Erneshia Pinder, VP of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging at CVS Health, and Christy Pruitt-Haynes, a Distinguished Faculty member in Performance and Leadership, dive deep into CVS Health's transformative approach to DEI. They discuss how the organization is challenging conventional wisdom to promote true inclusivity, enhancing talent outcomes and overall results. The conversation highlights the importance of leadership commitment, innovative training programs, and fostering diverse perspectives in the healthcare industry to create a thriving workplace.
Failing to intentionally include diverse employee populations negatively affects engagement and can lead to decreased organizational performance and innovation.
The Include initiative at CVS Health integrates top-down leadership support with grassroots strategies to enhance employee inclusivity and participation.
Continuous engagement and tailored training ensure that all employees across different roles effectively understand and embrace inclusion principles.
Deep dives
The Cost of Exclusion
Failing to intentionally include diverse employee populations can lead to significant exclusions within organizations, affecting employee engagement and connection to the shared purpose. This exclusion can also impact the financial performance of the organization. Research indicates that fostering inclusive environments leads to smarter, more innovative, and engaged teams capable of peak performance. Organizations need to understand that embracing all employee experiences and identities is crucial to overcoming the pitfalls of exclusion.
The Role of Inclusion at CVS Health
CVS Health aims to be a leading health solutions provider and recognizes that healthcare needs affect everyone. Engaging all employees' unique perspectives is essential for informed decision-making that impacts customers and communities positively. The 'Include' initiative was designed to welcome everyone and foster an environment where all experiences are valued. This approach creates smarter teams by ensuring every voice is heard, enabling collective growth.
A Dual Approach to Change
The Include initiative at CVS Health was implemented using a dual approach that blends top-down and grassroots strategies. Leaders, including the CEO, played an integral role in embracing and promoting this initiative, ensuring leadership buy-in was key to its success. The program includes bite-sized learning sessions that allow employees to digest and apply concepts practically within their daily work contexts. By establishing connections with change ambassadors across various roles, the initiative’s user experience was tailored to meet the diverse needs of all employees.
Customizing the Learning Experience
The learning journey initially rolled out to corporate employees is now being expanded to retail colleagues and others within CVS Health. Essential to this process was the recognition that retail and corporate employees have different capabilities and learning environments. Effective training approaches were established to ensure accessibility and proper understanding of the principles of inclusion. Sustained efforts, such as ‘meeting in a box’ frameworks, have ensured all employees can engage meaningfully with the learning content.
Measuring Impact and Future Directions
The success of the Include program has resulted in positive feedback from CVS Health employees, with many expressing feelings of being seen, heard, and valued after participating. Alongside this, the initiative has generated significant demand from employees seeking more learning opportunities. Continuous engagement through structured communication channels and recognition systems has helped maintain momentum for the program. CVS Health plans to further enhance the initiative to create an inclusive culture that permeates the organization, ultimately benefiting the employees and their customers.
On this episode of Your Brain at Work Live, Christy Pruitt-Haynes (Distinguished Faculty, Performance and Leadership; NLI) connects with CVS Health's Erneshia Pinder (VP of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging).
Together, they discuss the firm's journey to radically accelerate inclusion — challenging conventional wisdom with real science — to improve talent outcomes and organizational results.
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