Activating the true potential of your workforce means understanding and championing the individual situations of every employee. More and more companies are looking to add neurodiversity inclusion to their DEI strategy to combat the talent shortage and create more equitable workplaces so women—and everyone—can thrive. 

Join this webinar to hear our panel of experts discuss: 

• How senior leaders can model empathetic leadership and authenticity to encourage, 

• The invaluable role of people managers in creating safe and supportive dialogues for neurodiverse employees, and 

• Why workplaces that actively support neurodiversity inclusion are more productive. 

Note: Please log in to the website with your Catalyst Supporter organization email to access registration. If you are NOT a Catalyst Supporter, please email us to proceed with payment and registration. For questions, please contact catalystevents@catalyst.org.

Speakers

Hilary McVey, Partner, Deloitte Canada

Samantha Schilling, Human Resources Director for the Engineering Function and Enterprise Centers of Excellence, Eaton

Moderator

Simona Fontanella, Senior Associate, Catalyst

The post Webinar Recording: Neurodiversity at Work: Recognizing and Welcoming This Aspect of Identity for Women and Everyone appeared first on Catalyst.

This page contains resources for trainers/facilitators who have completed the Moments That Matter Train-the-Trainer workshop and are now ready to lead Moments That Matter Training within their organization. It provides you with all the materials and content you need to smoothly launch the training experience.

Moments That Matter Training is a 4-hour workshop that guides frontline managers through realistic, context-specific workplace scenarios in a role-play-based learning. Participants build and practice skills to respond to employee situations in ways that drive empathy and impact.

Learning Outcomes

• Perception: Participants will notice dynamics on their team they didn’t recognize or fully understand before.
• Curiosity: Participants will be inspired to get curious about the root causes and implications of critical employee experiences in frontline workplaces.
• Confidence: Participants will stretch and grow in their ability to navigate challenging dynamics and willingness to engage.
• Mutual support and accountability: Participants will practice being supportive and accountable with themselves and one another; they will also practice giving and receiving direct feedback.
• Communication: Participants will learn and practice engaging in respectful, impactful conversations in challenging situations.
• Peer learning: Participants will role-play scenarios that enable them to learn with and through one another.

Workshop Components for the Trainer/Facilitator

Use the links below to download the resources that you’ll use to prepare for the Training.

• Moments That Matter Training Trainer Launch Toolkit: This contains instructions, advice, and communication templates for successfully launching this program throughout your organization.
• Moments That Matter Training Facilitator Guide: This will guide you through the training with timing, instructions, and all the content.
• Moments That Matter Training PPT: This is the slide deck you will use during the training.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PPT: After participants have voted on which scenarios they want to role play, copy the appropriate slides from this PPT to the Training PPT.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PDF (personal printing version) – Part 1 | Part 2: This version of the scenario cards is for printing on your work printer.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PDF (professional printing version) – Part 1 | Part 2: This version of the scenario cards is for you to send to your organization’s printing vendor if you want large quantities.
• Moments That Matter Tally Sheet: Print this out to gather participants’ votes about which scenarios they’d like to role play during the training.

Workshop Components for Participants

Use the links below to download the resources participants will need to access.

• Moments That Matter Key Skills Videos: Make these videos available to participants during the workshop on tablets, a kiosk, or another device.
• Moments That Matter Workbook: This will need to be printed for Moments That Matter Training participants.

The post Moments That Matter Trainer Resources appeared first on Catalyst.

This page contains resources for the person or team who is coordinating the rollout of Moments That Matter Train-the-Trainer (TTT) workshop in your organization. It provides you with all the materials and content you need to smoothly launch the TTT experience.

In this 7-hour session, up to 15 of your organization’s trainers, facilitators, or other chosen leaders will learn how to facilitate Moments That Matter Training. First, they will experience the Training as if they were frontline manager participants. Then, they will go over process specifics including design principles and teach-backs. Last, they will discuss the art of facilitation, including fostering psychological safety and authenticity.

Moments That Matter Training guides frontline managers through realistic, context-specific workplace scenarios in a role-play-based learning. Participants build and practice skills to respond to employee situations in ways that drive empathy and impact.

