapped a process for micros, the next stage is optimizing them for humans.

Take, for example, the process to onboard a new hire. How many agreements, forms, policy documents, and legal templates are included in that exchange? More importantly, how many of these are designed to be easily consumed by humans?

Find and fix things like:

• Unfriendly font (looking at you, Times New Roman)
  • Certain font types are draining for humans to read
  • They can also contribute to fatigue and headaches in some people
  • Those with dyslexia can also find it more difficult to interpret serif fonts like TNR
  • Go with fonts like Helvetica, Verdana, and Georgia are easier to process

• Blocks of text and overly long sentences
  • People process information differently. Using forms, agreements, or guides comprised of relentless chunks of words isn’t going to work for everyone
  • To those of us with dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, or myriad ways of incorporating information – those blocks of text can represent a big “nope” as we move along to the next thing
  • Separate key ideas with space and give brains time to integrate
• Bias and outdated terms - especially if your company relies on legal templates
  • Documents using “he” or some variant of “he/she” pronouns. This reads like a dial-up modem sounds. “They” as a singular, gender non-specific pronoun is more clear and more inclusive.
  • Honorifics that are limited to “Mr., “Miss”, and “Mrs.”. “Mx.” is a gender non-specific option that also does not imply an age or marital status.
  • Cringy expressions like calling your impromptu meetings a “powwow” or a new gaming feature as being “like crack”.

2: Assess and establish a baseline

Think of the company as an ecosystem. It’s a collection of individual humans working through a variety of tasks and processes. Understanding the current model will shape where to focus and how to prioritize.

Data collection should be anonymous (think surveys) but can be supplemented with activities like focus groups or facilitated sessions. The design and mechanics of collection, analysis, and presentation will vary. It largely depends on elements like employee configuration (remote, hybrid, multiple sites?), the current state of the company, and how all of this fits in with your objectives.

It’s important to note that this component is separate from an annual employee survey. You’re measuring experience and sentiments which are processed differently than how happy employees are with their health care options.

The information collected from both will complement each other, but the research fundamentals and design are not interchangeable. Taking shortcuts or combining both aspects will weaken your results. If annual employee surveys are a chainsaw, workplace culture discovery is a scalpel.

Hot tips:

Start with the end in mind: What – specifically – are you hoping to learn? You can cover one, maybe two, core areas before people become overwhelmed. If it feels like questions are all over the place, scale it back and evaluate how each connects to the objective. Less is more.

Use plain language: Imagine you’re asking a colleague the questions over coffee. Would you use a paragraph of complex, uninterrupted instructions? If employees have to exert energy processing blocks of text or competing focal points, it will impact their responses.  

Close the loop: Outline a plan for what you are going to do with the information. Be respectful of the time, effort, and experiences that people are sharing. Don’t let it get swept away in the flurry of other activities.

Your plan doesn’t need to be exhaustive – stick with points like:

• What (and roughly by when) will results be shared back to employees?
• How will you keep response details anonymous and aggregated for confidentiality?
• What is your approach when unexpected or negative themes emerge?
• How much influence and resources are available to take action on these themes?

3: Evaluate and course correct

You’re not always going to get it “right”. Have a plan to spot, address, and recover when things go sideways. Be ready to acknowledge what happened and address it directly. And then build those learnings into the next plan.

Here are the common themes I’ve observed with initiatives that struggle. Most will have at least two, but usually three or four, issues that are intertwined.

Features and influences to prep for:

• Lack of resources, sustained effort, or focused expertise
• Objectives or initiatives that are defined without the context of lived experience
• Intended outcomes or goals that are not realistic or clearly defined
• Measuring that causes (or creates incentive for) undesired behaviors
• Lack of empathetic motivation, understanding, and commitment from leadership
• Cynicism among employees (can be due to a lack of information, not internalizing the culture shift, or inconsistent messages)
• Too much, too fast—saturation and change fatigue
• Lack of follow-through

It can be tricky to tease out individual problems and issues can manifest in multiple ways. For example, a lack of resources can indicate a root problem originating from cynicism and related to a lack of understanding from leadership.

Apply the insights and perspective you gained from items 1 and 2. When you have sense that something is “off”, follow that. Ask questions. Notice when the energy shifts in a meeting or similar patterns.

Learn how you and your team can create a better company—and world—one conversation at a time. Remember, you don't need to be perfect. But you do need to start.

 Feeling stuck or afraid of "doing it wrong"? Schedule time with one of our Expedition HR expert partners, Jen O’Ryan, DEI Expert, directly here.