Establishing diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) goals for companies is vital. Setting these targets shows your employees that you care for their well-being and encourages them to bring their whole selves to work.
But achieving DEI goals is no simple task; creating a diverse culture takes effort and dedication.
Diversity
Companies who prioritize diversity aim to hire employees from various backgrounds, encourage equal treatment of all employees and create a safe work environment for workers of all identities – race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation etc. With an accurate definition of diversity established, organizations can develop programs and policies to support it; furthermore they may incorporate this definition into their mission statement or mission goals.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are inextricably linked. The purpose of diversity is to ensure every employee feels welcome in the workplace and has an opportunity to bring all aspects of themselves to work. When businesses create inclusive workplaces they can foster creativity and innovation as well as attract more talent while expanding customer bases.
Create a company mission that incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion is key for businesses looking to make an impactful statement about themselves in society. A good mission statement should address not only individuals but also communities, customers and suppliers – and be linked back into its core business strategy.
Deloitte research indicates that having a diverse workforce can increase a company’s bottom line. According to one of their studies, companies with diverse workforces possess 46% greater competitive advantages compared to companies without. Furthermore, companies with diverse employees also tend to experience lower employee retention rates and greater financial success overall. Furthermore, inclusion within the workplace can facilitate better product development, more efficient processes, easier employee learning from one another and professional growth overall.
Inclusion involves providing employees with the tools they need to succeed, whether that’s training on different demographic needs or changing their hiring practices so more minority candidates make an application process. Furthermore, companies who prioritize diversity could offer ramps for wheelchair users or mental health support for employees with disabilities.
Establishing a diversity and inclusion mission statement for your organization can help it enhance its reputation, attract more talent, and meet the challenges of an ever-evolving global economy. To move your company from diversity to belonging, all leadership teams should participate in this endeavor – leaders from diverse backgrounds can set an example by setting an inclusive tone within the office environment and encouraging employees to take an active part in building more inclusive workplace environments. Furthermore, language used within your business should never discriminate against anyone.
Equity
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has become an ever-expanding topic of conversation, necessitating a common language to prevent misinterpretations of its definitions and terms. The following glossary of DEI terms should serve as a resource to facilitate dialogue.
As part of creating an inclusive culture, the first step towards DEI should be defining its meaning to you. Write a diversity and inclusion statement which expresses your organization’s stance on diversity and inclusion issues; make sure it’s short enough so visitors to your website understand immediately what position your company takes on this important matter, while including any data supporting this approach to DEI.
Equality refers to providing all individuals with equal resources and opportunities regardless of their circumstances. Equity movements acknowledge that we live in an uneven society that necessitates some groups needing more resources or opportunities than others in order to thrive.
Inclusion refers to creating environments in which all individuals feel welcomed, valued and respected – an undertaking which demands commitment from leaders at all levels within an organization and continuous focus on improvement over time.
Establishing an inclusive workplace takes time, but its results can pay dividends over time. Studies show that diverse teams tend to be more innovative and make better decisions than their homogenous counterparts, and employees who feel included are more productive and engaged at work.
Businesses seeking to foster inclusion should cultivate a welcoming culture by following fair hiring and promotion practices, providing continuous training programs, and encouraging employee feedback. They may also consider creating a diversity committee as well as crafting a comprehensive anti-discriminatory policy.
One of the primary advantages of DEI is increased productivity and profitability. According to a 2021 CNBC/SurveyMonkey workforce survey, over 80 percent of respondents want to work for companies that value diversity and inclusion; furthermore, according to 2019 McKinsey analysis companies in the top quartile for gender and racial diversity on executive teams are 25 percent more profitable than those in the bottom quartile.
Inclusion
At its core, inclusion aims to make people feel like they belong in their workplace irrespective of age, background, social status, sex, religion or sexual orientation. This can include making sure a Black mother of three in accounting or non-binary employee in engineering aren’t alienated, marginalized or overlooked within the work environment; and permitting individuals to bring all aspects of themselves – not only what might appear positive – into work environments.
Prioritizing diversity and inclusion should start by linking its goals back to your company’s mission and values; that way, everyone knows why the initiatives are crucial, helping your employees understand why these steps matter while supporting them with action plans.
When hiring new team members, it is crucial to consider the diversity of candidate pools. For instance, when making hiring decisions it is crucial that merit-based inclusion creates an equitable workplace by giving equal consideration to performance and potential. If two candidates for one role possess equivalent degrees from top-tier universities with two years’ professional experience at Fortune 100 companies respectively versus an applicant possessing an equivalent degree from a foreign university with only two years professional experience – how will you choose between them? Merit-based inclusion helps create this fair workplace by giving equal weighting between performance and potential.
Implement a policy that recognizes cultural and religious practices of employees from diverse backgrounds, making them feel welcome in your company and showing that you care about their wellbeing. In turn, this will also benefit your business by attracting top talent and increasing revenue.
Inclusion can be a complex concept that takes much work. If your organization is committed to DEI, take the time to examine and enhance it. Start by defining each term individually before discussing what each means with your team – this will make implementing changes much simpler over time.
Goals
Diversity, equity and inclusion goals aim to ensure all people can access opportunities for advancement while eliminating any possible barriers that exist between people of various age, race, religion, gender identity sexual orientation disability veteran status and veteran status. In order to successfully fulfill these goals, businesses need to have a thorough knowledge of each group’s issues and challenges as well as communicate them to employees so they understand why the initiative exists.
Businesses implementing DEI initiatives are essential to attracting top talent and cultivating an efficient work environment, according to a McKinsey study. Businesses with strong DEI programs outperform competitors more efficiently while outperforming them on multiple metrics. A good first step would be for any company is creating a clear statement of values and plan of action – this could include goals regarding mentorships conducted within the company, as well as targets related to diversity within leadership positions as well as goals regarding percentage representation of diverse backgrounds and experiences across employees’ workplaces.
One goal should be identifying and eliminating any forms of bias or discrimination in the workplace, which is often difficult but necessary for creating an inclusive culture. Leaders must take on an active role in supporting diversity by being role models who value an inclusive workplace culture; listening carefully to employees from various backgrounds while encouraging them to share their own stories; also, being committed to eliminating any unconscious biases within the organization that might exist; this goal may require several initiatives at once, so leaders need to do this work properly or they risk failing their mission of creating inclusive culture!
Last but not least, companies should regularly assess and communicate their progress on DEI initiatives with employees. This can be achieved by creating a dashboard or scorecard that measures key indicators against industry averages; employees will then be able to see this company’s efforts as they advance forward.