An opportunity for creating a diversity statement is to demonstrate to committees how you have engaged with inclusivity throughout your teaching, research and university service work in the past and plan to do so going forward.
Like mission and vision statements, these statements create a framework for an organization. The best ones focus on concrete equity principles and actions.
1. Define Diversity and Equity
No matter which definition you take of diversity, all agree on one important principle: respect and appreciation of differences among us all – this can include race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age or neurodiversity to name but a few. In order to truly be inclusive in its workplace culture and offer equal access to resources that enable employees to reach their full potential, an organization must recognize and celebrate each of these differences within its ranks as part of being inclusive.
At the core of creating an effective DEI statement lies transparency and specificity regarding goals and initiatives your organization hopes to implement. This includes setting clear inclusivity goals such as increasing representation of underrepresented groups in leadership positions or developing training programs to raise awareness about unconscious bias. Equity principles should also be included; equity refers to distributing resources based on needs in society – while disproportionate societies seek to rectify this imbalance through providing equal access to resources for all.
Make your DEI statement more credible by including examples and statistics that back up your claims. This can be accomplished using workforce diversity reports, pay gap data or employee or candidate testimonials as ways of doing this – demonstrating to readers that your organization is committed to real change within its workplace culture rather than simply using its diversity statement as a checkmark exercise.
An effective diversity and inclusion statement not only showcases your dedication to creating an inclusive workplace, but can also attract talent from diverse backgrounds. A recent study demonstrated that organizations with diverse workforces experience 46% higher productivity, 31% greater financial performance, and 50% greater innovative thinking compared to those without. A diverse team brings more perspectives into play that lead to greater innovation and success for your company – so promote your diversity efforts by including a DEI statement on your website!
2. Describe Your Organization’s Culture
Culture of an organization defines its personality; how employees work together, collaborate and get along. A positive culture can attract talent while improving retention rates and helping businesses prosper. Integrating diversity and inclusion can create an inclusive workplace.
A diversity equity and inclusion statement should outline your company’s values, how their actions align with those values, and a plan for measuring progress; perhaps creating a committee or tracking employee satisfaction as measures of progress would work well here. You should also get your leadership team engaged with creating an inclusive culture – employees may be more invested in seeing that their leaders support diversity initiatives than otherwise.
Definitions are key when it comes to diversity and inclusion for your employees to understand what their duties are, while training should also be provided on this topic to ensure everyone grasps its meaning – be that cultural competency training for an international workforce or on how to have respectful discussions with members of marginalized groups.
Your diversity and inclusion statements must be accessible to everyone within your organization, including members who may or may not be members. Make this information easily findable by including it on your website as either part of its “About Us” section or as an independent link; don’t forget to include links to both diversity reports and equity data as well.
Your diversity and inclusion statement needs a striking title to set the right impression. Avoid using buzzwords or becoming too creative when choosing one; keeping things straightforward works best; Adobe’s “For All” and Spotify’s ‘Don’t just work here, belong here’ are both excellent examples of this approach.
Create an inclusive workplace takes time and effort, but the payoff can be immense. Diversity brings many advantages such as increased productivity, better customer service and greater competitive edge. By taking time to develop a diversity and inclusion statement for your company, you can ensure employees can reach their full potential while feeling like part of something greater at your business.
3. Describe Your Organization’s Goals
One key purpose for having a diversity, equity and inclusion statement at your company is demonstrating your dedication to this area among current and prospective employees. However, these statements can serve two other crucial purposes.
One less obvious purpose is to build a culture that encourages and celebrates diversity by setting specific and actionable goals that support it. Companies can use this approach to ensure their Diversity Equity & Inclusion strategy aligns with overall business goals and drives forward progress within their organization.
When creating your DEI statement, ensure to include goals that are measurable, attainable, relevant and within your organization’s timeframe. Utilizing data points like quotas or target percentages can keep you on track and motivate employees to meet them. Furthermore, goals must be aligned with the mission and values of your organization – this way employees can easily relate to them and feel encouraged to support efforts to attain them.
Your organization must also include an explanation for how it plans to achieve these goals, whether this means simply creating an employee resource group to provide training on topics like communication, feedback and office politics or hiring an outside trainer with expertise in unconscious bias training. A task force could also be created if your organization needs to address any specific issues such as hiring or promotion processes.
Your objective should be to demonstrate that your organization takes its commitment to diversity seriously, striving to maximize successes while overcoming any obstacles they encounter. By emphasizing your achievements, you’ll give employees pride in their work while building support for future initiatives.
Finally, be sure to include a section detailing how you will measure and report progress toward your DEI goals. This could involve holding company-wide meetings or seminars, quarterly performance reviews, open forums for employees to ask questions and receive answers or even the use of diversity equity and inclusion dashboards to keep track of progress over time.
4. Outline Your Organization’s Actions
As soon as a company makes a firm commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), its executives send a signal that they intend to alter how they do business. Once committed, specific steps can be taken towards reaching its DEI goals; such as developing or revising policies that ensure nondiscrimination while creating equal opportunities and encouraging inclusivity within its workforce. In addition, managers could receive training on implementing inclusive practices before connecting with local or national coalitions dedicated to DEI goals.
Be mindful that diversity and inclusion are distinct concepts; although related, they should never be confused. Diversity encompasses any differences among individuals such as gender, race or ethnicity, age, sexual orientation or religion – among others – while inclusion focuses on making sure these differences are acknowledged and valued within a workplace environment, leading to increased employee satisfaction and productivity.
One effective strategy for creating a more diverse and inclusive culture is supporting employee resource groups (ERGs). ERGs provide employees with support when they belong to specific groups such as women or minorities in the workplace; it will make employees feel as though someone can assist if there are problems or need guidance within the office environment.
An essential aspect of fostering diversity and inclusion at work is respecting cultural and religious holidays. This can be accomplished by acknowledging them during meetings or team calls, providing accommodations if necessary – such as floating holiday days – and by using inclusive language when writing job descriptions that do not perpetuate stereotypes; furthermore flexible work arrangements must also be available to employees with children or caring responsibilities for elderly parents.
Companies must set an example when it comes to diversity and inclusion (DEI). OneTen, Business Roundtable’s Multiple Pathways Initiative and CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion can all serve as valuable business coalitions dedicated to DEI; setting an example from within can be done by hiring more people from underrepresented groups and ensuring they advance into leadership roles. Companies also may benefit from joining local or national coalitions dedicated to DEI such as OneTen or CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion for additional support in DEI efforts.