Throughout the last two years, countless organizations have been recommitting themselves to diversity and inclusion. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the push for a greater focus on racial and social equality, companies want to make sure that they’re serving their employees as much as their employees are serving them.
Recent data from Traliant suggests that nearly every company either has an existing diversity and inclusion program, or they’re seeking to create one in the next 12 months. So, if this hasn’t been on your radar, let’s catch you up. In this blog, we’ll cover the basics of what you need to know about diversity and inclusion if you want to give your employees and customers the best experience possible and remain competitive with your industry peers.
What Are Diversity and Inclusion?
Diversity is defined as “the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different demographic groups with philosophical differences.”
Inclusion is defined as “a call to action within the workforce that means actively involving every employee’s ideas, knowledge, perspectives, approaches, and styles to maximize business success.”
Today, “diversity and inclusion” are often used as buzz words. They’re seen as a checklist of to-do items instead of the assets to the organization that they are. Yet, when you create a more diverse and inclusive company, you benefit everyone. You not only support and celebrate employee differences and cultivate a healthier workplace, but you also improve your brand’s image and avoid bad PR and potential lawsuits.
Why Does Diversity and Inclusion Matter?
Before you implement any new policies in your office, you may be asking the ever-important, “Why?”
Too often, the workplace is run by the status quo. We don’t ask “Why?” enough. We just do what we are told, what our predecessor did, or what has “always been done.”
Yet, increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace is critical. McKinsey revealed this in their May 2020 report titled Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters, stating that the “business case” for diversity, equity, and equality is stronger than ever.
When you incorporate these diverse and inclusive practices into your workplace, you reap the following rewards:
- You expand your talent pool
- You increase employee engagement and trust
- You open your workplace to new perspectives and innovation
- You encourage better decision making by adding more voices to the mix
- You improve business performance and capture new markets
- You create stronger business results and profits
The list goes on and on. Building an effective diversity, equity, and inclusion program not only creates meaningful behavior and cultural change in your company, but it adds business value. Taking a holistic approach to DEI will help your organization see the overall change you may not ordinarily expect.
What Do Businesses Need to Do?
You may read the sections above and think, “Okay, that’s great…but so what? What are the action items?”
For most, unless they’re incredibly passionate about this field, it can be difficult to see where to begin without getting overwhelmed. Whether you’re starting a diversity and inclusion program from scratch or you’re seeking to expand the program you currently have, the first two steps are making sure you have leadership involvement and a dedicated budget.
- Collect data and identify areas of concern
Before you can work toward improving diversity and inclusion in your workplace and modifying workplace culture, you have to understand the current state of DEI. While nearly all companies have programs in effect (or plan to create them in the next 12 months), only about 25 percent of employees from diverse backgrounds feel that they have personally benefited from them.
So, to start, you should begin by collecting data to measure and benchmark the diversity of the current state of your workforce. This will help you to identify your areas of concern and track trends over time as you begin making changes.
- Engage your upper management
Companies will create diversity and inclusion programs but put them on the back burner when they get busy. Successful programs directly involve upper management because organizational change begins at the top. Traliant’s recent report on building an effective DEI team highlights the vital importance of senior leadership being visible and proactive in diversity and inclusion activities. When leaders allocate budget and resources for DEI and play a role in the training of employees, they demonstrate the importance it holds in the organization. It ultimately enables the company to make positive changes in its workplace behaviors and culture.
- Dedicate a portion of your budget
Even if your organization currently views your DEI program as a priority, they may not be adequately funding it. According to Traliant, only 43 percent of surveyed businesses considered DEI to be both a priority and dedicated specific resources and a budget to the cause. The other 57 percent considered it a priority but didn’t deem it worthy of dedicated resources or a budget.
Unfortunately for that 57 percent, you can’t hope to get much done without a dedicated budget. The organizations who do dedicate resources for DEI — regardless of company size — allocate between $7 to $10 million, which speaks to the vast number of resources necessary for worthwhile action in this area. If you hope to make strides in this area, you must be prepared to “put your money where your mouth is.” And to do this, you’ll likely need to engage your upper management for both their approval and leadership.
Final Thoughts
Diversity and inclusion have emerged as an area of improvement for most companies over the past two years. When done right, it enhances workplace culture and makes the business more competitive and profitable. Start by including an online diversity training for employees. Unfortunately, the majority of organizations are failing to do it right. Use the tips above to invest in your current DEI program or to begin building yours. Diversity and inclusion can help you tap into the full value of your employees — start today!
