While these two types of consultants work to achieve equitable outcomes, they definitely are NOT interchangeable. The truth is, you need BOTH.

Since the tragic murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter uprising last summer, many companies committed to racial justice initiatives to extinguish any internal conscious and unconscious bias that might exist in their workplace. What came next was an unprecedented volume of requests for consultation on services from professionals who facilitate training and education around equality and anti-Black racism. As many organizations hurriedly assembled plans to confront inequality, the term “Diversity & Inclusion” (D&I) transformed from a simple industry label to a corporate buzzword.

The hiring of many consultants of colour to fill D&I roles was an unexpected, yet awesome development.

But, the D&I role becoming a catchall for addressing any and all forms of inequality or ignorance within a company’s workplace, workflow and internal & external processes was not.

D&I consultants can significantly and meaningfully transform your workplace if they are adequately empowered and supported. Yet, the idea that their labour and their skillset should be inclusive to effectively managing all aspects of your corporate identity is unfair, and simply unrealistic. While D&I consultants and ‘Cultural Impact Consultants’ work to achieve equitable outcomes, they are absolutely not interchangeable in any way, shape, or form. The truth is, a truly efficient organization requires both.

What’s the big difference between a Diversity & Inclusion consultant and a ‘Cultural Impact Consultant’?

D&I consultants have many strengths in they can assist an organization with, including:

  • Effectively analyzing your office/workplace culture
  • Addressing disparities in your organization chart & hiring practices
  • Anti-racism/oppression training/coaching for staff & executives
  • Supporting more inclusive Human Resources practices
  • Advancing education on issues of equality for the entire staff

This is just a quick snapshot of some of what they are tasked with and, frankly, it’s a lot. If we’re keeping it real, many D&I consultants are walking into organizations of all sizes and all ages and realizing that they must create a effective plan from scratch. And that’s just to ensure that the company’s inner-workings aren’t fraught with the types of inequality that suck the life out of their marginalized employees.

Alternatively, here are some of the strengths that a ‘Cultural Impact Consultant’ brings to an organization:

  • Assessing your external communications and/or your communication strategy to ensure you’re effectively engaging your multicultural audience in a significant and productive manner
  • Adjusting your external communications to aptly align with your target demographics
  • Acting as a creative advocate for your communications and communication strategy using originative digital and social media approaches
  • Providing advanced cultural assessments of your shifting target demographic

Our strengths are not only assuring your external communication is free from embarrassing missteps, but also ensuring that you are empowered with the information effectively engage your multicultural audience in a memorable and impactful manner. The idea that these skillsets can be shared within one person or one department is as impractical as believing your Human Resources department can also effectively be your Advertising department.

You need a D&I consultant AND a ‘Cultural Impact Consultant’.

Your organization needs someone committed to managing and monitoring your internal workforce, and someone committed to ensuring your external communications are equitable and appealing. These two separate tasks require separate resources and All Things Being Equal is ready to assist you with your external communications needs. It’s an investment that’s better to have today, than wishing you had yesterday.

If you would like to book a ‘Cultural Impact Consultant’ today, click HERE.