Learning Outcomes

• Perception: Participants will notice dynamics on their team they didn’t recognize or fully understand before.
• Curiosity: Participants will be inspired to get curious about the root causes and implications of critical employee experiences in frontline workplaces.
• Confidence: Participants will stretch and grow in their ability to navigate challenging dynamics and willingness to engage.
• Mutual support and accountability: Participants will practice being supportive and accountable with themselves and one another; they will also practice giving and receiving direct feedback.
• Communication: Participants will learn and practice engaging in respectful, impactful conversations in challenging situations.
• Peer learning: Participants will role-play scenarios that enable them to learn with and through one another.

Workshop Components for Train-the-Trainer Workshop

Use the links below to download the resources.

• Moments That Matter Train-the-Trainer Coordinator Launch Toolkit: This contains instructions, advice, and communication templates for successfully launching this program.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PDF (personal printing version) – Part 1 | Part 2: This version of the scenario cards is for printing on your work printer.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PDF (professional printing version) – Part 1 | Part 2: This version of the scenario cards is for you to send to your organization’s printing vendor if you want large quantities.
• Moments That Matter Tally Sheet: Print this out to gather participants’ votes about which scenarios they’d like to roleplay during the TTT.
• Moments That Matter Train-the-Trainer Workbook: This will need to be printed for Moments That Matter TTT participants.
• Moments That Matter Key Skills Videos: Make these videos available to participants during the workshop on tablets, a kiosk, or another device.

The post Moments That Matter Train the Trainer Resources appeared first on Catalyst.

This page contains resources for the person or team who is coordinating the rollout of Moments That Matter Training in your organization. It provides you with all the materials and content you need to smoothly launch the training experience.

Moments That Matter Training is a 4-hour workshop that guides frontline managers through realistic, context-specific workplace scenarios in a role-play-based learning. Participants build and practice skills to respond to employee situations in ways that drive empathy and impact.

Learning Outcomes

• Perception: Participants will notice dynamics on their team they didn’t recognize or fully understand before.
• Curiosity: Participants will be inspired to get curious about the root causes and implications of critical employee experiences in frontline workplaces.
• Confidence: Participants will stretch and grow in their ability to navigate challenging dynamics and willingness to engage.
• Mutual support and accountability: Participants will practice being supportive and accountable with themselves and one another; they will also practice giving and receiving direct feedback.
• Communication: Participants will learn and practice engaging in respectful, impactful conversations in challenging situations.
• Peer learning: Participants will role-play scenarios that enable them to learn with and through one another.

Workshop Components

Use the links below to download the resources.

• Moments That Matter Training Coordinator Launch Toolkit: This contains instructions, advice, and communication templates for successfully launching this program throughout your organization.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PDF (personal printing version) – Part 1 | Part 2: This version of the scenario cards is for printing on your work printer.
• Moments That Matter Expansion Pack of Scenario Cards PDF (professional printing version) – Part 1 | Part 2: This version of the scenario cards is for you to send to your organization’s printing vendor if you want large quantities.
• Moments That Matter Tally Sheet: Print this out to gather participants’ votes about which scenarios they’d like to role play during the training.
• Moments That Matter Workbook: This will need to be printed for Moments That Matter Training participants.
• Moments That Matter Key Skills Videos: Make these videos available to participants during the workshop on tablets, a kiosk, or another device.

The post Moments That Matter Training Resources appeared first on Catalyst.

What is microfeminism? Popularized on TikTok, microfeminisms are everyday actions women are employing to push back against day-to-day sexism in the workplace, one small act at a time. Watch as Catalyst experts break down this TikTok trend in this episode of Catalyst Spills the Tea, a video YouTube series.

Women across social media are talking about how they engage in small acts of feminism in the workplace. Some do it to correct or call out intentional or unintentional sexist acts or microaggressions. Others do it to spark controversy.

This trend speaks to how there’s a strong desire to create more equitable, inclusive workplace cultures and how women are empowering themselves to drive change through small gestures. Listen as we dig into why this is happening, what the implications are, and why companies should care.

