Having the right Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan can make a world of difference to the success of your business. With a strong focus on ensuring a fair and equitable workplace, we are seeing an increase in organizations requesting verification that their contractors are following the same standards as the companies they are doing work for. When you make DEI a priority, every facet of your organization benefits, from culture to the bottom line. Here are four key benefits to a strong DEI program.

1. Employee Retention - Turnover is an expensive and time-consuming challenge to deal with. Studies have shown that having an inclusive workplace culture consistently lowers turnover.
   
   
2. Increased Safety - Safety is a top priority in construction. Creating an inclusive place to work that emphasizes physical, mental, and emotional safety, can reduce injuries by as much as 25%, lowering worker's compensation claims and increasing productive work-time.
   
   
3. Work Performance and Innovation -  A strong DEI culture helps employees work more comfortably with their coworkers, opening lines of communication, resulting in greater innovation, engagement, and work output.
   
   
4. Contract Negotiation - There is an increased emphasis on companies leveraging their entire network. This includes the companies that are awarded contracts. Contract scoring often includes a component measuring whether or not the bidder has a strong, successful DEI program in place.

All of these things work together to produce greater financial results for the company. According to a McKinney study, construction companies with a robust DEI culture are 33% more likely to have increased profitability and to attain profits in the top quartile for the industry.

Throughout the discussion, attendees will learn the key steps required to have a DEI plan that works, why being proactive matters, and how to create a culture that produces, happy, safe, and high-performing employees.

Guest Speakers:

Jody Holland is a speaker, author, trainer, and executive coach.  He has published 20 books, been the keynote speaker over 300 times at conferences, and trained more than 200,000 leaders.  He has a fun and witty style that engages his audience and inspires them to see their own potential.  Jody is a certified master trainer, has received specialized training in leadership, management, personality assessment and face reading. 

Jody specializes in helping people reshape their thoughts in order to achieve more both personally and professionally.  He has a track record of reducing turnover by an average of 50% in the first year of implementing his leadership programs with companies while consistently providing an ROI of more than 10 times the client’s investment.  

Mike Grigsby currently serves as the Director of Innovation and Technology for the City of Sioux Falls, SD. In this role he is focused on identifying emergent opportunities to improve organizational efficiencies, enhance citizen engagement, and build a smart and connected community. He brings a depth of experience from previous roles in both public and private sector and has consulted on a variety of subjects including Smart Cities, Information Technology, Leadership and Organizational Development, and Change Management. Mike’s undergraduate studies are in engineering and information systems and he holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Mike and his family reside in Sioux Falls.