Joelle Murchison Of EMG On Why Cultural Sensitivity Matters in Business
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Business opportunity
Through a relationship held by a member of an ERGs — someone who would otherwise not have input into business development — a company I worked for was able to connect and do business with a member of a Chinese business association. That client was impressed and spread the word to other members of the association. Because Chinese culture greatly values word of mouth referrals, the connection led to $3 million in income for the company.
In today’s globalized world, understanding and respecting cultural differences is not just a moral imperative, it’s a business necessity. Cultural sensitivity in business goes beyond mere awareness; it’s about actively adapting and responding to the diverse cultural landscapes in which businesses operate. This is crucial for building successful, respectful, and inclusive working environments and for creating products and services that resonate with a diverse customer base. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Joelle A. Murchison.
Joelle A. Murchison is the Founder and Principal of EMG, a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and leadership consulting practice.
Murchison has worked in DEI for more than two decades. In particular, she served as the Chief Diversity Officer at both Travelers Insurance and the University of Connecticut, before launching EMG.
Additionally, Joelle serves as the Executive Director of Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity (LCD) and as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business at the University of Connecticut.
She is a board member for College Possible, a national nonprofit focused on college access and is a trustee and chair of the equity diversity and inclusion committee of the Corporation of Brown University, the university’s decision-making body. She is also a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, an international public service organization, and currently serves as the president of the Hartford (CT) Alumnae Chapter.
Joelle is the recipient of numerous awards; she most recently was recognized by the Life Insurance industry as a DEI Industry Partner and was selected to participate in the Fall 2023 Cohort of the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about cultural sensitivity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Throughout my career I have been involved in what is now called DEI — Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I advanced in the field through various leadership roles to become the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) for Travelers Insurance and the inaugural CDO for the University of Connecticut. After I left UConn, I opened my own DEI and leadership consulting firm, EMG, LLC.
The tagline for EMG is “Advancing understanding one interaction at a time.” I have always believed that we can increase equity and inclusion through conversations and relationship building. If we interact open-mindedly with people outside of our similarity bubbles, we can better understand each other’s experiences and outlooks. It just takes a willingness to acknowledge that the way we grew up and the things we learned may not represent the truth of others’ experiences.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
When I was Chief Diversity Officer at Travelers Insurance, I did not know it yet, but I had won a very prestigious award bestowed by the Chairman for my role in establishing the company’s DEI strategy, including the roll out of a diversity education program to the company’s 33,000 employees. The award was to be announced at the annual shareholders’ meeting which preceded my presentation to the board’s governance committee. My 5 year old daughter Savannah woke up sick to her stomach the day of the meeting. I loaded her up with saltines and crackers and sent her to school and then went to work. Later that morning I got a call that Savannah vomited at school. I told my assistant I had to get my daughter and had to miss the meeting. My assistant, however, knew about the award. She encouraged me quite strongly to have someone else pick up Savannah. I can’t remember now who picked her up, but I was very lucky that I had someone who could take care of her. I went to the meeting and listened as our then Chairman, Jay Fishman, started to talk about the award winner. I remember some people turned around and looked at me. I had an out of body experience when I realized he was talking about me, and I was so honored. Looking back, it was such a moment of dichotomy for my mom self and my executive self. The two identities were tugging me in two directions, something working mothers face all the time. I am so fortunate that I had support so I could attend the meeting while my daughter got the care she needed. And the award was such a poignant recognition of the value of the work to the company and a highlight of my career.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Authenticity:
During my time as CDO at Travelers, the company was hosting a monthly DEI education series for the entire employee base of 33,000. A speaker who was to address disability awareness canceled at the last moment. I went on stage and for the first time in public I spoke about my son Caleb’s autism diagnosis. I shared how it took me a long time to embrace and acknowledge emotionally the stressors of having a little Black boy who would already face societal bias, and who was also going to have to live with neurodiversity. I can’t tell you how many employees emailed me after that. They said they felt seen. They would never have known that a leader in the company faced the same challenges that they did. Authenticity is so important. You don’t have to tell everyone everything, but people will connect with you differently if they see you as a real human being.
Being a strong communicator:
My mother set me up to be a strong communicator by always having me speak in church as a child and as a teen. As part of the NAACP youth council, I had to stand up and introduce myself at every meeting. It allowed me to know that I had the capacity to reach people through public speaking. I still get butterflies every once in a while, as every good speaker should, but I know that I can be effective in groups of all sizes. This is a gift.
Confidence:
It’s hard being a not-so-tall, younger-looking person. I have at times felt like I had to compensate for that as well as for being a Black woman. I know that often people have already decided who they think I am before they even speak with me. But I walk with confidence from knowing who I am and what I have to offer. There’s a song by Sounds of Blackness called “Optimistic” with the lyrics, “As long as you keep your head to the sky, you can win; Be optimistic.” I listen to that song before every big event, meeting, and speech.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. How do you define cultural sensitivity in the context of your business, and why is it important for your company’s success?
Cultural sensitivity — the desire not to offend or harm — is a good start toward learning about others. But at EMG, LLC, we challenge people to embrace cultural humility, which takes cultural sensitivity to the next level. It means having the interest and willingness to become culturally knowledgeable and aware. Cultural humility is about recognizing and acknowledging that the culture that you’ve lived in, grown up in, and embraced, is not the only one that exists. It is the acknowledgement that just because people do things differently than you, it doesn’t mean they are wrong.