• Sheila Brassel, PhD, Director, Research
• Alix Pollack, VP, Head of Knowledge Transformation & Solution Development
• Host: Josh Smalley Baldasare, Director, Content Creation

About Catalyst Spills the Tea

Catalyst Spills the Tea is a video series where we discuss trending topics in workplace culture; gender equity; and diversity, equity and inclusion. We are all about creating equitable workplaces for everyone, so you won’t find people more obsessed with workplace culture than we are. Yes, we love research, but we also love memes, video shorts, pop culture, and debating hot trends just like the rest of you. We decided to bring our watercooler talk and infuse it with a little bit of our research in this video series. Essentially, we’re bringing the research receipts to #worktok. Buckle up!

Wait, what does “spill the tea” mean?

Spilling the tea is slang used to refer to gossip or news, popular on the Internet and social media.

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Transcript

00:00:04:00

Hello and welcome to Catalyst Spills the Tea, where we break down and discuss trending topics in DEI. If you’re new here, Catalyst is a global nonprofit that drives gender equity through workplace inclusion. Today I’m your host, Josh Smalley Baldasare, Director of Content Creation. And I’m spilling the tea on microfeminism, with my fellow Catalyst staffers Sheila Brassel, Director of Research, and Alix Pollack, Head of Knowledge Transformation and Solution Development.

00:00:34:25

So let’s start with the obvious. What is microfeminism? Popularized on TikTok, microfeminisms are everyday actions women are employing to push back against day-to-day sexism in the workplace, one small act at a time. And I’d love to tag you in, Sheila, to kind of talk to us about why this is happening.

00:00:50:66

Thanks, Josh. Well, we know that for decades, if not longer – perhaps as long as women have been in the corporate workforce –
that they have experienced these sorts of everyday slights at work. Little things like having their ideas get taken up by someone else, often by someone in a position of power or by a man and having that idea, having that person take credit for their ideas, or their work, or things like being spoken over, or interrupted during meetings. So, microfeminisms are raising awareness right now of the ways that everyday sexism continues to be a problem at work. But this is certainly tapping into a trend that has been around for quite some time.

00:01:31:08
Yeah. But in those everyday kind of death by a thousand cuts, subtle, not-so-subtle moments, right, women are looking for ways that they can take back some of that control, that they can make positive impacts in their workplaces, even if they’re not necessarily in a position of power. So I think it’s just a really a great example of the ways in which feminism doesn’t need to be getting up on a soapbox or making broad, sweeping changes. It can be in those small everyday actions to push back against the status quo.

00:02:01:62

Yeah, and I feel like that’s why it’s been so popular, right? Is that it’s very accessible. And that folks like, like you know, a lot of folks, people have different roles, different personalities, and they may not feel like they can go out and like march or protest. But these little things, and especially the everyday aspect, make that I feel like very accessible and also very like powerful when all taken together.

00:02:24:00

I think it also helps women not to feel so alone, right? Because they can be in partnership in these kinds of actions. It’s really validating to have other women and hopefully people of all genders around you picking up on those sort of behaviors and responding to them in kind. Right? That it’s kind of in locking arms in solidarity in small ways that can have a big ripple effect.

00:02:46:62

Yeah, Alix. It can help so much in those moments where you’re maybe in fight-or-flight to have an idea of what you might do. But then also showcasing the diversity in these experiences, right? And how the ways that we’re seeing everyday sexism and microfeminism show up are intertwined with racism and microaggressions against women of color, and how this is the way that sexism shows up for women of color. And there’s so much power, I think, in this you know, awareness-giving that social media has provided.

00:03:17:20

Yeah. Yeah. It’s definitely one of my hopes coming out of this trend is that it’s an invitation into partnership for men, and people of other genders as well, that feminism does not belong to women. It’s about equity and you know, the kinds of things that these microfeminist acts are pushing back against are the same kinds of problematic dynamics that people across genders are, you know, suffer from.

