Dima Ghawi
Bio
Dima is an award-winning author and a three-time TEDx Speaker. Through keynote speeches, workshops, training programs, and executive coaching, she has honed a keen expertise in developing leaders to meet the demands of the global workforce.
Stories (71/0)
Three Reasons Why You Should Diversify Your Team
Beyond creating opportunities and developing organizations that reflect the rich, diverse world we live in, diversity as a strategy increases business growth, client retention, and employee engagement. True implementation of diversity leads to positive changes within and outside of the workplace environment, inspiring employees and attracting more clients.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
Five Tips for Diversifying Board of Directors
In today’s climate, it is common to hear the phrase “we need to diversify,” particularly at upper corporate levels. Namely: the board of directors. But despite the increased citation of this desire, diversity within boards of directors is not yet commonplace. According to a fall 2020 analysis of the 3,000 largest publicly traded U.S. companies conducted by the Institutional Shareholder Services’ ESG division:
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
Beyond the Language of "Equal Opportunity Employer"
“We are an equal opportunity employer.” Companies are required to include this statement or a similar phrase in their job descriptions, a supposed attempt to demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. But how inclusive is this short phrase? Does this generic line truly encourage individuals of underrepresented groups to apply to the job at hand? Does it guarantee a woman’s application will be judged with the same expectations as a man’s, that Black individuals will not be held to harsher standards than white individuals, or that the transgender community can expect the same treatment as cisgender people? Most of the time, no. This standard language is exactly that: standard, if not the bare minimum. As such, this standard must be changed.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
The Customer is Not Always Right
Many organizations tout the mantra “the customer is always right.” And while they pursue diversity and inclusion initiatives amongst their employees, they are not always able to enforce that same level of respect from their customers. At hospitals, bigoted patients might see an overweight nurse and request that they be seen by a “thinner” nurse. Other patients have turned their noses up at a Black nurse, demanding that they wanted a white nurse instead. Such hateful rhetoric is not limited to the healthcare sector. At a bank, a customer encountered a Black teller and insisted they would rather wait for a white teller to assist them. Another customer even went so far as to refer to their Black teller as the n-slur. It is evident in these scenarios and too many others like it that the customer is not always right. The question, then, is how companies can create respectful, inclusive environments where their employees feel safe without the fear of losing business. Moreover, how can they create environments where their customers treat employees with the respect everyone deserves to receive.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
Uncover Your Unconscious Biases
Unconscious biases are subliminal prejudices that influence the way we make decisions. These practices often negatively impact our businesses, leading to an unhealthy workplace. We each have over 180 biases. In this blog, I share information about fifteen of the most common ones and provide examples for each. With the knowledge of these biases, we can begin the conversations needed to create an inclusive workplace for all.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Psyche
How to Manage Unconscious Bias
Unconscious biases are constantly affecting our thinking, reasoning, and perception of people and things around us. This quick process of judgments and decision-making can negatively impact our businesses and social interactions. To overcome these unconscious biases, we must make an intentional effort to question our automatic thoughts and begin to reconsider the world around us. Here are a some critical steps to managing unconscious bias.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
What Business Can Learn From the Courts in Combatting Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias is a term that has an increasing presence in conversations of diversity and inclusion. In simplest terms, unconscious bias refers to biases an individual holds that they are not typically aware of, hence the designation of “unconscious.” Remember, unconscious bias is a universal issue! “Results of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) taken by millions of people show that 75 [%] of test-takers have a pro-white bias,” for example. In other words, we aren’t navigating these challenges alone. But because so many of us don’t realize we have these biases, unconscious bias can tremendously impact the ways in which we navigate society. Sometimes, these situations may be life or death. Consider: unconscious bias in the courtroom, particularly amongst juries.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Psyche
Seven Tips to Succeed at Hiring Diverse Talent
As the value of diversity and inclusion becomes ever more recognized within and across organizations, the push for diverse hiring is growing, too. Of course, there has never been positive momentum that didn’t meet resistance, and the task of diverse hiring is no exception. It’s high time we debunked the myths around diverse hiring and explored the best way for an organization to succeed at this goal!
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
Five Website Practices for Best Demonstrating DEI Commitment
While the push for diversity and inclusion has seen tremendous progress in recent years, there are still some areas in which many organizations struggle to demonstrate their commitment to DEI. One of the most common? The website! Surprising or not, many websites fall short of truly illustrating an organization’s commitment of DEI, no matter how well-implemented DEI policies themselves are incorporated into their workplace. This blog intends to share five tips for DEI website best practices.
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
Three Tips to Challenging Conformity at Work
Why do we conform? We all share the same desires of fitting in and belonging, including in our workplaces. Many individuals, however, feel like they must lose a piece of themselves in order to experience this inclusion. As leaders, we want our employees to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to the workplace, where a person’s ability to embrace their uniqueness leads to productivity and innovation. Consequently, many of us emphasize that our workplaces are safe environments. And while this emphasis is important, it is not enough to challenge the insidious nature of conformity. In the past, I have gone over how managers can address conformity bias, but today I want to focus on more organization-based initiatives, where we must assume there is conformity happening in our workplaces and take intentional actions to challenge it. Let’s waste no time!
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Journal
Let's Be Super Allies: Three Paths to Allyship
When asked if we are an ally for underrepresented groups, most of us would confidently answer, “Yes!” When asked what we’re doing to be an ally to underrepresented groups, however, some of us might falter. And such a reaction is understandable! Discourse surrounding allyship can be complex, especially because most of us are part of more than one community—a cis Black woman, for example, may want to stand up for her trans sisters in the workplace, but isn’t sure where to start, because she knows the misogynoir she experiences isn’t exactly the same as transmisogynoir. The good news is that there are certain roles of allyship that any of us can participate in, and by doing so we begin an ally’s work of making our world a better and more inclusive place. Let’s dig into the three key types of allies, inspired by Karen Catlin’s breakdown:
By Dima Ghawiabout a year ago in Pride