The key for our clients is connecting these lessons to business goals. It is important for our clients’ bottom line to understand how other cultures operate. As demographics and markets change, how do we ensure we can continue to gain competitive advantages if we’re not changing? “If it isn’t broken don’t fix it” just keeps us from innovating. EMG’s deep understanding of business — for profit, non-profit, and education — helps our clients leverage their investments in DEI even beyond employee recruiting and retention.
Can you share an experience where cultural sensitivity significantly impacted a business decision or client relationship?
Prior to the formation of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), employees didn’t have a lot of space to weigh in and make connections or leverage relationships for the betterment of their companies. Through ERGs Travelers was able to develop new relationships. For instance, through the Asian Diversity Network, the company learned about the Chinese Merchants Association in Birmingham, Alabama. A member of the ERG connected the company to a member of the association to discuss improving their policy. Because the company handled the discussion with respect and understanding, that business owner told his friends and fellow Association members. Because the Asian community greatly values word-of-mouth and the ability to truly trust that a company will do the right thing, this led to an additional $3 million in premiums.
Cultural humility and understanding can also avoid mistakes. Just last month Target had to pull a child’s game celebrating Black History Month from its shelves when it was discovered that the game misidentified Civil Rights heroes. Had the right people been in the development and production of that game, it never would have made it to the shelves. Instead, the game damaged Target’s reputation and had people questioning its true commitment to Black history.
What strategies do you employ to foster a culturally sensitive environment within your team or organization?
We encourage our clients to make as much time as possible to allow employees to get to know each other. We disseminate and encourage our clients to offer education around different viewpoints. I firmly believe this work only really moves forward one person, one conversation, one question, one answer at a time. Exposure is incredibly important to really creating meaningfully inclusive environments. There’s nothing better than having the opportunity to learn and understand who people really are. Of course, we model this behavior regularly within TeamEMG.
How do you handle situations where cultural misunderstandings or conflicts arise in the workplace?
Even in the workplace we play the telephone game. We may misunderstand what has happened or the context of what has been said or done. To avoid and solve the conflicts that arise, we must create spaces to talk about when our feelings become involved, and then take steps to create understanding. You don’t need to know what a person feels, but you must be willing to take steps to understand where they’re coming from. Take the time to understand what has happened, uncover the emotions, and agree on steps to move forward.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Reasons Why Cultural Sensitivity is So Important in Business?”
1 . Business opportunity
Through a relationship held by a member of an ERGs — someone who would otherwise not have input into business development — a company I worked for was able to connect and do business with a member of a Chinese business association. That client was impressed and spread the word to other members of the association. Because Chinese culture greatly values word of mouth referrals, the connection led to $3 million in income for the company.
2 . Competitive advantage
Cultural sensitivity, and more so cultural humility, is a source of innovation. Only by acknowledging what we don’t know (and what we don’t know that we don’t know) and valuing the input of others with differing viewpoints can we find new ways to do things and connect with new audiences.
3 . Responding to demand of ever-changing society
The changing demographics of the world necessitates change and the companies that authentically learn about new customers are better situated to serve them.
4 . Creating workplaces that are inclusive and productive
Employees that are able to bring their full selves to work, and who are empowered and valued for their experiences are an invaluable resource for businesses. Countless organizations that acknowledge this and authentically embrace cultural sensitivity and humility benefit. Employee satisfaction and retention are baseline benefits to an organization. Leveraging people’s differences brings true competitive advantage.
5 . Personal knowledge and edification that the lessons you learned are critically important
Embracing and understanding one’s own lived experiences is key to understanding the lived experiences of others. The way to accomplish that is to engage in continuous learning. Get beyond your own boundaries and seek understanding about the culture that you are a part of and those that exist around you. We are each learning and growing each day and it’s important to apply the learnings
In what ways has focusing on cultural sensitivity given your business a competitive edge or opened up new markets?
Because EMG creates the opportunity for dialogue, folks come away from the work feeling less lectured to; like they are able to learn and ask questions instead of feeling like they are being indoctrinated to a certain viewpoint. People feel comfortable in our sessions. They don’t feel attacked, and instead they walk away willing to share the lessons with their families and friends.
I’ve done this work from my lived experiences but being adept and willing to navigate these experiences, I can connect with the cafeteria worker or the president of a company. This allows me to act as a translator from constituency to constituency. That’s a differentiator in the context of this work.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would love to eradicate ignorance. Ignorance is the absence of information and too often people act without knowledge and without thinking. We have far too much information easily available to do this. I would love it if people were required to really think about what they are saying before they say it and not blindly follow an idea because someone told them to, or because it matches their own limited experiences.
People say we are in a post racial society and Generation Y was supposed be ultra-embracing, yet we see more individuals believing without question stereotypes based on imperfect teachings. Even when it comes to war, people are taking sides without understanding history and the stances of both sides. If people took the time to truly understand both sides, they may react differently leading to deeper, more nuanced solutions.
How can our readers further follow you online?
You can find EMG at www.TeamEMG.com, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamemg-llc, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/team.emg.consulting/, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/execmommygroup. You can email us at Info@TeamEMG.com.
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