00:03:34:08

Yeah. I mean, I think that’s definitely how I receive it as a cisgender man, like I feel like it’s an invitation for allies too. Because all these things allies can also do, like men can also do to support women. And I think, you know, the point that you, you both brought up about, like the noticing and the intersectionality as well, like, the more men notice these things that these women are like bringing awareness to, the more they can also interrupt them, in the name of partnership.

00:04:11:50

I love hearing your perspective on this, as you said, as a cis man, like what the invitation looks like for you. I also think that that’s a place where we have an opportunity, maybe an obligation to call out the potential challenges of this trend, which is that when it’s an invitation, when it is these positive forms of microfeminism, it’s a beautiful, accessible, inclusive thing. But it can also default to a place of shame and blame and sort of a zero sum. If women are going to quote-unquote win, then someone has to be on the losing end of that, right? And it’s kind of rather than calling in, it’s calling out men and saying in particular, like you are bad or wrong for doing or saying the thing you just did. And that’s not an invitation. That’s not how we make progress and it can be really alienating. And I think kind of gives the work we’re trying to do around equity and inclusion and feminism a bit more of an uphill battle to climb than we need. Yeah.

00:05:10:08

I would love for us to talk a little bit about these sort of combative cultures and climates of silence that, you know, breed these types of interactions that are hyper-competitive, right? So if you are working in a hyper-competitive environment, you might get more points if you do interrupt someone. If you do, you know, take credit for someone else’s work, intentionally or unintentionally. So it’s a lot of these sorts of cultural dynamics that we know can be shifted, that set up these experiences of everyday sexism at work.

00:05:41:70

Yeah I think, Sheila, what you’re getting at, too, is the call to action for organizations and leadership in all of this, both to if and when they notice acts of microfeminism happening in their workplaces, to life that up, to validate and celebrate and replicate that, as an opportunity for some self-reflection around why that microfeminist act was necessary in the first place.

00:06:06:70

Yeah, I’m really just coming back to like that idea of like, death by a thousand cuts, psychological safety, like, this is a workplace safety issue. You know, like women don’t feel safe in the workplace. They feel like they have to use these small acts to get to that place of like, feeling like, they’re on an equal playing field. So I think that’s like a big call to, you know, allies, especially, and these workplaces to acknowledge that and to do what they can to put in safeguards.

00:06:33:95

Well, I think we spilled the tea on microfeminism. So, I just want to thank Alix and Sheila for this conversation. It’s been very fruitful. And please join us next time on Catalyst Spills the Tea.

00:06:45:87

Thanks, all.

00:06:46:62

Thanks, Josh. Thanks, Alix.

00:06:47:70

Thank you.

The post Video: Catalyst Spills the Tea on Microfeminism appeared first on Catalyst.

In this episode of Breaking it Down with Catalyst, a video YouTube series, host Rissa Pappas, Director, Production Editor and Catalyst experts, Emily Shaffer, Senior Director, Research and Sherazad Adib, Senior Director, Corporate Engagement delve into the art of crafting effective DEI communication strategies.

These Catalyst experts share the essential steps that DEI and HR practitioners, as well as senior leaders, should take to communicate the benefits of DEI initiatives to employees. From aligning with your organization’s brand promise to examining the underlying rationale for DEI efforts, we provide practical tips to ensure your messaging resonates authentically.

Uncover strategies for addressing the big question: who truly benefits from DEI initiatives?

Business leaders and DEI practitioners can learn how to articulate the collective benefits of fostering a more equitable and inclusive workplace culture to engage all employees, regardless of gender, background, or role. Read more in “How to Talk About Diversity to Employees to Achieve Your Company’s Objectives.”

Breaking it Down with Catalyst is a video YouTube series where Catalyst researchers and experts break down Catalyst gender equity; and diversity, equity and inclusion research.

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Transcript

00:00:09,333
Hello, I’m Rissa Pappas. I’m a Production Editor at Catalyst and I’m joined by my fellow Catalystas, Emily and Sherazad.

Please say hello.

00:00:19,625
Hi, Rissa.
I’m Emily Shaffer. I am a Senior Director in the Research Department at Catalyst, and I am based out of Phoenix, Arizona.

