Consulting & Advising
If an organization is not ready for long-term ESJ work or ESJ work is long established but there are specific questions, our targeted consulting and advising is a great option. HCG’s Readiness Content, Leadership Training Series, support for internal ESJ teams, and various assessment tools can give an organization just the momentum or insight it is looking for.
Summary and Values
We know not all organizations are at a place where they want to or can do the long-term work
that HCG typically does. Two specific resources we offer for organizations in this situation are
more extensive leadership work (Preparing Leaders) and our organizational Readiness Content.
If there are questions about an organization’s readiness for ESJ work, please reach out and we
are happy to talk.
Conversely, if an organization has been doing this work for some time and simply needs
targeted consulting to address specific challenges we have a range of Assessment tools,
programs and trainings for Internal Team Support, and guidance for establishing employee
Resource Groups (ERGs) that can meet your needs.
Most importantly, we want to encourage organizations to start where they can. No
organization is so situated that there is no room for some kind of work and we are happy to
think creatively and developmentally in order to find the right point of entry or area where can
diving in more deeply is possible.
The role of leaders in this work is to message, model and advocate for ESJ through the
organization. But, if a leader does not have a basic framework for ESJ knowledge and skill, they cannot do this. Our Preparing Leaders program is a combination of training, coaching, and collective decision-making designed to help leaders confidently advance ESJ work in their organization. Its specific content and duration are completely tailored to the needs of the leaders, the nature and size of the organization, and the level of support within the organization.
It is hard to know if an organization is “ready” for ESJ work. To gage this, we have a targeted assessment, some training, and application work (such as developing a “why” statement) to beta test the level of readiness of an organization. We also have a range of ongoing learning designed to extend this preparation and more concretely assess readiness.
In alignment with understanding an organization’s ‘readiness’, we utilize our tailored assessment tools to understand the workplace dynamics that need to be addressed within an organization. Our firm has the ability to support firm-wide or department specific assessment work including the use of individual interviews, review of internal documents and materials, or the facilitating of focus groups. The metrics we measure fall into three major organizational areas: culture and climate, internal policies and procedures, and external facing work. Our questions and axes of analysis fall into these major categories and will be further refined once we begin the engagement with an organization’s team.
Whether it is an Equity Team, a leadership team, or even a loosely formed task force we are more than happy to offer consulting for team leaders or advising for the entire team to foster movement. Sometimes ESJ issues crop up within internal teams and we are fully able to provide facilitation services to help the team get back on track.
We know that a core part of what is required for the success of ESJ work within organizations is trust developed through relationships. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are strategy organizations often invest in to cultivate a sense of belonging within the workplace. Our team is able to provide guidance on establishing and supporting ERGs within your organization, ensuring that staff have a voice in meaningful organizational change.
Let Us Help You Get Started
Sometimes it simply takes a conversation that has the right elements for leaders. For example, some will be moved by the value-based aspect of this work, others will want to know how it connects to their bottom line, and still others will want to know how it benefits clients or staff. Thus, the key to getting leadership to the table is to help them see how ESJ work ties into the mission, vision and values of the organization and thus of their leadership.
Some organizations take interested volunteers, some ask folks to apply and still others appoint people to the internal team (at least for its first iteration). This is driven by an organization’s culture, but we do have a range of tools that can help you navigate these and other options in ways that give the team strength, cohesion and influence in doing this work. What is not ever debatable is the need for such a team. One person will never have enough energy, time or resources to do this work in an organization and thus having an internal team is a non-negotiable for our work with clients.
Readiness is measured in a range of ways and is always a slow-moving target. We have tools that turn this amorphous question into some measurable variables that help clients know more clearly what level of work they are ready for. The bottom line, however, is no individual or group is ever completely “ready” for this work because of its complexity and many challenges. What we can do, however, is create conditions that support it over the long haul.
We get this question a lot and what is often missed is the risk of not doing ESJ work in a society that has such complexity of identity and issues. Of course ESJ work is challenging, but when done well it does not result in a “cancel culture” dynamic, and instead creates space where everyone is able to see the value of an ESJ lens in their work. This is not fiction, it is simply the truth that ESJ work is meant to expand possibilities, increase awareness, and strengthen connections across an organization. The benefits far outweigh the challenges.
Flexible Solutions
HCG’s fundamental commitment is to be a source of positive change with respect to equity and social justice issues. This central purpose stems from our personal beliefs, our hope for our society, and our commitment to our clients’ success and is expressed in everything we do.
Organizational
Change for ESJ
Our Equity and Social Justice change work employs a Seven Phase process for deep transformation.
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Coaching & Support
Our coaching is rooted in a praxis model of learn, integrate, and implement and is designed to help clients more successfully engage in ESJ work.
Speaking & Keynotes
Our services include a variety of keynote and speaking topics, tailored to meet your specific needs.
Consulting & Advising
HCG’s Readiness content, Leadership Training series, support for internal ESJ teams, and various assessment tools.
Equity and Social Justice Consulting for a Changing World
Hackman Consulting Group is here for the various needs of organizations that are interested in embarking on organizational change work rooted in equity and social justice.
