Gin & Luck
Client
David Kaplan, CEO, Gin & Luck
About Gin & Luck
Gin & Luck operates the Death & Co brand of restaurants and bars in New York, Denver, and Los Angeles. With a vision to become the best hospitality company to work for in the next ten years, the CEO David Kaplan partnered with FIG to address some challenges related to diversity, equity and inclusion in their company.
“We were lucky enough to work with FIG when we were looking for a direct, honest and supportive guide to improve our work on diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our company. TaChelle has been an invaluable teacher and an ongoing resource, giving us the foundational knowledge and real-world, approachable steps to an intimidatingly large and massively important area.”
David Kaplan, CEO, Gin & Luck
The Challenge
The Gin & Luck leadership team was challenged to address diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Collectively, the team agreed that there was a lack of cultural representation throughout the organization and a lack of gender diversity within leadership. Because of this, they wanted to find a solution. Some of the goals Gin & Luck hoped to achieve include:
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Practical solutions to authentically recruiting women and people of color.
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Understanding biases that could present roadblocks to their success.
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Determine the company’s long-term goals, mission & vision, and the role DEI plays.
The Solution
We partnered with the Gin & Luck team to establish DEI readiness for the executive team, utilizing our 6-step approach - establish readiness, assess the current state of DEI, design benchmarking, design stakeholder action plan, craft strategic communications, and build internal expertise.
The main goal of readiness is to build the business case for DEI, assess the current state of leadership’s understanding of DEI, and come to a consensus on the DEI principles that will guide the overall approach.
Over the course of 10 sessions with the leadership team, we utilized a combination of training styles, such as group training and one-on-ones, to identify how diversity, equity and inclusion contribute to the overall mission and vision of the company from their perspective. We examined the different communication styles among leaders and created situations to get out of their comfort zones to see what’s at their core. In addition, FIG conducted executive coaching sessions on microaggressions and unconscious bias to have each member of leadership examine their own biases and how it contributes to a non-inclusive culture.
In one-on-one sessions, leadership shared their own personal experiences related to DEI and why they felt inadequate in addressing it. We discussed the position of privilege and the responsibility of leadership, knowing their shortcomings in understanding the challenges of diversity.
The Results
After readiness training with FIG Strategy & Consulting, the Gin & Luck leadership team walked away with a deeper understanding of DEI and the role each of them plays in creating organizational inclusion.
They identified three major threats for their leadership team to address to ensure DEI success for their company, including current workplace culture, diverse perspectives throughout the organization, and power dynamics.