00:00:28,458
Hi, my name is Sherazad Adib. I’m a Senior Director at Catalyst and based in Montreal, Canada.

00:00:34,541
Thanks so much for joining me. We’re here to talk about how DEI and HR practitioners and even senior leaders can better communicate the benefits of DEI to their employees.

00:00:44,666
So, Emily, when they’re building their talking points, what’s the first step they should take?

00:00:50,166
First, I would say to align with your brand promise.

So, go back to those basics and really take a look at your organization’s mission statement, and your formal and informal values at your organization.

So then you can really make it clear how your DEI efforts align with those values. And alignment here is absolutely key because you don’t want to seem as though your efforts are performative or not genuine. So, where you’re saying one thing and maybe doing another.

Companies should be reflecting that they are using internally about the benefits of DEI and how it’s going to be received internally and if their leaders have enough information and support to communicate some of the key messages so that they can discuss internally with their teams.

00:01:39,833
Yeah.
And I think for the last thing, it’s really important to know your audience.

So, I think right now, especially given the current climate, people are really having to make the business case for DEI because they have to show that it provides value to the organization.

00:01:54,250
And, you know, of course, we all know that it does. But they have to make this argument to ensure that the programs continue. So, it’s also possible, though, that while you might have to make this case, you can bring it back to your organization’s values and make it clear that when it comes down to it, these actions are the right thing to do.

00:02:14,500
Thanks for building on each other’s ideas. So Sherazad, as someone who works closely with companies committed to DEI, what are the biggest challenges that companies face when they’re trying to craft their DEI messaging?

One thing that I hear a lot, in the current context, is that some men feel excluded from the DEI initiatives.
And some companies are starting to hear some complaints. And this could even come from their customers. And this comes back really to the big question of, “Who really benefits from DEI?”

And that’s where I think companies can really do a job of explaining how we all benefit from having a more equitable and inclusive working culture.

00:03:09,291
I couldn’t agree more. And thankfully, we have the research that proves those points.

00:03:14,208
Thank you for talking with me today. And if you want to learn more, you can read our reports and learn about our programs at catalyst.org.

The post Catalyst Breaks it Down: Crafting Internal DEI Messaging (Video) appeared first on Catalyst.

Dive into the latest episode of Breaking it Down with Catalyst, a video YouTube series where Catalyst researchers and experts break down Catalyst gender equity; and diversity, equity and inclusion research.

Join host Rissa Pappas, Director, Production Editor and Catalyst experts, Emily Shaffer, Senior Director, Research and Sherazad Adib, Senior Director, Corporate Engagement as they dissect the age-old debate between the “business case” and the “fairness case” for diversity initiatives.

Emily explores the nuances of these two common rationales used by companies to justify their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). From linking diversity to bottom-line results to championing diversity as a moral imperative, they break down the key components of each case.

Discover fascinating insights from Catalyst’s global research, “How to Talk About Diversity to Employees to Achieve Your Company’s Objectives,” including employee preferences for DEI messaging and the impact of each explanation on the employee experience. 

Gain valuable perspectives from Sherazad who shares real-world examples of how organizations are navigating the delicate balance between the business case and the fairness case.

Wondering if companies should pivot to one messaging strategy over the other? Find out why it’s not necessarily an either/or decision and how organizations can strike the right balance to drive meaningful change.

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Transcript

00:00:08,958
Hello, I’m Rissa Pappas. I’m a Production Editor at Catalyst.
And I’m here with my fellow Catalystas, Emily and Sherazad.

Please tell us who you are and what you do at Catalyst.

00:00:20,041
Thanks, Rissa.
I’m Emily Shaffer. I’m a Senior Director in the Research and Development Department at Catalyst.
And I’m based out of Phoenix, Arizona.

00:00:26,958
Hi, my name is Sherazad Adib.
I’m a Senior Director at Catalyst, based in Montreal, Canada.

00:00:33,000
Thank you so much.
We’re here today to talk about the two common reasons companies give for supporting DEI initiatives internally and externally.

And they are known as the business case and the fairness case.

So, Emily, can you break those down for us?

