Companies that place priority on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) tend to outperform their competitors; however, measuring the success of an DEI program can be tricky.
Terminology surrounding DEI can often be unclear, with different words having different connotations depending on individual experiences. To help prevent miscommunication and avoid misinterpretations of discussions related to DEI, this article includes a glossary of terms used during DEI discussions.
Definitions
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is an emerging value that organizations strive to embrace as part of their core principles in order to meet the needs of all types of people from diverse backgrounds. Diversity typically refers to differences between individuals across categories like race, ethnicity, gender identity/expression/ability/sexual orientation; inclusion refers to cultural or environmental sense of belonging people experience when at work or interacting with others daily – it signifies how valued everyone feels as individuals despite differences in the form of beliefs, abilities or sexual orientation.
Diversity and inclusion are broad concepts with varied definitions that encompass many societal identity groups, including race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, national origin, religion, gender identity/sexual orientation/orientation, education level/marital status/military service status/language capability / physical appearance as well as disability. Diversity also refers to ideas, perspectives and values shared among its constituents.
Inclusion refers to the notion that all individuals should have equal access to resources, opportunities, and advancement within an organization or community. This requires eliminating all barriers that prevent people from fully engaging with an endeavor – these could include explicit forms like discrimination and unconscious biases which impede progress toward DEI goals, as well as implicit forms like presuming some demographics will perform differently than others.
Businesses that disregard diversity and inclusion will fail to realize its full potential, failing to tap into each employee’s strengths as individuals, while falling further behind competitors. According to research conducted by McKinsey & Company, companies which prioritize DEI tend outperform those that don’t.
Inclusion requires all employees to feel welcome in the workplace and valued for who they are; this can be challenging to achieve, however. Policies designed to ensure all employees have equal opportunities to take part can help, as can policies designed to overcome obstacles that prevent someone from participating, such as lack of accessible accommodations or unchallenged biases that might prevent people from actively taking part.
Meaning
If you work in D&I, embracing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mindset is essential to setting up your company for success. DEI serves as a framework that promotes diverse perspectives that lead to improved decision-making and innovation processes; increased employee retention; fostered belonging within teams. According to Deloitte research, companies with strong DEI initiatives experience up to 34% higher profitability compared with those without such initiatives.
However, the terminology associated with this movement can be dauntingly complex. Terms like “diversity” and “inclusion” often get used interchangeably but have different meanings – to ensure you create an inclusive program which meets all your needs properly.
Diversity is a term that encompasses a broad range of individual differences among people. This encompasses factors like race, ethnicity, language, culture, creed, gender identity/expression/spirituality sexual orientation age physical ability neurodiversity.
Inclusion refers to creating an inclusive culture within an organization, regardless of any differences that might exist among employees. Achieve this requires leadership committing themselves to ensure all employees feel included.
Equity refers to ensuring fair treatment in the workplace and addressing systemic inequalities that exist within an organization, as well as deep understanding of historical injustices. Furthermore, equity involves creating policies which address all relevant issues while providing equal opportunities to all employees.
Your company cannot reach its diversity goals if its work environment does not foster equity and justice for its employees, leading to gaps between performance of white men and women that result in lost talent.
To be successful, organizations must prioritize both diversity and inclusion by integrating both into their corporate culture and business strategies. Furthermore, an inclusive workplace requires taking an holistic approach which addresses hiring practices as well as employee development; ultimately this will foster a more welcoming atmosphere which benefits all involved parties.
Examples
DEI provides businesses with an opportunity to foster an environment in which all employees feel respected and can work collaboratively – an approach supported by research from Deloitte which found DEI-focused companies have higher employee satisfaction rates, more effective decision-making procedures and higher innovation rates than their counterparts.
Diversity is a broad term that encompasses differences among people from demographic to personal differences such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status, among many other characteristics. Diversity also encompasses ideas, perspectives and values held by people; creating an inclusive workplace requires companies to overcome biases that arise due to unconscious stereotypes or microaggressions that arise due to unconscious stereotyping or microagressions.
Diversity and inclusion refers to efforts designed to make all team members feel included and appreciated for their unique contributions. Companies need to set goals and implement programs to promote equitable treatment of all people within their organization as well as address any potential inequalities within processes like talent acquisition, hiring, promotion or any other aspect of business operations.
Inclusion is crucial because it ensures everyone has equal opportunities and can succeed at work – something which may prove challenging in an environment without an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
Issues that can impede DEI include unconscious bias in recruitment and interviewing processes, discriminatory salary negotiations and lack of opportunities for advancement. Companies without an established commitment to DEI will struggle to retain and attract top talent resulting in poor productivity and morale for employees.
An example of an equity issue is the discrepancies in job application rates between men and women, which can be due to various causes like unconscious biases in hiring processes such as recruiting. Companies can address this by employing tools like Findem to recruit from a broad variety of sources while simultaneously guaranteeing their hiring processes are free from bias.
Applications
Diversity and inclusion efforts help build stronger cultures within companies, so employees feel welcome to bring all aspects of themselves to work and feel included as individuals. This leads to improved collaboration and problem solving across different backgrounds; companies that prioritize DEI typically experience higher retention rates, more innovative ideas, and are ultimately more cost competitive than those who neglect this aspect of their operations.
Companies can increase DEI by making sure their recruiting practices and workforce are diverse. This may involve hiring managers with varied experiences acting as interviewers; blind resumes; other methods to protect personal information against unconscious biases impacting hiring decisions; as well as offering training sessions about gender, race and other forms of diversity within the workplace.
As part of an evaluation process for employment positions such as project manager, software engineer or salesperson it can also be beneficial to consider all aspects of an individual’s identity in evaluating their qualifications for the role – this may include race, ethnicity, religion, gender socioeconomic status age sexual orientation educational background life experiences abilities etc. This approach can ensure all parts of an applicant are considered in an evaluation for optimal evaluation results.
Equity means giving every member of a community equal chances at succeeding, which can be achieved by exploring distributional equity – programs and policies which allow all segments to share in benefits and burdens equitably across a community. Procedural equity can also play an integral part of reaching this goal, by looking at whether processes take into account all experiences and perspectives from all members of a community. As one example, a company may consider how its treatment of students from PWIs (predominantly white institutions), with high concentrations of white students, as well as minority applicants requiring degrees from these PWIs, compares with how it handles discrimination and bullying within its workplace.