What is DEI? Definition and why it matters

Eighty percent of LinkedIn’s survey respondents said they want to work for companies that value DEI issues. Today’s workforce has grown increasingly aware of the impact DEI has on organizations. DEI initiatives are important in building inclusive work cultures that drive business success.

This guide will define DEI and explore its influence on workplace culture and success. Read on to learn why organizations should prioritize DEI and make changes to improve diversity in the workplace.  

DEI is the acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

It refers to an organization’s efforts to create a work environment founded on fairness and respect. Companies committed to promoting DEI see increased business results and employee engagement. Businesses flourish with initiatives to encourage diverse perspectives and mutual respect among employees. 

To further define DEI, let’s break it down into each of its three parts.

Diversity refers to the representation of different backgrounds, identities, and perspectives in the workforce. It emphasizes the benefits of employing a wide variety of professionals with unique experiences.

Celebrating differences in the workplace fosters a culture where employees value each other for their unique characteristics. Diverse representation in an organization promotes innovation, creativity, and better decision-making. Its effects range from higher profitability to improved employee satisfaction. 

Workforce diversity even impacts a business’s bottom line. According to research by LinkedIn, diverse organizations earn 2.5x higher cash flow per employee. As if that isn’t enough to turn heads, ethnically diverse companies are 39% likelier to outperform less diverse companies, according to McKinsey & Company. 

Equity in the workplace means ensuring fair treatment, opportunities, and access to resources for all employees. While they may appear alike, equity differs from equality.

Equality involves treating all employees identically, irrespective of their unique situations. In contrast, equity acknowledges these differences and the systemic obstacles to allocating resources that foster similar outcomes.

An equitable workplace considers individual circumstances to support better employee outcomes.

Inclusion involves creating a workplace culture where everyone feels welcomed and appreciated. It allows employees to collaborate comfortably with their peers, leading to excellent outcomes.

A strong sense of inclusion is essential for a thriving organization, as it helps lower turnover rates. Employees who feel accepted and respected in an inclusive setting are likelier to remain with the organization. Retaining employees is crucial for mitigating the high costs of recruiting and training new staff. 

Moreover, workplace inclusion fosters connections among employees. When everyone's voice is respected and heard, it boosts their confidence in communication. This, in turn, improves overall employee engagement and job satisfaction.

D&I, DIB, and DEB are variations of DEI that strongly influence organizational success in modern workplaces. These frameworks have become essential to today's workforce because of their impact on employee satisfaction and retention. 

What do these other acronyms mean? We’ll explain D&I, DIB, and DEB in more detail below. Each plays a role in fostering inclusive, innovative, and supportive work environments. 

That said, embracing employee differences cannot be overstated, no matter what your organization calls it.

HR and leadership teams should take the reins in implementing DEI strategies in the workplace.

Leadership must be fully supportive of DEI efforts within an organization to find success. With leadership buy-in, HR teams can effectively implement new policies and practices. Intentional and strategic policies and education pave the way for DEI progress.

We will share a handful of steps leaders can take to support DEI initiatives at work. 

Organizational leaders need to assess their vision for DEI advancement. This vision must be precise and reflect the company's aspirations and motivations.

It should outline particular initiatives that will be enacted across all levels of the organization. HR teams and leaders should also effectively relay the DEI vision to employees and stakeholders. 

Implementing DEI strategies involves conducting an internal audit to pinpoint improvement areas. Organizations may have specific focus areas to address first. Auditing practices clarify how to structure a DEI program.

In the audit, use surveys, focus groups, and interviews to gather employee feedback. Assess current demographics and workplace culture to gauge your position. An internal audit can reveal unexpected findings and help guide DEI initiatives.

For instance, an audit may show a lack of diversity in the sales team, prompting leaders to reassess hiring practices. Additionally, organizations might find they lack zero-tolerance anti-discrimination policies. An audit effectively provides a broad overview of necessary organizational changes.

Education plays a crucial role in workplace DEI initiatives.

Collaborate with experienced facilitators to conduct training sessions for both employees and leadership. Regular sessions can reinforce learning and maintain focus on DEI.

During these trainings, provide employees with real-world scenarios and equip them with the necessary tools to address these challenges. Additionally, emphasize interactivity in training sessions to enhance understanding and retention. 

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are employee-led groups designed to foster community, support, and a sense of belonging. ERGs typically comprise employees with common identities, experiences, or interests, such as cultural background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability.

Employee resources groups also collaborate on initiatives to promote inclusivity and diversity. They often serve as valuable resources for leadership teams and offer insights into employee challenges.

Diversity recruiting plays a vital role in meeting DEI objectives.

Organizations should implement varied recruitment strategies to enhance representation. To minimize bias during hiring, employers should utilize various hiring methods. 

HR teams should explore collaborations with diverse educational institutions to provide job opportunities. To boost diversity, employers can also partner with professional organizations dedicated to minority and underrepresented groups.

Expand the talent pool by creating inclusive job descriptions free from biased language. Additionally, employers can implement strategies such as blind resume screenings or structured interviews to minimize bias during hiring.

Set relevant goals and action plans to enhance corporate diversity. Setting goals for your DEI program gives teams a roadmap for implementing strategic initiatives.

HR teams and leadership should have open conversations about areas that need to be addressed. These discussions can help teams develop specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. 

For instance, a goal might be to increase the percentage of employees from minority groups by the end of the year.

Teams should identify accountability metrics to track an organization’s DEI progress. After setting goals, identify what metrics will be most effective to measure DEI success.

These metrics might include demographic data, retention rates, promotion rates, and feedback from employee surveys. Accountability metrics help leadership teams make data-driven adjustments as needed. 

