HR INSIGHT: Less than half of orgs connect DEI+ with well-being
Does your organization connect DEI+ with well-being?
If not (or you think it does), this article explains the whys and hows to achieve healthful outcomes by making this critical connection.
Why connect DEI+ with well-being?
To start, if you're not completely clear about the acronym or purpose of DEI+, it's the practice and promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and other healthful social factors (e.g., belonging, safety, honesty, respect, authenticity, trust, justice, etc.) that together empower every person to feel and do their best in the skin they live.
In other words, the ultimate aim of DEI+ is to support and promote individual and community well-being by fostering healthful attitudes, behaviors, motivation, relationships, information, opportunities, environments, systems, and resources that are essential to the health and well-being of every individual.
So why are we struggling to make the connection?
I recently conducted a survey of 518 LinkedIn professionals in various DEI+, workplace wellness, and leadership forums asking the question, "Does your org connect DEI+ (diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, etc.) with well-being (mental, emotional, behavioral, physical, etc.)?"
Less than half (40%) responded YES.
Almost the same percentage (35%) responded NO.
A quarter (25%) responded their organization is working on it.
Other studies have also reported workplace wellness and DEI+ programs are often separate, underutilized, and ineffective with a general lack of awareness and understanding why and how feelings and behaviors form and function in the brain — neurologically — that can be different for different people.
This disparity in understanding is directly related to how science has historically lagged behind social needs, constructs, systems, beliefs, and demands for change (with most religions and political systems predating modern science as well).
1890s: Sigmund Freud began to theorize the psychological construct of the "ego" (officially published in 1923).
1950s: The Civil Rights Movement began.
1960s: The academic field of Neuroscience was formed.
Unfortunately, this lag in understanding also led to the development of our modern healthcare system that almost completely ignores the mind as a function of the brain by excluding mental healthcare from most health insurance plans, and systemically separates mental health from brain health with separately funded fields of research, practice, and study.
This is why continuing education is so critical for both DEI+ and well-being, to update outdated theories and constructs with current knowledge and information based on unbiased scientific research, especially as research continues to grow.
Why do brain health, mental function, and neurodiversity matter?
Even when DEI+ efforts are well-intentioned, many still haven't made the connection to well-being (that ultimately benefits everyone).
What's too often NOT discussed or understood in the context of DEI+ and well-being is how the nervous system works — including mental function — that can be different for different people.
Whether related to our home life, schools, workplaces, religious institutions, healthcare system, or justice system, when we dismiss or deny the function of the brain, we prolong the cycle of dysfunction and pain. That is, when we shame people for their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors without learning, understanding, or accepting the neurological process behind them, we perpetuate the toxic stress and stigma that we are so desperately trying to heal and repair.
Similarly, when we fail to fully understand, accept, and care for ourselves, we also fail to understand, accept, and care for others. This is why effective DEI+ strategies begin with embracing and caring for oneself to fuel the neurological energy needed to embrace and care for others, thereby reducing the unconscious stress response that fuels unconscious emotion-driven biases.
How to make the healthful (neuro)connection...
The bottom line with both DEI+ and well-being is that healthful behaviors require healthful brain function driven by healthful neurological influences that can be different for different people.
We must begin with greater awareness and care for the driver of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that is the human brain and nervous system (that is NOT just a matter of “willpower”).
Creating a culture and environment in which every human feels safe, welcome, heard, seen, understood, and cared for physically and mentally is part of the equation but not an end in itself.
We must teach people WHY and HOW to healthfully regulate and care for their brain, body, and nervous system to maintain healthful habits and outcomes, that require healthful motivation, neurochemical reward, and neurological reinforcement.
This is the importance of incorporating mental fitness training into DEI+ and well-being practices, to promote brain health, mental function, and neurodiversity, to empower every person to feel and do THEIR best within their abilities, to provide the knowledge, resources, access, and care they need to thrive.
Want to learn more? Schedule a FREE consultation to explore 4D Fit Mental Fitness talks and training sessions that directly connect DEI+ with well-being.