How to establish tangible, measurable DE&I initiatives

For years, we’ve talked about the business benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and evidence shows there’s a direct correlation. In fact, 75% of companies with diverse and inclusive teams are predicted to exceed their financial targets through 2022, showcasing the power of diverse thought and perspectives on creativity and innovation.

While many employers may feel like they’re executing on their DEI initiatives, it’s not always the case with how employees feel about DEI success. According to a recent Forbes survey, only 53% believe their employer is meeting its DEI goals, leaving diverse employees still feeling excluded from opportunities and underpaid. The pandemic has exacerbated the problem, amplifying pre-existing inequities, disproportionately affecting Black, women and Hispanic and Latino workers.

Clearly there’s a disconnect between what companies believe they’re doing right, and how that manifests within the organization. The problem: Simply having DEI initiatives doesn’t actually make for a more diverse, equal and inclusive team. DEI is not just about meeting hiring metrics or staffing teams with people who check the right boxes. It’s about how that diversity and inclusivity manifests in real results. Here’s how to establish tangible, measurable initiatives that result in sustainable change.

Context is key

So much of what drives successful and sustainable DEI is around understanding your culture. Beyond programming or training, how do you think, talk and act in the course of daily interactions?

At our company, we not only require every person to participate in purposeful, engaging DEI training sessions, but we continue that effort through opportunities for continued dialogue with discussion sessions led by our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). By providing a means through which diverse groups can not only create their own cultural community but also educate the community at large, we make diversity a part of our daily function.

DEI is change management at its core

What’s ineffective: launching mandatory training and setting company-wide goals of hiring or promoting X% of whatever demographic or population. Instead, we need to look at DEI as a change management initiative. What are we actually trying to change?

We know that DEI drives business results, so start by setting some relevant business goals. What do you hope to achieve through having diverse employees more engaged in their work? How will it increase sales, drive customer retention or reduce costs?

First establish a baseline of your business objectives, then set some goals—just as you would with any other change initiative. Then determine how you’ll invest in making that change a reality.

Give employees tools to apply what they’ve learned

The truth is the technology industry has one of the most educated, well-informed workforces when it comes to DEI topics. We have a strong definitional understanding of things like racial justice, microaggressions and anti-racism. Academically, we’re very solid. And we understand the core business principles of putting it into practice.

Where we’ve failed is giving people the resources and equipping them to act, to apply what they’ve learned in real situations. Do they know how to identify, think critically about, and most importantly, to interrupt situations in which they see bias or microaggressions?

Taking action in a situation can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable, so they need tools to help them embody the practices we’ve been teaching them. One example is to create a toolkit for managers to help guide performance conversations through a cultural-competency lens. Role playing can also help as part of training, as does giving people talking points or a script and practicing how to say, “I’m detecting an air of bias…” or “That feels culturally insensitive” in a non-threatening way that sparks a conversation.

Inclusion is about the number of individuals; it’s about the relationship between those individuals, how they interact, and making sure that all voices are invited to contribute through a healthy dialogue. Sometimes there may be conflict, and that’s OK, as long as it’s done respectfully and with a commitment toward inclusivity, equality, learning and growth.

Look deeper into metrics

Sure, hiring and sourcing from a diverse talent pool is important, but we need to look deeper into the metrics. Many companies certainly need to do better when it comes to leadership—Amazon, for example, shows a relatively diverse employee population on the surface, until you look deeper into senior leadership roles.

But, beyond that, what do your teams look like? If all the marketing and HR teams are made up of women, and engineering is predominantly white male, you’re still failing. Even beyond EEOC-tracked demographics, companies also need to measure self-identification and give people the space to define and bring their authentic selves to work. For example, at our company, our ERGs include ActivePride, MomsofAC and DadsofAC, in addition to groups for Black, women, Latinx and Asian employees.

Finally, beyond just “who works here,” we also need to focus on how they’re progressing, specifically through employee development and career pathing. Are you tracking career growth progression among diverse populations? How does it measure against your overall population?

Examine sentiment

A lot of companies put a lot of effort into ERGs, tracking attendance, participation and engagement. But how is this actually changing employee sentiment? Tracking DEI effectiveness must be qualitative and quantitative in order to have a holistic picture.

At our company, we routinely solicit feedback from employees about how they feel at work. In our most recent survey, well over 80% of our employees said they feel a sense of belonging and feel comfortable being their authentic selves at work, while nearly 90% feel they’re treated fairly. That’s a huge testament to the effectiveness of our DEI focus, and it manifests in high retention and low turnover compared to our industry.

Putting it all together

While establishing metrics for hiring and team diversity is helpful, DEI isn’t just about checking boxes and meeting mandates. It’s about driving real, organizational change.

To do so, companies have to find ways to measure the outcomes, not just the incremental efforts to get there. Sometimes that means having hard, uncomfortable conversations about your culture and how it ties to and supports your business objectives. But it’s in that struggle where real growth happens.

Tim Compton is SVP of HR and Finance at ActiveCampaign.