Diversifying, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace is generally seen as beneficial; indeed, companies with more diverse senior-management teams earn 19 percent more revenue.
Create an inclusive environment requires equality, openness and belonging – three concepts we will delve deeper into so we can develop DEI programs that actually work.
Diversity
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are intertwined concepts that can transform or destroy a company culture. DEI seeks to highlight the worth and strengths of people from diverse backgrounds while offering them opportunities to thrive at work. An environment with strong DEI consideration creates stronger teams which foster innovative ideas while helping businesses realize their missions more successfully.
DEI strategies encompass several components, such as race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation and neurodiversity. A diverse workplace benefits employees by offering new perspectives and experiences that may not exist elsewhere within the organization; employees gain exposure to fresh approaches for thinking and analyzing problems outside their comfort zones.
According to McKinsey research from 2020, companies that prioritize DEI are more likely to succeed. Gender diverse organizations typically experience greater financial outperformance compared to companies less dedicated to diversity initiatives.
However, diversity and business success do not directly equate. It is crucial that companies recognize the difference between diversity and inclusion so as to achieve positive impacts for employees as well as on society at large.
Organizations that emphasize diversity alone may end up alienating employees who don’t fit the mold, making them feel unwelcome and leading them to search for an environment in which they can express themselves freely. This may cause them to seek more welcoming environments where they feel free to be themselves and this could result in them searching for other jobs where they feel more welcome and accepted.
To prevent this from occurring, companies should take measures to ensure all identities within their employee base are represented, and address issues like microaggressions as necessary. Companies should also foster a sense of belonging by supporting diversity of all forms and making employees feel appreciated as individuals.
Companies should encourage employee involvement in DEI initiatives by providing funding and workshops. Once employees participate, companies should foster an environment in which employees feel free to openly discuss their experiences – this will foster an inclusive work culture.
Equity
Diversity, equity and inclusion are three separate concepts that combine to form an environment where all employees feel valued at work. Diversity acknowledges differences among its employees while equity looks at how those differences impact others and what steps can be taken to equalize opportunities for everyone.
Example: if an employee isn’t receiving equal pay to their peers, they could be experiencing equity issues. In such a case, companies would take steps to address pay disparities by instituting policies such as gender pay parity or skills-based hiring. Furthermore, initiatives may also be put in place to make working conditions more accommodating for employees with disabilities or health-related challenges by offering unconscious bias training or creating distraction-free workspaces.
A company that embraces diversity but doesn’t place equal emphasis on equity may still provide a rewarding environment, but some employees may feel unwelcomed by such practices. If women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) make up the majority of its workforce but lack representation on management teams or client-facing teams, these employees may feel alienated and leave.
Establishing and supporting an inclusive culture is crucial to producing better results. Studies show that diverse teams outperform homogenous ones in terms of productivity. Companies with more gender diversity on executive boards also enjoy higher financial returns due to how different perspectives foster creative thinking and problem solving skills.
Diversity and inclusion go beyond hiring diverse employees; it also encompasses how those employees are treated once hired. If an employee who identifies as Muslim is treated insensitively during religious holidays, for example, this could alienate them and potentially force them out of your company altogether. Focusing on diversity and inclusion ensures all employees can find success at work.
Inclusion
Even though a majority of workers (56%) believe focusing on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion at work is generally beneficial, this opinion differs significantly along key demographic and partisan lines. Women are significantly more likely than men to support this viewpoint while those with lower incomes also tend to favor this outlook.
Companies need to ensure all employees feel valued as individuals in their workplace, by respecting them for who they are and appreciating their differences. This may involve eliminating barriers that prevent some from having access to opportunities within their work place; such as bias that causes faculty scientists to favor male applicants over female ones for research jobs. It should also involve making sure all employees can feel free to express themselves without experiencing discrimination and hostility from coworkers or managers.
How inclusion manifests in an organization varies significantly from business to business, depending on who it involves and their individual roles within that business. What may look like acceptance may vary for an Indigenous engineering graduate and for a mother with children working in senior leadership – however a company that takes inclusion seriously will ensure all its employees feel valued and welcome no matter their background or differences from others in their workplace.
Diversity should not only mean hiring individuals who reflect society; rather, it must ensure all employees feel they share equal voice – whether that means Black mother of three accounting employees or non-binary engineers.
That is why it is vitally important for companies to follow in the footsteps of their leaders and foster an environment which embraces diversity, equity and inclusion values. This involves developing new skills for leaders – collaboration and empathy among them – while learning to recognize unconscious biases. Furthermore, companies should encourage participation of leaders from underrepresented groups within the workplace, so employees and customers can witness this value at work every day.
Social Identity
Social identity refers to a set of personal traits that define who we are as individuals, such as gender, sex, ethnicity, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and religious beliefs. Social identities often play a part in how comfortable people feel sharing parts of themselves with coworkers at their workplace; organizations should therefore be conscious of this diversity among their workforces to create welcoming environments where all feel valued.
Many companies implement Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to help enhance how they operate. DEI initiatives aim to ensure every employee can bring their whole selves to work and flourish in an inclusive work environment where their accomplishments are celebrated and appreciated. Although many organizations have made strides towards implementing DEI initiatives successfully, more work remains to be done.
Employees frequently cite as an obstacle the perception that colleagues are treated differently due to differences in social identity. To address this problem, several laws have been enacted which protect certain classes against discrimination; however, such legislation could actually compound the problem by raising its salience and increasing likelihood of Attraction-Selection-Attrition effects (Northcraft & Martin 1982).
One barrier to DEI is an inadequate understanding of the difference between equality and equity. While equality provides equal access for all regardless of circumstances, equity allocates resources more equitably based on need. Since our society is often unbalanced, equity strives to correct its disparate distribution by giving more opportunities to those who traditionally had less access.
Even with these hurdles, DEI benefits all stakeholders involved. Employees benefit from organizations which embrace and celebrate their diverse identities while customers benefit from being included into a company that understands and respects them as unique people with different needs and identities.