Nigeria is one of the most diverse countries in the world, made up of over 180 million people from distinct ethnic groups with unique historical experiences, more than 250 languages, and many different ways of life. Despite this, in a global diversity and inclusion survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Nigeria ranked 45th out of 47 countries on the global diversity readiness index. Nigeria’s low survey score reflects the nation’s challenges in managing diversity, equity, and inclusion despite its abundance of diversity.
This, coupled with evidently weak or non-existing institutional inclusive plans, makes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) an important topic in every Nigerian workplace.
When diversity is not well managed, it could lead to prejudice, inter-tribal conflict, mistrust, bias, and inequalities that keep women, people with disability, youths, etc on the perimeter. In the workplace, if diversity is not well managed, it can lead to a lack of innovation, poor return on investment, a disengaged workforce, and in turn a negative brand reputation; all of which eventually spills into society.
Businesses can be a force for change. That is why PhoenixRize aims to support businesses in diverse sectors to overcome DEI barriers, leverage workplace differences, and embed DEI into their business frameworks on strategic diversity, intentional inclusion, and organisational effectiveness. We aim to achieve this by providing bi-monthly DEI master class sessions for corporate, multinational companies, NGOs, Educational Institutions, and businesses of all sizes.
Through these master classes, our goal is foster true systemic change within organisations and ultimately, the society. The sessions will help raise awareness about unconscious bias, micro aggressions, and ethnic tolerance and inspire leadership commitment to a safe, inclusive, and equitable work environment where every employee can thrive regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, socioeconomic status, thinking style, personality, background or whatever diversity dimension they may have.
Each session will provide a comprehensive understanding of diverse topics such as Inclusive Leadership, DEI, Microaggressions, Ally ship, Unconscious Bias, Generational Diversity, Gender Diversity & Inclusion, and Understanding Gen Z, to name a few. The sessions will explore concepts from a range of perspectives and contexts and introduce tools, techniques, and actionable strategies to engage, educate and motivate executives, managers, leaders, HR, and employees to put DEI on their agenda and become inspiring change agents for the benefit of their organisation and the society at large.
