DEI Skills to Apply in the Workplace
Whether investing in employee resource groups or unconscious bias recognition training, organizations have started prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. However, while almost all HR leaders (97%) claim their organizations have made improvements to promote DEI, only 37% of employees strongly agree that DEI has actually improved at their workplace, according to a recent Harvard Business Review survey. This gap between leaders’ efforts and employees’ perceptions suggests that DEI initiatives alone are not enough to realize change. Organizations need to also prioritize the development of DEI skills among all employees.
By earning a DEI Certificate, professionals can gain the skills needed to bridge the gap between DEI efforts and outcomes. This education can also help professionals strengthen their organization’s existing initiatives so that they lead to tangible progress in DEI.
Understanding DEI Skills
DEI skills encompass a range of competencies that facilitate respectful and inclusive interactions. They require personal agency—the ability to make choices and take actions based on one’s values—and a commitment to foster positive change.
Additionally, DEI skills refer to specific abilities, knowledge, and behaviors that enable individuals and organizations to create and maintain inclusive workplaces. Inclusive workplaces do more than embrace diversity. They actively work to ensure all employees feel a sense of belonging.
Inclusive workplaces promote cultures where people can bring their authentic selves to work without fear of discrimination or harassment. Additionally, these cultures value people’s differences and aim to provide everyone with equitable access to opportunities and resources.
DEI skills can help people understand and respect differences in background, culture, and perspective, as well as differences related to:
- Age
- Gender
- Nationality
- Race
- Sexual orientation
- Disability
- Family status
- Neurodiversity
- Religion
- Socioeconomic status
Creating inclusive workplaces requires everyone’s participation, not just HR leaders or diversity officers. Each individual has a role to play in promoting DEI, whether it’s through speaking up against discriminatory behavior, seeking out diverse perspectives, or participating in DEI training and education.
When individuals take ownership of creating more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments, they have the power to shape a workplace culture that fosters a sense of belonging for everyone—not just those who fit the norms of the dominant group.
Ultimately, it’s up to all individuals to contribute to the inclusive culture they want to see in their workplace.
Develop These Key DEI Skills
Developing DEI skills is key to promoting DEI values. These competencies can empower individuals to lead and implement effective DEI initiatives within their organization and ultimately help create work environments where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed.
DEI skills can also help individuals:
- Effectively communicate across differences
- Recognize and address bias and discrimination
- Build inclusive teams and environments
- Advocate for equity and justice in the workplace
Valuable DEI skills professionals can hone to advance their understanding and practice of diversity, equity, and inclusion include:
Active Listening
Active listening involves giving one’s full attention to the person speaking and seeking to understand their perspective, emotions, and needs. It involves focusing on a speaker’s words, body language, and tone of voice while avoiding assumptions and judgments. Active listeners often try to paraphrase the speaker’s words to ensure understanding and acknowledge the speaker’s feelings. They may also ask clarifying questions.
In a DEI context, active listening can make it easier to recognize and validate different experiences and viewpoints. Active listeners help create a safe and inclusive environment in which people feel their opinions are valued and heard. Active listening can also build strong relationships and foster trust—which are critical to promoting DEI in the workplace.
Perspective Taking
Learning to put oneself in another person’s shoes to better understand their experiences and viewpoints can have a powerful impact on DEI efforts. This skill can help individuals gain important insights into the challenges and barriers that others face in the workplace. Such understanding often fosters greater empathy, respect, and appreciation for diversity—which can create a more inclusive and welcoming workplace culture.
Additionally, perspective-taking can help individuals challenge their own assumptions and biases. Because of unconscious bias, people may make implicit assumptions about others based on their appearance, accent, or other superficial characteristics. However, by considering multiple viewpoints and being able to see situations from different angles, individuals can develop more empathy and become aware of their own blind spots.
Perspective-taking can also lead to better collaboration and problem-solving between individuals and can help cultivate workplaces that are more fair, equitable, and respectful of all individuals, regardless of their background or identity.
Bridge Building
Effectively promoting DEI values requires individuals to create a sense of community in the workplace. Bridge-building helps achieve that. It connects individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives by creating opportunities for people to come together, share their experiences, and find common ground. This can foster an understanding between individuals and groups that may otherwise feel isolated or disconnected.
DEI-focused professionals with bridge-building skills may organize team-building activities that intentionally mix up groups of employees from different backgrounds. Or these professionals could organize team lunches, group projects, or social events that encourage employees to interact with colleagues they might not usually spend time with.
Bridge building helps employees get to know one another, learn from different perspectives, and build relationships. This can help to break down barriers and promote a more inclusive environment for everyone.
Cultural Humility
Recognizing and respecting diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences is central to DEI. A well-developed sense of cultural humility can empower professionals in their efforts to create safe and inclusive environments where diverse perspectives are valued.
Cultural humility is a mindset that emphasizes ongoing self-reflection and self-improvement. It involves recognizing and acknowledging the limitations of one’s own cultural perspective and being open and willing to learn from and collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds. Cultural humility also empowers individuals to deal with DEI challenges effectively. When individuals respond to differences in culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and other forms of diversity with cultural humility, they are better equipped to recognize and challenge their own biases and assumptions.
This can help limit the influence any bias might have on a person’s decision-making. It can also allow individuals to appreciate and celebrate differences rather than ignore or diminish them. With cultural humility, professionals can better understand that there is more than one “right” way to approach DEI, and every approach should be grounded in respect, openness, and a willingness to learn.
Help Build Inclusive Workplaces as a Champion of DEI
Developing DEI skills can require continuous learning and growth. However, by cultivating these competencies, professionals can work toward building workplaces that celebrate diversity, ensure equity, and foster inclusivity at every level.
Discover how the DEI Certificate at Suffolk University’s Center for Continuing & Professional Education can equip individuals with the skills they need to promote workplaces where people of all backgrounds can fully contribute and thrive.
Recommended Readings:
The Basics of DEI: Principles, Policy, and Practice
Sources:
Forbes, “7 Skills That Make A Real Difference In Diversity And Inclusion”
Harvard Business Review, “Research: Where Employees Think Companies’ DEIB Efforts Are Failing”
Indeed, “5 Diversity Skills To Develop (And Why They’re Important)”
LinkedIn, “Perspective Taking Is Critical to DEI”
Lunaria, “Cultural Humility: A Necessity for Inclusion in the Workplace”
McKinsey & Company, “Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters”
OliverWyman, “Inclusivity and Active Listening Go Hand in Hand”
SHRM, “Workplace Diversity and Inclusion for Evolving Businesses”
TechTarget, “Building Bridges to Better Diversity”