Leaders can gain support for initiatives by providing regular progress updates.

Being transparent in these reports builds trust among employees. It's also important to consider your communication channels for these updates. Utilizing various channels like emails, individual check-ins, and internal newsletters can help keep employees well-informed. 

Sharing updates on DEI progress fosters both accountability and employee engagement. Staff will value seeing the tangible effects of DEI initiatives, as these regular communications demonstrate that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are meaningful rather than merely symbolic. The outcomes reveal that leadership is committed to tracking and enhancing DEI efforts.

Employee feedback enables HR and leadership to assess company culture and pinpoint areas for improvement. It also provides insight into employees’ views on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Leaders can gather feedback through anonymous surveys, suggestion boxes, individual meetings, or focus groups. By employing various collection methods, leaders can capture various perspectives.

Responding to feedback is just as crucial as collecting it. Leadership teams should examine data to identify patterns, trends, or persistent issues among employees.

After extracting insights from the data, leaders should formulate actionable strategies. Sharing the findings with employees reflects a commitment from HR and leadership teams to ongoing improvement.  

Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t only applicable in the workplace. DEI applies to other areas, including education and training programs. Let’s briefly discuss how DEI can be implemented in these different areas.

The workplace should implement DEI practices to support an inclusive culture and employee satisfaction.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have been shown to increase business profitability. Other workplace benefits of DEI include better decision-making, increased innovation, and improved employee retention rates.

DEI in the workplace includes diverse recruiting, fostering an inclusive work environment, and providing growth opportunities.  

DEI principles can be implemented in educational settings. In education, DEI initiatives prioritize equitable access to resources, fostering inclusive learning spaces, and enhancing minority representation in faculty and curriculum. Schools strive to tackle systemic barriers by revising administrative procedures and instructional approaches. 

Educators should develop curricula that showcase a wide variety of diverse perspectives. This helps ensure that all students feel seen and valued. Educational institutions may also provide cultural competency training to faculty to support DEI in the classroom.

Leadership training must include DEI principles, helping employees develop cultural awareness, fair decision-making, and communication skills. Effective training empowers employees and leaders to succeed in diverse workplaces.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion can be integrated into team-building activities, technical training sessions, and more. Foster inclusivity by always looking at training through a DEI lens. HR teams should embed DEI education into different types of training to prepare employees to contribute to an inclusive culture.  

Acknowledging that implementing DEI initiatives requires dedication, effort, and long-term commitment to lasting outcomes is important, especially as teams face obstacles in developing sustainable DEI strategies. Common challenges of implementing a DEI program include:

Unconscious bias refers to people's automatic judgments based on specific character traits such as race, gender, and age. These quick judgments impact hiring and promotion decisions and daily interactions without a conscious effort.

People may not even realize they have unconscious biases. That’s why it is vital to educate leaders and employees on the influence of unconscious bias.

Another common obstacle teams may encounter is resistance to change. Individuals or teams often feel uncomfortable changing long-standing practices or addressing sensitive topics.

Resistance to change, especially from leadership, can significantly slow progress. To combat this, teams should prioritize education and clear communication.

Progress is more challenging when leadership doesn’t fully buy into an idea or initiative. 

HR teams should clearly outline DEI's positive outcomes and how they impact an organization. HR teams can secure leadership buy-in by providing concrete examples of how DEI influences productivity and engagement.

Another challenge when implementing DEI in the workplace is having limited resources or expertise. HR teams may lack the resources or funds necessary to create a robust DEI program.

If this is the case, request leadership to approve a budget for outsourcing DEI experts. Skilled facilitators contribute their expertise to your team during training sessions.

Teams often struggle to assess how their initiatives influence company culture. SurveyMonkey simplifies the process of crafting and distributing online feedback surveys and forms.

HR professionals can swiftly collect employee insights to refine their DEI initiatives. They can also evaluate employees' perceptions of the leadership team's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Tokenism refers to the superficial inclusion of underrepresented groups. It can occur when leaders make efforts to increase diversity. Tokenism can impact employee engagement and cause team members to question the sincerity of a DEI program.

Now that you understand your team's challenges when incorporating inclusion programs, how do you overcome these obstacles? Consider these tips to promote diversity, introduce DEI frameworks, and create a welcoming environment.

Leaders should be well-versed in DEI principles and understand their influence on the workplace. This responsibility isn't confined to Chief Diversity Officers either. Incorporate diversity training for all team leaders to encourage them to lead by example. When leaders are informed on diversity issues and culturally competent, they can enact positive change. 

HR teams must build a business case for DEI initiatives to ensure leadership buy-in. Consider the following positive effects of workforce diversity:

You may also include feedback from employees about their DEI-related concerns.

Hire experts if your team lacks the expertise to create an effective DEI program. Chief Diversity Officers specialize in diversity training, promote equity, and provide creative solutions to nurture an inclusive workplace.

Employees should feel comfortable engaging in open dialogue with colleagues and management teams. Open dialogue promotes an inclusive company culture and ensures all voices are heard. To encourage open dialogue, organizations should create safe spaces for employees to express their thoughts and share experiences, regardless of their sexual orientation, national origin, physical ability, veteran status, gender identity, or other identities. 

Take the time to assess your own DEI practices and explore ways to improve or start a DEI program. Diversity, equity, and inclusion help organizations thrive and support better business outcomes. 

With SurveyMonkey, teams can quickly gather employee feedback on DEI efforts to continuously improve. Implement strategic initiatives to build a more diverse workforce and reap the benefits of DEI. Sign up for a free account to get started today.