Part 5 of a 7-Part Series
Over the last few years, many companies have started down the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) road. These companies have initiated various activities and mechanisms, including workshops, awareness and training sessions, targeted communications, employee resource groups (ERGs), sponsoring events or bringing on DEI-focused staff. These have been tangible steps, and many companies are making DEI progress, but the progress and change have often felt slow to many.
Last year DEI strategies and roadmaps were considered nice to have, but it has become essential that companies start on their DEI cultural transformational change journey now that their employees and customers and our society are demanding it. DEI isn’t the flavour of the month, and it won’t wait. To get started, you must:
- Co-create the future with a clear vision of what your DEI goals are
- Define what specially you’re trying to achieve
- Determine what success looks like
- Identify how you will measure progress.
DEI isn't The Flavour of the Month!
DEI is a transformational journey that companies need to address right now. It’s important to understand where you are now, where you want to go and how to put action plans in place to get there.
DEI transformational change is about your brand, it is about your customers, it is about your employees, and it is about the kind of company you want to build and become.
According to Glassdoor, “67% of job seekers consider workplace diversity an important factor when considering employment opportunities, and more than 50% of current employees want their workplace to do more to increase diversity”. Imagine if we had similar numbers for equity and inclusion.
No time to waste
No time to make more excuses
No time for words and promises without tangible action
No time to just write a check
And there is no time to hope the need for DEI will go away with an email or a policy change because they won’t change your culture.
We’ve got to educate within, we’ve got to give our leaders and people managers tools.
We’ve got to spot and call inappropriate behaviour when we see it.
We’ve got to stay the course even during trying times like this COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ve understood that Culture transformational change is not an event. It’s a journey, and for those companies that get moving and make real, sustainable progress, it will be a substantial competitive advantage and a chance to be on the right side of history.
