A diversity and inclusion initiative is an important way to address current deficiencies in the composition of an organization’s workforce and within its culture. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to create an effective initiative.
Too often, corporate diversity efforts have failed to bring about real change. Instead, they have often been seen as hollow approaches in which many said the right thing or “checked the right boxes” but did little else. To avoid this approach, business and HR leaders need to reacquaint themselves with the basics and ensure they approach any initiative with empathy.
What is diversity and inclusion?
Broadly speaking, diversity refers to the demographic perspective. It means that a workforce includes a heterogeneous mix of people representing a variety of ethnicities, genders, ages, and abilities. Inclusion means that diversity can thrive. An inclusive corporate culture welcomes, supports and engages underserved groups.
What is a diversity and inclusion initiative?
Diversity and inclusion initiatives are the strategies and processes that organizations use to create and support diversity and inclusion and gain competitive advantage. However, diversity and inclusion initiatives vary from organization to organization, depending on needs and areas for improvement. For example, an organization that was created with diversity at its core has different needs than a traditional organization with a homogeneous workforce.
Benefits of diversity and inclusion
A diverse workforce offers a wide variety of benefits. Here are just a few:
- A better reflection of the customer base;
- More diverse points of view;
- More creativity and innovation;
- Better performance and productivity; Y,
- Better brand reputation.
Several studies support the benefits of diversity and inclusion. For example, organizations with the most gender-diverse executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability, compared to teams with the least gender diversity, according to the McKinsey & Company report, “Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters.” Executive teams with ethnic and cultural diversity performed better. Those with the most ethnic and cultural diversity were 36% more likely to outperform compared to teams with the least diversity. Also, the higher the percentage of diversity, the more organizations perform better.
However, creating a diversity and inclusion initiative that really works is not easy. To that end, here are 3 essentials to increase the likelihood of success.
1. Think beyond diversity and inclusion
Some diversity and inclusion leaders believe that diversity and inclusion efforts must expand beyond D&I to support real change. For example, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) brings belonging into the mix, meaning that extra effort is made to ensure that everyone feels like a legitimate member of a community. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) includes equity, which moves toward a level playing field for underrepresented groups. It focuses on fair treatment and equal access to opportunity.
Adding ownership, equity, and other appropriate language helps signal a broader approach to balancing inequity in an initiative, or even a job role.
That was true for Daryl Graves, director of fairness, balance and ownership at Dialpad, a software company that sells an AI-powered cloud communication platform. He added equity and ownership to his job title to reflect his expanded focus. Graves wants to make sure there is diversity and inclusion throughout the company, not just in certain pockets.
Many organizations focus on adding diverse talent to management, within a particular discipline, such as IT, or for a certain demographic, such as women or entry-level talent, Graves said. That targeted approach misses the mark. Instead, that representation must be balanced and distributed throughout the organization as a whole.
Equity and belonging mean that organizational leaders strive to ensure that everyone who joins an organization has the opportunity to fulfill the impact they can have on the company, Graves said.
2. Enlist senior leadership support for diversity
As with any other initiative, a D&I, DIB, or DEI effort initiative will not be successful without the support of senior leadership.
That reality is backed up by a number of studies, including research by Russell Reynolds Associates, a management consulting firm.
“When senior leadership (i.e., the board and executive committee) champions D&I, key human capital outcomes improve,” the researchers wrote in a synopsis of the study at the Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Forum. .
These results include better employee engagement, more creativity, a stronger sense of belonging and better retention, according to the study.
The enthusiasm of the leaders is key.
Senior leadership must embrace diversity and inclusion initiatives with a passion that ignites the rest of the organization, said Celinda Farias, director of global talent acquisition operations at Foster City, Calif.-based multinational financial services corporation Visa. .
“The moment you focus [on] diversity and inclusion from the top, it’s no longer a dirty issue, we all talk about it,” Farías said.
3. Fund diversity initiatives
Verbal support for diversity and inclusion initiatives is important, but true success requires funding initiatives so they have a chance to gain traction.
In response to the recent race riots and protests in the United States, many organizations have made statements reaffirming their commitments to fostering inclusive cultures, but have not backed that up with financial support, said Charles F. Coleman Jr., diversity and inclusion strategist at Diversity Consulting, CFColeman, LLC, located in New York.
“A budget to support D&I initiatives and being there when those plans are executed [is] a visible sign that [leaders] are leaning in and expecting the rest of the company to do the same,” Coleman said.
To demonstrate that support for diversity and inclusion is backed by action, business leaders can look to a wide variety of ways to support diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging by making these concepts part of business offerings. .
An organization that makes and sells phone products could serve the hearing-impaired or neurodiverse, Graves said. A venture capitalist could help create diversity with targeted investments. Black founders, for example, typically get less than 2% of venture capital dollars, so a VC could close that gap in capital by concentrating at least some of its investments in startups with black founders.
