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Most large organizations have made strides to increase diversity in their workforces, and many implement diversity training to help their leaders and employees be more aware of the issues faced by a diverse workforce. But too often this training fails to achieve its desired results and can leave people feeling confused about what concrete steps they can take to benefit from an understanding of diversity; in essence they miss out on the more important aspect of Diversity & Inclusiveness initiatives -- the “inclusiveness” element of the equation.

Marketers learned years ago that if you can figure out exactly what your customer wants, you establish your strategy, brand, product and communications to cater to your customers and accomplish results. Often, tactics that marketers use end up being adopted by HR a few years later. All year long, but especially during open enrollment time, there are lessons that HR can learn from marketing.

Who is the external workforce? Before we can manage and engage these types of workers, we need to define who they are.

When you think of typical approaches to engagement, what do you think of? Most strategies presented to me consist of external inducements: things like cash bonuses, reward and recognition systems, and one-off manager trainings that have been around for decades. Organizations have simply spent too much time thinking of ways to externally influence employees into doing what they desire and too little time tapping into the natural drivers of engagement. We need to let go of our transactional approach to engagement and instead focus on a more authentic, employee-centered approach.