why you need DEI strategy

breaking it down

Before jumping into DEI 101, let’s clear up what exactly diversity, equity, and inclusion is:

Diversity emerges from the differences in expressions and lived experiences of people of various ethnoracial identities, sexual orientations, abilities, gender identities, ages, and/or socio-economic situations.

Equity is the process of removing systemic barriers and disparities in opportunities for historically and/or currently underrepresented and/or marginalized people and groups to provide fair treatment and outcomes.

Inclusion necessitates building welcoming spaces where everyone is treated equitably and respected allowing for full participation and opportunities to succeed for all.

what does DEI look like in the workplace

Implementing DEI in the workplace necessitates fostering a sense of awareness of systemic oppression, transforming exclusionary behaviours and policies, and embodying equity-informed practices in their place.

Diverse workplaces are concerned with the representation of individuals from underrepresented identities and under resourced communities. This is especially relevant to the recruitment process in hiring diverse talent. One way to support the expansion of diversity in this process is to explore alternative candidate sourcing methods and train recruiters on unconscious bias to eliminate prejudice from interviewing practices. Identify DEI hiring goals

Equitable workplaces divest from discriminatory processes and policies in an effort to undo systemic barriers and level the playing field for all employees. This involves pay equity and equitable access to career growth for marginalized individuals. In other words, the employer should not only be compensating individuals in the same position the same salary but also looking at the internal structure of the organization and who occupies the lower ranking jobs. Oftentimes, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and disabled employees are excluded from accessing the same career growth as other employees and occupy these lower ranking jobs that are deemed less valuable work.

Inclusive workplaces design spaces and practices with the intention of encouraging all employees to show up as their whole selves. This may look like creating a safe working environment where everyone feels comfortable voicing their needs and concerns and that is accessible both in physical features and procedures. Inclusivity is receptive to collective envisioning for the direction of the organization’s growth and considers everyone an essential part of the team.

developing your DEI strategy

STEP ONE: DEI MISSION STATEMENT – To reach these DEI objectives, consider revisiting your organization’s mission statement and reflect on where they fit into the foundation of the work you aim to do. How you can incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion from the ground up with your core values if they are not already there?

STEP TWO: DEI COMMITTEE – Next, establish a DEI committee with clearly defined leadership roles and expectations for advancing DEI. Whether it’s one person or a team, these individual(s) should feel empowered in their ability to create change within the organization as they will be the DEI leaders bringing discussions and actions to the rest of the company. The committee should have a clear mission and defined budget for their responsibilities of organizing DEI trainings and developing policies to improve DEI in the workplace.

STEP THREE: SENIOR LEADER SUPPORT – Having the support of senior leaders and management in the organization is often tied to how successful your DEI initiatives will be considering that you need resources to achieve these objectives. This usually involves offering up what we call “the business case” for DEI which shows research-backed data on all of the advantages of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into your business model. Creating this awareness in upper-management will help them see the value in taking necessary action to accomplish your goals.

STEP FOUR: DEI DATA COLLECTION – Once this sorted, the DEI team can begin compiling data on employee demographics to examine what the representational composition of the organization is. One option for a DEI data collection process is to develop surveys or utilize a confidential forum for employees to provide qualitative insights on demographics and what they need in the workplace. This provides key feedback on how to go about improving organizational diversity and inclusion as well as any areas of concern and trends. Demographic data includes categories such as gender identity or expression, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, language, age, family status, religion, and many more.

STEP FIVE: KPI’S FOR DEI INITIATIVES– Based on this data you can begin developing measurable DEI initiatives and decide on what your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be for metrics related to diversity in hiring practices, representation, retention, ERG participation, accessibility, and leadership. It’s a good idea to develop a plan for each of the various DEI initiatives you will be working towards. The more specific you can get the better. Try to clearly outline what the initiative is and it’s purpose as well as whose responsibility it falls under, step-by-step action items, and a timeframe for when you will have accomplished each of the action items in pursuit of the larger initiative.

STEP SIX: EVALUATE PROGRESS AND ADJUST – This is where having KPI’s for your DEI initiatives comes in handy. Without any trackable metrics for evaluating the outcomes of these initiatives, you won’t know how successful the results are. Resurveying for changes in employee demographics and creating confidential outlets to communicate employee experiences is an excellent idea for measuring outcomes. This may reveal that there has been increased diversity in certain departments and representation from marginalized groups since the DEI Hiring Practices Initiative was put in place or that the Accessibility Initiative has not improved employee retention and may need re-working. Regardless of the initiative’s level of success, periodic reviews and adjustments are essential for remaining responsive to fluctuating needs in your workforce.

the “business case” for DEI

There is no shortage of evidence to support claims that integrating DEI strategy into your organization lends you a competitive advantage in the market. Diversity has proven to increase sales revenue, profits, and bring in more customers. This is largely due to the fact that your organization, service, or product is more responsive to consumer needs when you have a team representing a diverse range of identities who offer different perspectives that represent the target-end-user’s demographic. Providing services and innovating from a place of diversity allows you to capture new markets. Studies on inclusion in the workplace show results of more team collaboration and better team performance.