What is DEI?
Diversity, equity & inclusion, or DEI for short, refers to any policy, set of initiatives, or practices employed by a company to ensure the seamless integration of staff members into the workplace without any individual facing disadvantages, obstacles, or prejudices due to their background. The aim is to make all employees — from long-term staff members to new hires (and prospective candidates) — feel welcome and empowered to fulfil their duties, regardless of their gender, religious beliefs, orientation, disability, ethnicity, or background. The term can be broken down into its three central pillars:
Diversity
This term is used to describe the differences between two or more individuals within any given environment (in this case, the workplace). These differences can be as relatively simple as “male” and “female” or as relatively complex as “socioeconomic status” or a gender identity that transverses the limitations of the gender binary system.
Equity
Equity refers to the quality of being fair and impartial. In the workplace, this means ensuring all corporate practices, programs, and initiatives allow for impartial and fair inclusion by all members of the workforce, with outcomes based solely on performance, professional development, and the adequate fulfilment of duties.
Inclusion
Inclusion is the effort made by a company to make its employees feel welcome, included, and empowered in the workplace. This involves providing all possible support to individual employees when it comes to their self-expression and being their authentic selves.
The combined concept of diversity, equity & inclusion is a powerful tool that companies can use to motivate their employees by acknowledging them for who they are and creating a level playing field where everyone has a chance to thrive. This bolsters a company’s reputation as a good, fair employer — helping it to stand out from the competition and attract talented individuals.
Why is DEI important?
When it comes to securing more equitable outcomes across your talent lifecycle, there is no substitute for a strong diversity, equity & inclusion policy. Above all, it signals to the industry and the labor market that you respect your employees, take their backgrounds and identities seriously, and allow them to express themselves in an authentic manner — all while maintaining the requisite professionalism.
While DEI may feel like a relatively recent addition to the corporate landscape, the concept actually began to take shape as far back as the 1960s. Since then, the focus on creating equal employment opportunities for all has become increasingly more refined and is now an integral element of any human resources playbook. It has been repeatedly proven in various studies that diversity in the workplace correlates with better performance and more profitability, while increased employee engagement predictably leads to stronger retention, lower turnover, and an efficient hiring process.
Aside from the benefits that DEI provides to a company’s outcomes, it’s a fact that most employees — regardless of their background — support DEI initiatives due to their ability to help shape a more inclusive and welcoming workplace. As a result, employees are far more likely to enjoy going to work — a proposition that should be far less radical than it sounds in today’s industry. And when a workforce is generally happy, then so are the customers it serves.
How to use DEI
To get started with fostering diversity in the workplace and developing a strong, highly inclusive corporate culture, use the BUILDING approach:
Above all, DEI should be a collaborative process that incorporates the perspectives and views of HR, individual employees, and managers. It can also be practiced in various ways within teams or departments in order to tackle specific instances of unconscious bias, discrimination, or microaggressions. Examples include:
- Holding one-on-one talks with managers
- Arranging awareness workshops
- Establishing DEI key performance indicators per department
- Using employee engagement software to collect relevant data
- Integrating DEI into the onboarding trajectory
Finally, employee resource networks are an excellent way to foster DEI in the workplace. Whether focused on LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, or similar initiatives, these voluntary, employee-led groups organize events that bring employees together, empower underrepresented voices, give individuals a chance to connect outside of the relative confines of the workplace, and ultimately transform workplace culture. This is especially useful at larger organizations, where the risk of feeling alienated or overlooked is much greater.
Advantages and disadvantages
If designed and deployed properly, DEI policies, practices, and initiatives can provide multiple benefits for any company seeking to curate a harmonious workplace culture and stand out from the competition with an attractive hiring strategy:
Better employee retention & lower turnover
If an employee feels that they have the support of their employer with regard to their background and personal identity, they are more likely to remain with that employer in the long term. This is because employee loyalty starts with creating a positive workplace environment, recognizing achievements, and honoring individuality, all three of which are intrinsic to DEI.
Stronger change management and innovation
A corporate environment that is diverse and inclusive has been proven to be more receptive to new ideas, initiatives, and creative mindsets. If employees feel like they truly belong to the company, there is a far greater chance that they will have the courage to experiment, pursue alternative avenues, and generally engage with their work on a deeper level. Moreover, a team made up of individuals from different backgrounds is able to bring more diverse voices and perspectives to the table, increasing the chance of finding a unique (and ideally profitable) solution.
A boost for recruitment
A company’s success in the hiring arena rests in part on its reputation as an employer. It stands to reason that an organization which can point to a strong diversity, equity & inclusion policy will be more likely to attract talented individuals from a range of backgrounds than an enterprise whose corporate culture is known for a lack of diversity, weak trust, and low motivation. Given the ongoing scarcity of skilled workers in most industries, DEI can prove decisive in acquiring and retaining talented employees.
More profitability
As has already been mentioned above, an empowered employee is a more productive employee. When this happens at the team, department, division, and company-wide levels, efficiency and performance improve, which translates into a healthier bottom line for the organization.
What to avoid
It’s important to keep in mind above all that while a well-designed DEI policy encourages all employees to be their authentic selves, this should not come at the expense of professionalism or etiquette. A business is a business, and there should be no danger of self-expression jeopardizing a customer relationship, project, or rule in the corporate code of conduct.
Likewise, DEI practices should always be employed with an aim to yield the most positive results for the company, the team, and the individual. Choosing a candidate to meet a DEI quota may prove to be damaging to a workplace in the long term if that candidate does not have the requisite skills for their position. It may also alienate existing employees, who may feel ignored or overlooked. Ultimately, diversity, equity, and inclusion are sensitive topics that call for a careful balancing act between empowering underrepresented groups, fostering self-expression, and making hiring decisions that are in the best interests of your business.
Best practices
When drafting DEI policies, initiatives, or recommendations, use the following checklist to make sure they’re fulfilling their purpose:
- Does the initiative promote openness?
- Is diverse talent sufficiently represented?
- Are there measures to counteract bias, prejudice, discrimination, and microaggressions?
- Does the initiative reinforce accountability among senior employees and boost leadership capabilities?
- Is unequivocal support provided to all employees with regard to diversity?
- Is the initiative fair and transparent at every step?
- Does the initiative support the concept of a meritocratic company culture?
- Are there sufficient channels for employees to interact with managers at the company on a meaningful level?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, you should revise the initiative accordingly until your DEI policy is foolproof.
It’s also important to draw from research into the types of barriers that individuals from all backgrounds feel they encounter in their work when it comes to diversity and inclusion. This will give you a strong basis from which to draw up your own DEI policy. You can then refine it to reflect specific situations, circumstances, and challenges within your company by asking for feedback from your own employees. A good way to do this is to issue an anonymous survey — featuring a combination of multiple-choice answers based on a rating scale and open-ended answers — that encourages individuals to open up about their own diversity and inclusion experiences.
Be aware that rolling out a DEI policy is not as easy as simply publishing a set of rules on an intranet page. It calls for management training on aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as the goals associated with a DEI initiative. Managers should be made aware of current biases in the workplace and learn methods that enable them to dismantle such obstacles. Following this, they should be expected to build diverse teams and cultivate an inclusive workplace environment by avoiding bias and discrimination, actively lending an open ear to their employees, and rewarding strong performance (as part of a meritocratic company culture).