Consulting is about people providing solutions for other people. At EHS Support we embrace the opportunities that diversity, equity, and inclusion provide for us in delivering these solutions. We recognize that the social landscape we work in is ever-changing. Therefore, as a community of professionals, we too need to be open to change and remain adaptable.
Our core values of open, honest communication, and assuming good intentions are integral to our ability to embrace the opportunities that diversity can offer society and our business. Our approach to facilitating diversity has been designed to adapt over time and empower our people to be catalysts for change. We understand that achieving diversity is about more than achieving a certain number. As our societies grow and evolve, new challenges will emerge.
Diversity provides opportunity. Our culture of respectful debate, learning, and inquisitiveness supports our drive to embrace diversity in our work environment. Different views coming from different backgrounds makes an argument, a project, and a solution stronger and more capable, leading to fewer blind spots. In short, different perspectives get us to a better answer– every time.
Today, it’s crucial to understand the subtleties of how different people communicate. We might say the wrong thing, and that’s OK if it’s with good intention and we learn from it. On the other hand, if we say nothing at all, we aren’t moving forward. And at EHS Support, we always focus on improving.
Our Efforts
We live and breathe our vision and operating principles, making sure we provide every person the opportunity to grow and evolve at our company. Our focus on fostering a culture of high emotional intelligence to support existing high intellectual capacities has been core to our success. All employees must feel comfortable having a voice, embrace the opportunities to learn from others, and lead by example. That’s why we offer performance and leadership programs designed to help all individuals in the company achieve their highest potential and aspirations by fostering a culture of open communication and awareness of unconscious biases.
Of course, we are constantly working on ways to improve within our own team. Our Leadership Team provides family-focused mentoring and leadership development. We strive to open dialogue with our employees and gain insight on how to ensure we are providing a path to growth in all levels of the company. We’ve also implemented one-to-one mentoring of high-performing and high-potential women by the Leadership Team. Because of these efforts, EHS Support’s percentage of female employees (greater than 50%) is much higher than the industry average.
In science and engineering, we are challenged by not having the diversity of other industries. As an organization we have embraced the challenge and have focused on broadening our networks, casting our net wider and seeking to foster relations with academic institutions that better represent the diversity we seeking to foster as an organization.
Looking Forward
Diversity is an ongoing priority in our organization. We are always working on improving our recruiting practices and branding to get in front of diverse candidates who may not otherwise see our job opportunities. We focus on hiring for traits and long-term success. We value the potential of the candidates and the diversity of experiences of education and life experiences that they can bring to the table. We are committed to mentoring and training, knowing the experience on a resume isn’t always what proves future success. Our focus is enhancing our opportunities for training and knowledge transfer, empowering our staff, and casting our net wider to reach more diverse employment candidates.
EHS Support will continue to heavily invest in communication and emotional-intelligence training and development and enhance our existing integration, career development, and leadership training programs. Our capacity to improve every employee’s (and therefore the organization’s) ability to listen, be self-aware, and seek out diverse thoughts, ideas, and people is integral to our success.
We are also always working to improve and reinvigorate our unconscious bias training, creating space and opportunities for open and honest conversations. As people and a company, we must learn about one another, invite diverse thoughts and opinions, embrace being more open in discussion, and not be afraid to say the wrong thing or offend. We never stop identifying new ways to be more inclusive, find the best talent, listen better, support our employees better, support our clients better, grow, and be better as individuals.
Yes, we are passionate about this topic, and our company, culture, and people reflect it. Our drive is to make a difference, not only within our company, but in the lives of our employees and in our community. We want to have a big impact in everything we do in our communities and for the people with whom we work and live.