Workforce preferences increasingly lean toward working at companies that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). DEI brings with it new perspectives, skills, native languages and contacts that enrich an organization and make its work better.
One way of encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is through changing job listing language so as to remove words that might alienate racial, gender, or neurodiverse employees.
Inclusion
Diversity is an expansive concept that encompasses many facets of an individual’s identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age and religion. Recognizing these differences helps build more inclusive cultures.
Inclusion means creating an environment in which every member feels valued, accepting of themselves, and that their differences are recognized and appreciated. Furthermore, inclusion means ensuring no one feels excluded or denied access due to their identity or background – the cornerstone of an inclusive workplace and it requires planning and effort from everyone involved.
Education leaders and business leaders may use specific terms when discussing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Unfortunately, newcomers to the field can find these words disorienting. Furthermore, some individuals alter the meanings or introduce entirely new terms for similar concepts that adds further confusion.
DEI has become an area of great jargon and acronyms. Diversity is often confused with inclusion; therefore it is necessary to distinguish the two concepts.
Merriam-Webster defines inclusivity as the state of being included in a group or activity.” When applied to the workplace, inclusivity means treating everyone fairly and giving everyone an equal chance to participate in shaping its culture and mission – key components for realizing DEI benefits like increased innovation, profitability and employee engagement.
Organizations that employ inclusive practices will realize all of its intended advantages from these initiatives and employees will feel supported and empowered to share their thoughts and perspectives regardless of cultural differences.
Inclusivity is an ongoing journey, and businesses should regularly evaluate their policies, practices and processes to make sure they are producing desired results. They should also take steps to educate employees on inclusion through trainings or workshops, encouraging employees to seek role models who demonstrate inclusive behaviors to build an inclusive culture within their organization and creating policies which address all forms of discrimination in an effective manner. Lastly, companies should make sure that they enforce comprehensive policies to combat all forms of discrimination against employees.
Equity
While people often use the terms diversity, inclusion, and equity interchangeably, each term has its own specific definition. Diversity encompasses characteristics that differentiate individuals, such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or disability status. Inclusion refers to creating a workplace which values and respects differences as individuals present themselves with all their parts present at work – providing opportunities for professional growth while encouraging employees to bring all parts of themselves with them into work environments that promote inclusion.
Equity refers to removing structural barriers that keep marginalized groups out of political, social, and cultural spheres of influence – often to their detriment. While equality awards every person the same benefits equally, equity acknowledges some groups have more privilege than others – for instance Black women only earn 83 cents of what a white male earns per dollar paid out. Equity looks at each individual’s starting point to determine how much assistance is necessary in order for them to succeed and flourish.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is an effort aimed at creating an equitable and welcoming work environment for all employees. Companies should work on eliminating stereotypes that prevent underrepresented groups from having a voice in decision making processes; additionally they should establish goals which are both ambitious and measurable by conducting training on unconscious bias and inclusive leadership, increasing pay transparency or creating employee resource groups.
Leadership buy-in for diversity initiatives is essential to their success. Inform leaders on the advantages diversity can bring by showing them research that shows how a diverse workplace makes better decisions, attracts top talent more readily and improves financial performance.
Recruitment for diversity is also an integral component of this initiative. Numerous studies demonstrate that prospective employees prefer working for organizations with strong diversity, equity and inclusion programs; many organizations can draw these candidates by offering flexible schedules, workplace wellness programs and culturally-relevant hiring practices; other companies are using technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to detect hidden biases during recruitment such as resumes or interview responses.
Goals
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statements are an integral component of business strategies. They communicate an organization’s stance towards DEI while setting concrete goals to meet it. Goals should be clearly laid out and widely communicated to employees before being periodically evaluated to assess whether goals have been reached and that progress has been made towards meeting DEI goals.
Your company could create an initiative with the objective of increasing female representation in leadership roles; this goal would provide your business with an incentive to attract and retain female employees. Other goals may include improving representation of people of color in management positions or offering unconscious bias training for hiring managers – these objectives should also be clearly and measurable goals.
However, it’s essential to remember that equity goes beyond demographics; its purpose also encompasses making sure all employees feel included and valued regardless of any differences they may possess. For instance, if one employee is blind or has physical disabilities that require accommodations in order to thrive in their role and create an inclusive working environment.
Your employees are the ultimate arbiters of what needs to be done to improve diversity in your workplace. One effective way of gathering their feedback is through setting up meetings between employees and upper management in which they can discuss any pertinent issues; then implement changes based on these results into policies as appropriate.
As another way of measuring the success of your DEI efforts, regularly polling employees about how well their company is faring with its initiatives can also provide insight into whether employees care about its DEI goals and whether it prioritizes them. You should also assess whether your initiatives are being promoted outside the company. For example, if you’re running a campaign to recruit more diverse candidates then including information on social media pages and blogs may help raise awareness.
Communication
Sometimes there is an emotional disconnect between what leaders claim about diversity, equity and inclusion and what employees actually experience in their companies. This may be partly because people use different words for similar concepts based on personal experience – creating common vocabulary can help avoid miscommunications and save both parties time and effort.
Lack of understanding over these terms contributes to many challenges associated with meeting DEI goals. A common interpretation of “diversity” as an increase in demographic representation within an organization’s workforce misses much of the point; it fails to address how those groups can thrive and participate fully.
Barriers to diversity within companies often take the form of unconscious biases (stereotypes of other people that form without anyone’s awareness) and microaggressions (“everyday slights rooted in prejudice”). These may manifest themselves through not giving credit where credit is due or asking employees to speak on behalf of socially oppressed persons – even as subtle acts as using unnamed pronouns when discussing these groups.
Diversity, equity and inclusion goals do not always translate to tangible outcomes in all areas. Two such areas are pay gaps and access to leadership opportunities. Pay gaps often stem from opaque compensation practices or unfair promotion criteria while access to leadership depends on a company’s ability to reach communities; such factors could include race/ethnicity/religion/language etc.
Fostering an inclusive culture is both a business imperative and moral responsibility. A CNBC/SurveyMonkey study from 2021 indicated that 80 percent of workers desire employment at companies which prioritize diversity and inclusion.
To achieve its DEI goals, businesses must engage both internal and external stakeholders. This may involve partnering with minority-owned suppliers, supporting community initiatives, or encouraging leaders to model inclusivity when engaging with staff members. In addition, policies must be established and enforced that ensure all employees are treated equally; training/education may also be provided so staff understand why DEI principles matter.