Capabilities / Workplace Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Helping clients uphold their commitment to DE&I.
Husch Blackwell's team is dedicated to establishing and reinforcing our clients’ commitment to DE&I through recruitment, strategic planning, data acquisition, and retention. We assist clients with leveraging the values of DE&I to promote innovation within their respective organizations, increasing employee productivity, improving business relationships, and increasing revenue. That means offering training at all levels, from anti-discrimination and anti-harassment to unconscious and implicit bis; performing internal DE&I audits; advising on best practices for interviewing and for recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce; and helping clients engage in delicate conversations with employees and encourage allyship and bystander intervention.
Our team is prepared to proactively address workplace DE&I concerns to best meet the needs of our clients and their employees and stakeholders by identifying and addressing potential legal liabilities.
Experience
Husch Blackwell’s Labor & Employment DE&I subgroup routinely assists clients with legal and non-legal challenges related to the development and implementation of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) programs. We assist clients with existing programs as well as those under development. We blend high-level strategic thinking with tactical know-how to stand up programs that connect DE&I with the creation of corporate value and that manage associated risks and liabilities.
Needs Assessment
Our team offers initial DE&I needs assessments to help employers determine where they are in DE&I terms and how they can improve. We create, review, and revise policies and recruiting materials; review and advise on hiring and sourcing practices; advise on and engage in remedial action; and offer support to existing Affinity or Employee Resource Groups.
Training
Our team creates custom-made programs and training regimens for each level within an organization, driving greater compliance with applicable laws, as well as greater consistency in the way firm culture is expressed and modeled. Our training sessions can be customized to address specific audiences, whether it be whole business units or employees charged with a specific function, like interviewing job candidates, screening resumes, or fielding DE&I-related complaints.
Investigations & Remediation
Our team has decades of experience handling employment-related investigations, including those related to diverse workforces. We understand how to organize and prioritize investigations in order to base decision-making on a firm foundation of facts. We also work with clients to develop and implement remedial steps that are grounded in each organization’s culture, policies, and obligations under the law.
Reporting
Providing employees with a safe, fair, and reliable means to report misconduct and lodge complaints is a vital component of all DE&I programs. Our team draws from our deep experience with corporate compliance programs to develop reporting processes and tools that are specific to DE&I.
Communications
Communicating diversity-related policies and goals is an often overlooked but hugely important part of operationalizing a DE&I program. Our team helps clients think through the suite of communication tools and methods to support DE&I, including training materials, internal educational tools, recruiting materials, website communications, and employee manuals, among others.