Introducing inclusion and equity into the first moments of onboarding
Client: Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Type: 88 year-old nonprofit 501(c)3
Size: $30-40 million annual operating budget
Location: Ashland, OR
It’s easy to say that inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility are important to an organization.
But those words become meaningless if they aren’t followed up with action. Culture must be built with intention.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival welcomes dozens of performers, artisans, and crew each year to produce the exceptional theatrical experiences they are known for around the world. Building a culture of belonging and expansive self-expression begins at the first moments of onboarding and introduction to the organization.
The goal was to establish a sense of inclusion, belonging, and a nurturing culture … from the first moment of welcome.
Photo credit: The Three Musketeers (2023): Malik Bilbrew, Ernaisja Curry, and Ensemble. Photo by Jenny Graham. Courtesy of Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
ABOUT OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
Founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer, the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is among the oldest and largest professional non-profit theatres in the nation. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival traces its roots back to the Chautauqua movement, which brought culture and entertainment to rural areas of the country in the late 19th century. Before the COVID pandemic in 2020, OSF welcomed more than 350,000 visitors each year.
Building on a foundation.
OSF has committed to being collaborative, expansive, and fostering Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) as part of the very DNA of the organization. This meant revisiting the operational frameworks, business plans, funding strategies, and people policies.
The IDEA team wanted to make the process of giving and receiving feedback safe and effective for everyone involved throughout the season. They engaged Zahler Design to mentor them through a new process of experience design. At the end of the engagement, they wanted to be able to deliver the onboarding sessions effectively, empower additional team members in leading the sessions, and feel confident in creating new training sessions in the future.
Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.
Prentis Hemphill
A repeatable process.
Time was running short for the IDEA team. With only a few short weeks between the start of this project and when the first actors and artisans would arrive, we had to work efficiently. We scheduled one focused collaborative virtual work session using Zoom and MURAL (a digital whiteboard), followed by asyncronous resource development and check-ins.
Experience Design Workshop:
Cultural Context + Research Synthesis
Training Curriculum, Activity Design, and Onboarding Agenda
Identify additional resources to create and define ongoing support
Wireframe the intranet resource page and email communications
Reusable resources.
Despite the short turnaround time, this quick project resulted in a rich suite of resources the IDEA team could use again and build on in the future.
Measurable Objectives
As a result of the IDEA onboarding session, participants would be able to:
Identify a stress trigger in themselves (and others)
Navigate to resources available to them
Make a connection between the work they’re here to do and embodying IDEA
Conflict Resolution Model
When differences between individuals inevitable arises, the IDEA team mapped out a path (or series of levels) for resolving conflict.
Onboarding Facilitator Guide & Slide Deck
The Onboarding Facilitator Guide provides the session leader with the context, goals, and agenda to deliver a consistent and effective onboarding session. It includes roles and responsibilities, learning objectives and outcomes, and the key takeaways for each topic module.
IDEA Onboarding Resource Packet
The IDEA Onboarding Resource Packet is shared with every cast and crew member. It explains the definition and importance of IDEA at OSF, outlining how each person at the festival can take care of themselves during stressful performance cycles and contribute to a culture of inclusion and belonging.
Nonviolent Communication Resources
This resource includes selected passages from Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg and Difficult Conversations by Stone, Patton, and Heen, including identifying stories for connection and resolving differences, the four-stage process of nonviolent communication, and identifying emotional states in self and others.
By taking a deliberate approach to onboarding training sessions, the team is able to observe and collect evidence of impact toward OSF’s larger cultural goals. Measures include (but aren’t limited to):
Measuring impact.
Cast and crew acting in alignment with job and interpersonal expectations
Resolution of conflict and engagement with the resolution process
Consistency in training delivery and reduction of instructor preparation time
Cross-departmental collaboration and communication
Cast and crew able to show up authentically as self
Clarity of expectation and ease in working in the department and at OSF
Feeling more connected with colleagues
Collective healing by safely addressing biases and wounds related to race, gender, class, sexual orientation, ability, etc.
A sense of belonging
A sense of appreciation—feeling seen and heard
Supportive practices for self-care during challenging times