Our Lloydian Success Ambassador, Danielle Garcia, details how Lloyd is currently focusing on diversity and inclusion in the workplace to ensure our employees, clients, and partners are equally valued and championed.
We often hear of “diversity” and “inclusion” being essential to the workplace, but what does this mean? Diversity, in its simplest term, means variety. Inclusion is to become an equal part of a whole. “Diversity and Inclusion” together as a concept in the workplace is about actively maintaining equal space for all different kinds of people to have their voices heard. The goal is that we can all come together and be part of a whole, while still making space for who we are as individuals.
Actively maintaining is the key to successful diversity and inclusion systems in the workplace. It’s not something that can be resolved and addressed with a few initiatives. There is no end-all-be-all when it comes to diversity and inclusion in the workplace – no singular workshop, training, or retreat exists that can cure the systems that exclude or create barriers for people in our society. Rather, achieving and maintaining any environment that values and reflects diversity and inclusion means committing to ongoing and active retrospection, open-mindedness, communication, and learning at all levels.
Working at the Lloyd Group as someone who values diversity and inclusion and the relationship between the two, I find that Lloyd’s approach to achieving and maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment is uniquely whole. What I mean by that is, there is no yearly training or presentation that wraps up our diversity and inclusion efforts, as it starts at the foundation of the organization, beginning with the fundamentals of our core values and extending into our community. Lloyd’s core values of “Be Human, Be Accountable, Be Better” asks employees to bring their authentic selves to work (flaws and all!) while also inviting retrospection by encouraging people to not be afraid of mistakes, be comfortable with taking accountability, and continuously work to be better for the community. There’s also a constant feedback loop between Lloyd’s leadership and workforce via surveys, one-on-one check-ins, and team discussions that give employees the opportunity to have their voices heard on a consistent basis.
Having focused initiatives is important, but having a foundation that welcomes diversity and encourages inclusion is essential to creating initiatives that will work to their full potential. Lloyd’s foundation of leading with humanity allows and encourages our employees to be themselves and be open and honest. It makes it much easier for a professional like me to start a conversation or host a training that emphasizes diversity and inclusion and deals with difficult topics that affect us as humans, and therefore, as employees. Lloyd’s monthly learning sessions, called LloydU’s (short for Lloyd University) give me a valuable opportunity to connect with our community on a quarterly basis about what words like “diversity and inclusion” mean, how certain identities face certain barriers, and the tools we can use to address things like bias, or guilt, or shame – things that we all experience as humans. I'm looking forward to the future of Lloyd and the continued work that will be done towards creating an inclusive space that reflects our diverse world.
About Danielle
Danielle Garcia is a human resource professional, educator, and Lloyd Group’s Lloydian Success Ambassador, serving as a People, Culture, and Learning champion for Lloyd’s employees, aka Lloydians. Danielle oversees the Lloydian experience and is the first person Lloydians will meet when they join Lloyd. Danielle has over 5 years of experience in Human Resources and Employee Engagement. She earned her master’s degree in Political Science from the Graduate Center of CUNY, where she focused on political identity, particularly race, gender, and class. She teaches Gender and Politics part-time at her alma mater, St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY, where she also received her Online/Hybrid Teaching certification to teach both in-person and in online environments. In April 2021, Danielle received her “Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace” certification from ESSEC Business School. Danielle exemplifies our core values of "Be Human, Be Accountable, Be Better," by bringing her authentic self to Lloyd and making our workplace a diverse and inclusive space for all.
