Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are the four pillars that comprise any successful diversity strategy for businesses. Each has their own importance but combined they form an inextricable whole.
DEIB can bring many advantages, from creating more trusting environments to decreasing employee turnover rates. But what exactly is DEIB?
What is DEIB?
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are not simply HR buzzwords; they represent new goals to help your business flourish. Diversity initiatives go beyond filling quotas of underrepresented groups to examining how this demographic interacts with your company culture, policies and systems as well as employees interacting in the workplace and their perceptions of belongingness in it.
Establishing DEIB within your business will yield great rewards for all involved. Employees who feel valued and included will be more productive, experience higher job satisfaction levels and be less likely to take sick days – the first step toward creating an inclusive work environment where all can reach their maximum potential.
Implement these changes within your company by first identifying areas where diversity is most lacking, through employee surveys or tracking trends over time. Once identified, create goals to address those areas; these could include unconscious bias training for all employees, expanding opportunities for women advancement within the company or increasing representation on leadership teams.
Once you’ve implemented these changes, be sure to track their progress over time. This will allow you to assess whether your efforts are working as intended and make any necessary changes or adjustments. Furthermore, ensure you communicate these goals to everyone within your company so they’re aware of DEIB and how their contributions can have an effect.
Belonging is the latest addition to DEI and it forms an essential piece of the equation. Belonging refers to employees feeling proud and connected when they can bring all of themselves into work environments, including all social identities represented within them; creating an environment in which each worker feels they belong and is supported in being themselves at work.
Companies that prioritize DEIB realize numerous advantages, ranging from improved morale and job performance to greater revenue and customer satisfaction. Studies reveal that diverse teams outperform their peers because they can process information more thoroughly and devise more creative solutions to problems, which leads to 22% lower turnover and 39% greater customer satisfaction ratings, while gender-diverse organizations are 15% more likely to experience above industry average financial returns.
Why is DEIB important?
Receptivity to DEIB isn’t only good for business; it’s essential. Studies demonstrate that companies with more diverse teams tend to be more innovative and productive than those with homogeneous workforces, due to the diversity of perspectives offered by people from diverse backgrounds that help solve problems creatively, discover solutions more readily, understand customer wants/needs better, and create products which better suit those customers.
Evidence indicates that employees who feel like part of an organisation are more engaged with their work and more likely to remain at their positions, since they’re motivated to achieve organizational goals and are willing to go the extra mile for their colleagues – this can result in increased productivity and an enhanced return on training programs.
Implementing DEIB into the workplace can be difficult when employees and leaders don’t fully grasp its meaning and implementation. There are a few key steps you should follow to successfully implement DEIB: firstly take an holistic approach when looking at all aspects of an organization – recruitment practices, promotion policies and employee retention are just a few examples; additionally review company policies and benefits so they are inclusive for all groups; set goals related to DEIB performance metrics to measure progress along this journey;
Prioritize DEIB as a core value and make it clear to employees and candidates alike that DEIB is important to your organization, making it more likely they apply. In turn, DEIB commitment will help attract diverse talent.
Finally, training managers is critical for effective coaching and mentoring their employees. This training should include topics such as understanding biases and microaggressions, creating inclusive cultures and addressing any forms of discrimination in the workplace. By employing such strategies it will be possible to successfully introduce DEIB into workplace settings and experience its many advantages.
What are the benefits of DEIB?
Businesses that prioritize DEIB will reap many advantages by prioritizing it as a priority. They can attract top talent by showing that they prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion across all aspects of the workplace – from hiring interviews and employee retention policies through to promotions policies. Furthermore, employees who feel at home in their work environment tend to be more engaged and productive, which ultimately contributes to improved company performance.
Attaining an inclusive workplace starts with senior leaders. Employees tend to mimic executive behavior, so senior leaders need to model a strong commitment to DEIB for employees to follow. Furthermore, taking time out for employee feedback analysis is also crucial – adjustments must be made accordingly.
One effective strategy to foster an inclusive and welcoming culture is providing training on unconscious bias. This enables employees to understand how their biases impact decision making and how to overcome them. Furthermore, conducting regular, anonymous surveys with questions regarding employee emotions at work as well as what steps could help people feel more included (e.g. if they feel supported by colleagues who differ from them).
To truly change the culture of your organization, implementing an inclusive plan that covers every facet of workplace life is necessary. This may involve training programs for underrepresented groups; mentoring/coaching programs with employee resource groups; as well as reviewing/adjusting hiring practices such as using neutral language in job ads/interviews that doesn’t perpetuate discriminatory stereotypes.
Focusing on retention is also key to DEIB’s strategy; this can be accomplished by offering promotion from within, career growth opportunities and support for employees with children. By prioritizing these areas, DEIB ensures its top talent remains with them for the long haul.
Set clear and measurable goals and track your progress using analytics software or frequent surveys. Findem’s diversity dashboard offers one method of keeping an eye on how well recruitment practices are working; additionally, attribute-based search functions ensure your sourcing strategies cover all demographics targeted for business success.
What are some challenges bringing DEIB into the workplace?
One challenge lies in employees failing to understand what DEIB means, or how best to support it. Another is feeling alienated or resenting efforts being made towards inclusion. To overcome these difficulties, leaders need to ensure their values are reflected within the workplace culture; being transparent about their own biases and assumptions while considering their impact on others is also key in meeting this challenge.
First step should be educating employees about diversity, inclusion and belonging. This may involve providing training on implicit bias as well as recognizing all of the components that define an identity (gender, race, ethnicity, physical ability age national origin religion socioeconomic background etc). Furthermore it’s crucial that employees understand the difference between equality and equity – with equality meaning treating everyone equally and equity offering access to resources and opportunities based on individual circumstances.
Once employees understand what diversity, inclusion and belonging mean in terms of workplace application, they should receive training on how to implement it effectively in the workplace. This training will include learning about unconscious bias in hiring processes, performance reviews and employee promotions as well as creating inclusive work environments and giving constructive feedback effectively.
Last but not least, it is imperative to create an accessible reporting structure for DEIB metrics. This includes setting up an anonymous employee feedback collection system on an ongoing basis and correlating this feedback with HR initiatives like talent acquisition, retention and employee promotions. Furthermore, an efficient system should exist for tracking company-wide DEIB statistics such as employee participation from underrepresented groups (i.e. percentage).
DEIB must be undertaken as a strategic, long-term process if it is to be effective. Companies need a plan with measurable goals for how they’ll implement changes that will increase diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in their workplaces; additionally they need the backing of leadership to make sure these changes can succeed; finally they should ensure all policies, practices, products and services they offer are inclusive of all groups.