Designing a DEIA Program from the Ground Up
Companies today find that robust diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs are ethical as well as guarantors of success, but how does an organization get started on designing and implementing a DEIA program that is successful and sustainable?
Beginning with a vision and defined purpose, the organization starts by setting company goals that build a framework for its DEIA plan. I suggest developing the DEIA framework around four main areas: (1) diversity, which includes company structure, systems, and leadership; (2) equity, which includes recruiting, hiring, wages, advancement, and retention; (3) inclusion, which the company culture defines; and (4) accessibility, which focuses on disability, health, and accountability. Through these four mainstays, a company can tackle common diversity issues that, unaddressed, limit talent, performance, profitability, and worker satisfaction.
The company vision is the driving force behind any organizational change. With DEIA in mind, I encourage a company vision prioritizing recruitment, engagement, and sustainability. The purpose of a new DEIA program will be multi-pronged: the organization should establish a culture aligned with its values by building a multicultural workplace, diversifying leadership, securing the best talent, and improving client relationships factor into this goal.
The Oxford Dictionary defines diversity as “the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ages.” In part, diversity is achieved by adapting company structure, systems, and leadership to align with the organization’s vision. A company begins the diversity process by analyzing company demographics to determine the breakdown of workers’ race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and age. Next, the company will identify systemic barriers to inclusion through employee interviews and feedback. Ideally, the company will employ outside auditors and consultants who review policies, practices, and employee assessment tools, conduct qualitative research, and identify systemic issues. Consultants can also provide advice and training to workers to reduce bias and communicate clearly defined company values and expectations to all workers.
Equity, which is the act of being equitable and unbiased, is addressed through recruiting, hiring, wages, advancement, and employee retention. Equity can be a challenging concept to implement and requires adapting recruiting methods to reach a proportionately diverse pool of talent that reflects the area’s demographics. Equity goals are purposeful, however, to introduce new people, bring new skills, and incorporate new perspectives into the company. Equity initiatives will prioritize recruiting people with POC and people with disabilities. Improving recruitment through direct efforts can reach prospects through disability programs and organizations, HBCUs and colleges, social media, trade journals, referrals, and diversifying recruiters.
Requiring a diverse pool of candidates at the pre-interview stage will ensure that job candidates meet company diversity goals. The company should adopt new interview processes to be more inclusive. An organization cannot address equity without emphasizing equitable promotion processes and assessments. A review of existing employee assessment tools is necessary to find gaps in advancement opportunities. Revising company policies to accommodate a diverse workforce by not giving preferential treatment to cis, white, male workers. Establishing an equal pay protocol will address wage inequality, and transparency will improve company accountability.
An inclusion policy ensures equal access to opportunities and resources for marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities and members of other minority groups — embedding inclusion into company culture often requires cultural shifts. Inclusion enables employees to reach their potential in an environment that fosters cooperation, adaptability, and equity. Individualize support for workers. A company’s support will improve by offering flexible hours that are remote or in-person based on individual needs, family support, including access to good childcare and family leave, and workplace accommodations. Factors that serve employee needs will improve employee satisfaction and require flexibility to respond to employee feedback by reviewing and revising practices, then developing solutions to provide necessary resources.
Integral to inclusion practices is robust leadership vetting and training programming. Leadership must not only be diverse but have multicultural knowledge and proven methods. One way to achieve more diverse leadership is to steer clear of meritocracy vs. diversity narratives that privilege those socially positioned to have opportunities over those who may have been denied opportunities because of class, race, ethnic background, age, or disability. Interview existing employees to gather data about their understanding of diversity and provide training to those who require improving their knowledge.
Employee advocacy and mentorship programs can bridge the gaps between supervisors and employees. Recruits benefit from mentors who can help them navigate the job and highlight their talents for others to see. Pairing mentors with protégés based on shared work interests can help those flying under the radar by nominating them for awards, new teams, or projects. Mentoring programs support inclusion by aiding the visibility of workers who may historically have been overlooked. A company should establish mentors/protege partnerships and create an employee advocate position independent of HR. Give all employees explicit, detailed communication about company goals, processes, and their place in the process. It helps to establish a company-wide lexicon so all team members can communicate effectively on these topics.
An overarching theme of a DEIA initiative should be accessibility, defined as the quality of being appreciated and accepted, providing ease of use and obtainability. Regarding disability accessibility, ADA requirements are often the floor, not the ceiling. A proper DEIA-focused company will go above and beyond legal requirements to provide workers with attentive, specific, individualized accommodations. Much company accessibility centers on comprehensive accountability practices, including transparency, by offering yearly qualitative and quantitative data reports, consistent bias-reduction practices, and regular employee/leadership feedback exchange. In addition, the company must establish mechanisms for employee reporting of harassment or discrimination while shielding them from retaliation and reducing timelines for these processes. Disability accommodations will include neurodiversity awareness, attention to physical disability and the built environment, provisions for those with low vision and deafness, and access to quality mental health care.
DEIA programming is put in place partially to improve employee retention, which requires gathering and analyzing demographic and employee turnover factors. Including qualitative metrics are the only way to understand successes and failures because quantitative analyses can be superficial when addressing employee needs. Metrics that measure success beyond retention are essential for a company’s success. An increase in representation within the company, for example. All supervisors and HR managers have completed DEIA training, policies and processes have been reviewed and revised, and the company is assessing employees with adapted and trackable tools. Not to be forgotten, a company will gather documentation of success stories.
The sustainability of a DEIA program and happy employees necessitates that companies do not rely on marginalized groups to do the work. Allies should step up and do the job, of which secondary benefits include value systems, actionable experiences, and understanding. Anticipating company-wide, lasting, adaptable change is a positive, vision-forward method to keeping DEIA initiatives at the forefront. By improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, a company is better positioned to become an industry leader.
