Every year welcomes an assortment of days, weeks and months celebrating and honoring people of varied backgrounds and identities, from Black History Month in February to Women’s History Month in March to Pride Month in June.
As legal marketers, we want to make sure that our firm’s public image reflects its cultural values. That’s one of the main motivators for planning messaging and content around these important cultural celebrations. Many firms have accepted the importance and value of embracing diversity and inclusion, and they want the world to know where they stand.
Yet, our firms can do more than state their values. We can embody them, fully, every single day of the year – not just for one month. This is an important part of fostering a welcoming environment where attorneys and staff feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. When our people feel comfortable being themselves, when they feel there is no need to diminish a part of their identity, we are creating a workplace where well-being can flourish.
Here are some ways firms can foster a culture of inclusion and equity.
Recruitment: Implement recruitment strategies that encourage diverse candidates to apply. Don’t just wait for diverse candidates to come to you; participate in legal organizations and associations that center around diversity.
Affinity Groups: If your firm is large enough, consider forming employee-led affinity groups. These are often based on shared cultural attributes, such as race, gender or sexual orientation.
Mentorship Programs: Create a mentorship program to support the career development of underrepresented groups. Such an initiative will cultivate a diverse leadership pipeline, empowering mentees to become the future leaders of the firm.
Open-Door HR Policies: Make sure your attorneys and staff feel comfortable reporting discrimination or harassment and that they know with whom to file a report. As part of this, HR should have cultural competence training so they can work adeptly with a diverse range of employees.
Community Service: Cultivate close relationships with community organizations and provide assistance to them throughout the year. It’s important to not just relegate such activities to a particular month.
We at Jaffe celebrate firms that champion diversity and inclusion, and we especially love It when firms truly dedicate themselves to creating spaces that feel welcoming and safe for all. That’s something we can all take pride in.