Powerful ways to promote DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) | HK Pradhan| CHRO| ROADIS Group India
The business case for DE&I is now well entrenched and most organizations are invested in developing a diverse talent pool and nurturing an inclusive environment. The world we are living in is complex, and its challenges cannot be solved with a unidimensional approach. A diverse workforce, particularly as organizations try to speed up innovation, and innovation is heavily reliant on a set of diverse minds working together. In fact, organizations with the above average diversity on their management teams, report 19 % higher innovation revenues than those with below average diversity.
Just hiring for diversity is not enough, organizations are now focusing on inclusivity to establish value connect with their teams. The new generation of workers is vocal, socially aware, culturally sensitive, and not afraid to voice their expectations. They expect equal opportunities, pay equality, inclusive and supportive environments, policies and diversity measures that go beyond a mere tick mark approach or focus on only gender diversity. As disruption rules the market and competition intensifies, business success and innovation will run on people’s passions, an organization’s commitment to equality and inclusion even in times of crisis will help strengthen the connect with their teams.
Of course, diversity and inclusivity are not just organizational concerns; the industry needs to come together to improve representation across the board. India has been making good progress on this front over the years, and we have seen many corporate return-to-work initiatives for women and include Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), members of the LGBTQI community and even people from diverse educational backgrounds. There has also been increasing conversation and cooperation at an industry level to identify best practices and help shape policies of the future.
Transparent culture drives better ROI
Having an inclusive culture and diverse team at Degreed is about better reflecting the society we live in, its global customer base, and also ensuring the company hires and develops the best talent, no matter their race, gender, education, background, and so forth.
Some of the powerful ways to promote DEI at workplaces:
1. Leadership team need to understand the unconscious biasness in the organization and focus on developing awareness towards driving real change.
2. Need to reinforce, communicate, and foster inclusive work culture and actions to manage unconscious biasness.
3. Promote pay equality – Leaders must level out the playing field and provide fair opportunity for each employee.
4. Develop Diversity Training programs for employees to understand how cultural differences can impact, how people work and interact at work.
5. Build awareness of diversity and foster greater inclusivity by acknowledging a variety of upcoming religious and cultural holidays.
6. Plan for people participation in employee resource groups (ERGs) as an opportunity to grow and develop talent – ERGs help to build a culture of connection and belonging.
7. Mix up your teams – To understand and learn from different voices, experiences, values and cultures.
8. Organizations to encourage their people to share their feedback to get better understanding of what’s going on under the surface – To conduct pulse surveys across the workforce – to make smarter decisions and to eliminate discrimination or biases.
9. Senior Management to assess areas of the business in which discrimination can exist – and to work on aligning company policies.
10. Leadership Team to track progress of DEI programs and developments till reaches the highest level of maturity and to sustain it. Four Dimensions of DEI maturity model :
(a) Understand the Facts of Today (UFT) : Initiate a continuous data-driven process for understanding the facts of what’s happening in the organization today.
(b) Build an Inspirational Strategy (BIS) : Develop a business-focused vision and strategy for D&I that reflects the reality of today and the real potential of tomorrow.
(c) Develop Leadership Engagement (DLE) : Engage leadership around an inspirational D&I strategy by articulating the business case and establishing supportive governance.
(d) Develop Sustainable Movement (DSM) : Execute the D&I strategy across all elements of the organization.