INTRODUCTION
Diversity and inclusion is not only a desirable initiative at the forefront of every business, but rather a crucial, time sensitive component in achieving profitability in the long-term. It involves planning ahead, committing to execution, and adapting to change and trends in the marketplace.
Josh Bersin, industry analyst and founder of Bersin by Deloitte, called diversity and inclusion one of the hottest topics of 2019.
He has said that it is “not an HR program, but a business strategy. It is true that the “needle is driven by HR”; however, it is not enough for it to be solely an HR program.
With Salesforce’s pledge to achieve workplace equality through its recent appointment of their first Chief Equality Officer and diversity initiatives at more than 75% of Fortune 1000 companies, his prediction is coming true. The issue stems from the fact that 70% of companies believe they are effective at attracting and retaining diverse employees, yet only 11% actually understand what it is.
To help you achieve this competitive advantage, I’ve created this comprehensive guide for Human Resource professionals. It includes definitions, best practices, and strategies for workplace diversity and inclusion.
Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers.” — Josh Bersin, industry analyst and founder of Bersin by Deloitte
WHAT IS WORKPLACE DIVERSITY?
Workplace diversity is understanding, accepting, and valuing differences between people including those:
of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, disabilities, and sexual orientations with differences in education, personalities, skill sets, experiences, and knowledge bases.
Interestingly, research by Deloitte finds that diversity is perceived differently by generations. Millennials view workplace diversity as the combining of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and they believe taking advantage of these differences is what leads to innovation. Gen Xers and Boomers, on the other hand, view workplace diversity as equal and fair representation regardless of demographics without necessarily considering diversity’s relationship with business results.
WHAT IS DIVERSITY HIRING?
Diversity hiring is hiring based on merit with special care taken to ensure procedures are free from biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance.
In the United States, many organizations follow the Federal EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidelines.
Confusion over diversity hiring sometimes lies in the mistaken perception that the goal of diversity recruitment is to increase workplace diversity for the sake of diversity.
The goal of diversity hiring is to identify and remove potential biases in sourcing, screening, and shortlisting candidates that may be ignoring, turning off, or accidentally discriminating against qualified, diverse candidates.
WHAT IS INCLUSION?
Inclusion is a collaborative, supportive, and respectful environment that increases the participation and contribution of all employees.
WHAT IS DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION?
Diversity and inclusion is a company’s mission, strategies, and practices to support a diverse workplace and leverage the effects of diversity to achieve a competitive business advantage.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PRIORITIES
A survey by Forbes Insights of more than 300 senior executives – 32% who were in HR or talent management – found their companies’ diversity and inclusion priorities include:
65% of senior executives believe the responsibility for implementing diversity and inclusion programs falls on HR, while 45% say it’s the responsibility of senior leaders within a business unit or division.
56% of the companies surveyed strongly agree that diversity helps drive innovation. It’s clear that they believe this innovation advantage is achieved through their ability to attract and recruit diverse talent.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION BEST PRACTICES
A survey of 330 HR executives by Professor Roberson found that diversity and inclusion best practices include:
- fair treatment
- equal access to opportunity
- teamwork and collaboration
- a focus on innovation and creativity
- organizational flexibility, responsiveness, and agility
- conflict resolution processes that are collaborative
- evidence of leadership’s commitment to diversity (e.g., appointing a Chief Diversity / Equality Officer)
- representation of diversity at all levels of the organization
- representation of diversity among internal and external stakeholders
- diversity education and training
The interesting thing to note is that employees perceive their company as diverse and inclusive based on practices that aren’t even directly related to diversity such as a focus on innovation and creativity.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STRATEGIES
Some of the key strategies of Bersin by Deloitte’s diversity and Inclusion framework include:
- Creating a focus and strategy at the CEO/COO/CHRO level
- Assigning a top executive the responsibility for leading and sponsoring the diversity and inclusion program
- Creating behavioral standards and holding leaders accountable for results
- Training people at all levels on topics like unconscious bias
- Integrating diversity and inclusion strategies in recruitment, performance management, leadership assessment, and training
- Creating employee networks (e.g, employee resource groups, community outreach groups)
- Creating an externally visible scorecard to measure progress including metrics for recruiting, promotion rates, compensation levels, turnover, participation in ERGs, and supplier diversity
- Creating an objective shortlisting scorecard in order to make sure hiring processes are consistent across all managers, identifying the top candidates and avoiding legal and discrimination issues
“Diversity and Inclusion is a top-to-bottom business strategy – not just an HR program.” — Josh Bersin, industry analyst and founder of Bersin by Deloitte
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION SUCCESS METRICS
The Forbes Insights survey found that only 60% of companies have metrics in place to measure the success of their diversity and inclusion efforts.
“If we couldn’t measure the impact of our diversity and inclusion efforts and programs, it would be a hard sell among company executives.” — Huey Wilson, SVP HR & Diversity Board Member, Mattel
The most common success metrics used in evaluating diversity and inclusion are perceived to be employee productivity, employee morale, and employee turnover. This suggests that employers are unsure of how to best evaluate their initiatives, as well as what they mean altogether. Should the diversity of a company really be measured solely on productivity? Vast research indicates that the most diverse a team is, the more successful they will become.
In a topic that is often challenging to “put a number on”, measuring the success of diversity and inclusion initiatives should aspire to look past purely numerical and salary metrics. While it is essential to measure and track these initiatives, focusing on performance and salary does not provide the whole picture and is often not the best way to improve practices. When planning and executing on diversity and inclusion in your organization, work with all departments to achieve optimal alignment and buy-in. To help with objective measurements, organizations should look to align the demographics of their hires with the demographics of their talent pool.
THE TAKEAWAYS
Diversity and inclusion is a company’s mission, strategies, and practices to support a diverse workplace and leverage the effects of diversity to achieve a competitive business advantage.
The top diversity and inclusion priority is recruitment of diverse employees.
Approximately 50% of diversity and inclusion best practices are not directly related to diversity per se but are practices desired by everyone such as fair treatment and organizational flexibility.
To be successful, diversity and inclusion has to be a top-to-bottom business strategy and not just an HR program. Although 65% of senior executives believe it’s HR’s responsibility to implement diversity and inclusion programs, it is clear that buy-in across departments is critical to the continued success of an initiative.
The majority of companies measure the success of their diversity and inclusion efforts with metrics such as employee productivity and turnover.
Workplace diversity and inclusion are top of mind these days and will only grow in importance as companies continue to invest in their diversity and inclusion programs.
If you’re able to implement at least a few of the best diversity hiring practices and strategies outlined here, you’ll be giving yourself one of today’s biggest competitive advantages.