1) Language Matters: Begin by Defining

According to Angie Peacock, Global Director, D&I at PDT Global in order to hold people accountable we must be clear on the terminology.

• Diversity is all about the numbers. Expand the areas of diversity you address and measure them in your workforce.
• Equity is a verb. Equity is the activity around ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity for advancement. Measure the equity activity.
• Inclusion is the result of equitable practices. Inclusion is creating an environment where everyone with the capability to excel can flourish. Measure inclusion by how employees are feeling and break that down by groups within your diversity areas.

2) Culture Matters: Consistency is Key

According to Joanna Kim Brunetti, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Trusaic it is increasingly evident that organizations expect managers to demonstrate real action and progress in DEI.

• 65% of organizations consider DEI a high strategic priority.
• Only 1 in 3 are very successful in creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
• Keys to success: Commitment from leadership and commitment to data.
• Conclusion: Executives must establish a baseline and set goals, monitor DEI metrics regularly, use data to manage efforts, and communicate progress. Sharing trends shows employees that DEI matters and the organization’s commitment is ongoing.

“You’ve got to run DEI like a business function, not an HR program…when the CEO sets the strategy and frequently communicates progress, the company is 6.3 times more likely to have a diverse leadership team and is also more likely to be a leader in its industry segment.” – Kathi Enderes, vice president of Research at The Josh Bersin Company

3) Leadership Matters: Impact Trumps Intention

According to Dr. Rachel Cubas-Wilkinson, Principal Organizational Development Consultant at Myers-Briggs 93% of leaders agree that DEI is a top priority but only 34% believe it is a strength in their organization. This indicates a significant gap between intention and results.

• Impact is 70% effected by direct managers.
• 1 in 3 leaders believe they are more inclusive than perceived by others.
• Employees’ perception of their manager is their day-to-day reality.
• Organizations must develop all leaders not just the C-suite.
• Focus on developing competencies and behaviors that move the needle: empathy, openness, courage, curiosity, flexibility, and humility.
• Shift from intention to impact by closing the self-awareness, skills, and confidence gap.

4) Data Matters: Information to Insight to Influence

According to Ester Neznanova, Senior Director, DEI at T-Mobile the main role of a DEI Leader is to empower leadership to make strategic decisions based on real-time data. To achieve this desired outcome, the data needs to tell a story. The premise of that story is to imagine:

“You are building and selling not one, but two products. One is the actual product or service that you provide to your customers, the other is your culture, where your employees are your customers.”

• Step 1 – Know Your Customer (Employee): Understand your employees, identify their pain points, learn how they experience the culture day-to-day, segment the data into diversity areas, use this information to create personas that represent different employee groups.
• Step 2 – Get a Holistic Lifecycle View: Identify leaks in your pipeline by following the full employee acquisition journey, from attracting talent to interviewing, onboarding, training, retaining, promoting, and exiting.
• Step 3 – Focus and Commit: Once you know your employees, map their journeys, and identify the leaks, then you can focus resources where it counts and commit to making systemic change that positively impacts and includes all groups in your culture.
• Step 4 – Never Stop Evolving: Creating a culture that employees believe in and advocate for takes ongoing effort and experimentation, especially as you continue to incorporate new and diverse perspectives in your team.

5) Principles Matter: Beyond Best Practices

According to Rohini Anand, author of Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, best practices and strategies are not enough, principles are what matter. Five proven principles provide a guide to MNCs for leading global DEI transformation in divergent cultures:

• Make it Local: Raise issues in a local context and empower local change agents.
• Leaders Change to Lead Change: When leaders lead with authentic passion, organizations move towards sustainable progress.
• And it’s Good Business, too: DEI enhances innovation, ability to recruit and retain top talent, employee engagement, financial performance, and more.
• Go Deep, Wide & Inside-Out: Embed DEI within all systems, processes, and structures.
• Know What Matters & Count it: Metrics are instruments for change and people must be made accountable.