Three-fourths of job seekers and employees rank diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as an important consideration when weighing job offers; once hired, DEI plays an essential role in employee retention.
Leadership must take an active part in crafting an inclusive DEI plan and communicate expectations among their staff. Below are resources that can assist in this effort.
Definitions
Diversity, equity and inclusion conversations can be complex; as such it is vital that everyone involved uses consistent definitions and terminology when speaking of these topics in order to avoid confusion and misinterpretation. This glossary of terms and definitions was created with this in mind and serves to support this dialogue by providing a shared vocabulary to understand these concepts more fully.
Definition of Diversity: Diversity can be broadly defined as any distinctions among people that result in differentiations such as differences in race, ethnicity, gender, religion, socioeconomic class, age, national origin, sexual orientation disability veteran status education marital status and language. Furthermore diversity encompasses differences in ideas perspectives values held amongst them all.
Inclusion is the practice of including diverse individuals and groups into processes, activities, and decision making in such a way as to share power equally and promote broad engagement and participation from everyone involved. Through inclusion we create an authentic sense of belonging as we strive to dismantle systems of oppression.
Definitions of Equality and Inclusion: Although equality refers to providing everyone equal access to opportunities, equity goes further by ensuring resources are distributed equitably based on need. This approach is essential in an unequal society such as ours as it addresses disparate access of certain groups to resources compared to others.
Discrimination: Unfair treatment of an individual or group based on conscious or unconscious bias. This may take the form of unfair treatment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic class status, veteran status status educational or career achievement physical ability genetic information age as potential indicators.
At its core, inclusion is about creating an environment in which all employees feel valued, supported and respected by their employers. This can be accomplished by eliminating barriers to success such as communication or learning issues as well as issues of exclusion such as unconscious bias and microaggressions. By cultivating an inclusive workplace culture, organizations can attract and retain top talent more easily while meeting their goals more easily – studies show feelings of inclusion are responsible for up to 35% of employee loyalty to current employers – further contributing to employee satisfaction and productivity which are integral elements to company success.
Benefits
Diversity, equity and inclusion foster an environment in which employees feel free to express themselves authentically at work, which promotes creativity, innovation and a sense of belonging among staff members. Diversity also gives companies more options when solving customer problems with innovative solutions that help keep customers coming back for more.
Focusing on inclusion also ensures you’re reaching out to all employees in a way that makes them feel valued, while diversity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace requires a shift in thinking and culture which must be supported through leadership commitment, diverse recruitment practices, ongoing training and regular evaluation. Companies which implement DEI strategies reap numerous advantages including increased employee satisfaction, more inclusive culture, better decision-making processes and higher revenue.
Diversity and inclusion can often be confused, since both seek to highlight the value of differences among people. But each focuses on different aspects of diversity; diversity refers to all identities present within a population such as race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, physical disability age or cultural background while inclusion focuses more on feelings of belonging felt by an individual relative to how others view them and vice versa.
Implementing a diversity and inclusion program requires understanding each aspect of diversity to prevent making errors. If your organization prioritizes diversity without considering equity and inclusion, for example, your organization could experience imbalanced access to resources, promotion opportunities or workplace conditions – known as tokenism in the workplace context – this results in underrepresented groups hiring more employees but lacking support such as training for them.
Diversity refers to how many people from various identity groups you employ; inclusion takes a more nuanced approach by considering what happens once these individuals have been hired. If your organization boasts high diversity without prioritizing inclusion, however, you could find that women are promoted more often to leadership positions than men – in this instance you would need to increase focus on inclusion if more women should become leaders within your company.
Implementation
Diversity is an integral element of any productive workplace, yet for companies to truly achieve equality and inclusion they require more than simply employing diverse staff – they need to make those differences visible and significant for employees so that everyone feels like they belong in their working environments.
This will require a shift in culture, an examination of organizational norms and behaviors, and new systems designed to support all types of employees at all stages of their employment lives. Furthermore, it involves identifying and eliminating any barriers preventing certain groups from accessing resources necessary for reaching their full potential.
As part of its commitment to diversity, a company that embraces it should recognize that it may not be equal in how it distributes salaries and promotions between men and women, as well as that its physical spaces may be inaccessible for people living with blindness, deafness, mobility issues or neurological conditions such as autism.
Adopting diversity, equity and inclusion principles is the cornerstone of creating an efficient workplace that is competitive, resilient, innovative and capable of meeting the needs of a wide array of customers and communities. While adhering to this vision may not always be straightforward or effortless, organizations seeking success in an ever-evolving global environment must embrace it with all its complexities in order to stay competitive and innovative.
Diversity in the workplace often takes the form of hiring women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals and non-binary employees; however, that is only part of an inclusive workforce strategy; inclusion involves making sure those individuals feel valued as part of the team culture.
Leaders can foster an inclusive workplace by encouraging all staff to voice their opinions at meetings. Furthermore, leaders can foster an atmosphere of respect and openness by listening carefully to all employee complaints, needs, or complaints about projects. Furthermore, leaders may take measures that remove any obstacles to participation such as making sure online communication platforms are accessible for those with disabilities.
To successfully implement diversity, equity, and inclusion within their company, companies must make these initiatives a top priority and set specific goals. Top leaders must express their motivation to combat inequality by identifying its causes. Finally, action must be taken against them.
Metrics
Metrics of diversity equity and inclusion help organizations identify areas where they should concentrate their efforts, such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability status. Businesses can then use these metrics to devise strategies for combatting unconscious biases or microaggressions based on such stereotypes that arise without awareness.
DEI metrics can also help organizations measure the success of current initiatives by highlighting areas for improvement and measuring current initiatives’ efficacy. If an organization’s hiring process does not result in a diverse workforce, unconscious bias training for recruiters and managers might be beneficial; similarly if employees leave at an alarming rate it might be time to review policies related to retention and development policies.
Monitor these figures closely in order to create a workplace where everyone feels welcome. Companies that do not prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion risk not being able to attract or retain top talent; those that embrace such an inclusive mindset will enjoy increased creativity and productivity from their teams.
Assigning your organization’s current level of diversity requires taking an in-depth look at each department and role within your company, and at representation within those roles (for instance if most engineers are white with few women among them). Furthermore, gathering data on employee resource groups (ERGs) participation rates or mentoring programs may give insight into whether or not your company is providing enough support for underrepresented groups within it.
DEI can play an instrumental role in how new hires feel welcomed and engaged within your team, from turnover rates of millennials to using data on salary transparency (such as employee paychecks or job ads) and compensation equity to assess company progress.
Finally, employee satisfaction and wellbeing must be monitored in order to create an inclusive workplace. Research shows that employee happiness directly ties in with how well a business supports its diverse workforce – uncomfortability at work is correlated with more turnover; employees who feel unsafe in their environment tend to leave and find employment elsewhere more frequently than those who feel they belong in their current one.