00:00:49,333
Yeah, absolutely. We’re all probably familiar with the business case in some form.
It has to do with justifying your diversity efforts by linking diversity to an increase in your bottom line, which is probably what most of us think of, right, when we think of the business case.

But it’s not just that.
It also has to do with how it impacts, innovation perhaps, or your organization’s brand.

The fairness case, on the other hand, makes a case for investing in diversity because it’s simply the fair or the right thing to do.

So, it’s something that’s important to the organization and it’s consistent with their values.

00:01:23,833
Cool.
Thanks for explaining.
So, which of these explanations do employees tend to prefer?

00:01:29,541
Yeah, so it turns out that when we asked employees in 11 different countries around the globe whether they preferred their organization to use a business case or the fairness case when they’re talking about diversity, about half of respondents said that they really don’t have a preference for one or the other.

They wanted their organization to use the business case just as much as the fairness case.
But for the other half of folks who did show a preference, most of them said that they preferred the fairness case.

00:01:56,333
So, beyond employees’ personal preferences, does our research point to other benefits of one explanation over another?

00:02:03,750
Sherazad,can you speak to how you see this with Catalyst supporter companies?

00:02:08,375
Yeah, absolutely. I think one benefit that is really key here, is really important is the link between the fairness case and employee engagement and the intention to stay or even to choose the place that you want to work in.

And this is really a big trend that we’ve seen now for many years. And I think it’s going to be even more amplified with the arrival of the Gen Z in the work market.

00:02:38,541
Do either of these point to any negative consequences for the employee experience, Emily?

00:02:43,458
We actually did see that there can be some negative impacts of the business case.

So employees were more likely to say that they intend to leave their organization in the next year when their organization uses a business case for diversity.

And for members of marginalized groups, the use of the business case was associated with increased experiences of being on guard to detect bias in their workplace.

00:03:07,750
Sherazad, is that something that you’ve seen in your work with supporter organizations?

00:03:12,125
Yes, absolutely. I think that it’s sometimes the underlying message or the unintentional message behind the business case is that, you know, because you’re a woman or because you are
a person of color, you need to maybe outperform, and, you know, and you can’t possibly make mistakes.

And I myself, you know, have had this feeling of you know, not being allowed to make mistakes sometimes.
So, and we’ve seen that in the case of women CEOs, who were faced with more expectations sometimes.

So the fairness case sends, I feel, a much more inclusive message, and it’s all about valuing people.

00:04:03,958
So in the real world, which messaging are companies currently using?

00:04:09,416
We saw that over three-quarters of our respondents said that their organization uses both of these cases when they talk about their diversity efforts.

It’s far less likely that organizations are only using a business case or only using a fairness case.

So since we know that more employees seem to, of the ones who do have a preference one way or the other, that they do tend to prefer a fairness case or view it more positively.

00:04:34,333
Should we be telling companies that they should be pivoting to all fairness case all the time?

00:04:40,250
Yeah, it’s a great question. We show that when organizations emphasize the fairness case more than the business case in their DEI messaging, employees are more likely to experience inclusion,
say that their organization is fair and intend to stay with their organization.

To be clear, you know, the point of this research isn’t to vilify the business case.

The reality of the situation is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be an “either/or” decision for organizations.

It can be a “both/and”.
And it’s really possible to find the right balance here. So, I think that it’s really important, at a time when the business case needs to be made, to ensure that DEI programs continue,
that organizations can work to find that balance.

00:05:24,875
Now, from what I’ve seen in our supporter communities, that the business case can be more successful when there’s, it’s linked to, let’s say, or new services for the customer base,
for instance, so, to fit the needs of all customers.

When you try to connect DEI with your core business or your organization’s mission and DNA, I feel like it could be really successful.

You know, supplier diversity could be another example of, I think, how you can, you know, connect DEI to the business case.

00:06:09,875
Thank you for sharing your insights with me today, both of you.

You can learn more and read our report at catalyst.org.

The post Catalyst Breaks it Down: The Business Case vs. The Fairness Case (Video) appeared first on Catalyst.

The post SOLD OUT: Inclusive Communication Cross-Company Workshop appeared first on Catalyst.