The Basics of DEI: Principles, Policy, and Practice
With the growth of the global workforce, companies are motivated to improve their approach to attracting and retaining top talent. One way to create an appealing, fair, and productive workplace is to make it inclusive—reflecting the diversity of employees, customers, and clients alike.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a framework aimed at creating workplaces where all employees can flourish. Understanding the DEI principles, policies, and framework through training and education can help organizations create inclusive workplaces by addressing unconscious bias in hiring and promoting underrepresented groups to leadership roles.
What Is DEI?
While the terms “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” all relate to making organizations fair and fertile workplaces for optimal productivity, they have subtly different meanings:
- Diversity is a variety of skills, values, experiences, backgrounds, and cultures. All workers, students, teachers, and stakeholders contribute to the overall diversity of an organization.
- Equity refers to fairness. Unlike equality, which aims to treat everyone the same way regardless of individual needs or barriers to success, equity aims to eliminate structural inequalities. Equitable workplaces are where everyone is treated with fairness and respect.
- Inclusion is characterized by all group members feeling empowered to do their best work because they feel respected, have a sense of belonging, and can participate fully in all activities.
The Need to Create a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce
When people feel valued by their employer or coworkers, they perform at their best.
The Society for Human Resource Management reports that in 2022, 76 percent of employees said they’d consider seeking new employment if they learned about a gender pay gap or the lack of a DEI policy at their company. This speaks to the need for organizations to translate DEI principles into action—or risk losing employees to diverse and inclusive organizations.
DEI Principles: Diversity
In 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began enforcing Title VII, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Despite this federal law prohibiting employers from discriminating against employees, workers still face discrimination based on differences such as sexual orientation, transgender identity, and political perspective.
Diversity has many dimensions, including the following:
- Age
- Race
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Veteran status
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- Education
- Nationality
- Religion
To stay relevant and competitive, companies need people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. A diverse workforce not only will understand the needs of a diverse customer base but also will be more likely to experience high morale and motivation, potentially increasing business productivity.
DEI Principles: Equity
Creating an equitable workplace requires an understanding of the root causes of disparities in organizations and society at large. Equity calls for leaders to scrutinize the distribution of resources, opportunities, and roles.
In 2022, women earned only 82 cents for every dollar men earned, on average, according to the Society for Human Resource Management—a wage gap that’s even wider for women of color. The National Partnership for Women & Families reports that Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women were paid only 75 cents; Black women, 58 cents; Native American women, 50 cents; and Latinas, 49 cents for every dollar men earned in 2021.
Public outcry over sexism and racism in the workplace, as evidenced by the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, has pushed leaders in education and business to make their organizations more equitable.
Many employers are reevaluating their compensation packages to increase the likelihood of comparable benefits and incentives for different genders. An example would be sufficient time off with fair pay for parents or adoptive parents who’ve recently had or adopted a child.
DEI Principles: Inclusion
Inclusion means making sure that everyone feels welcome and valued. It’s a process, not an event.
Inclusion helps to build a diverse and inclusive workplace by creating an environment where everyone has opportunities to contribute ideas, skills, knowledge, and experiences. It also allows people from different backgrounds to work together on projects that are meaningful for them individually or collectively.
Importantly, just because a workforce is diverse doesn’t guarantee that the workplace is inclusive. Employees are more productive when they’re happy and engaged. Noninclusive workplaces are bad for business, employees, customers, and shareholders alike. According to McKinsey & Company, 52 percent of employees reported that their workforce was diverse, but only 29 percent described their workplace as inclusive.
Organizations need to increase their efforts to ensure fairness and reap diversity’s full benefits. For example, McKinsey estimates that if the gender pay gap were narrowed by 2025, the U.S. could gain an additional $12 trillion in additional gross domestic product. In other words, equitably paid workers could mean higher productivity.
Best Practices for Developing DEI Policies
Leaders seeking to promote DEI in their organization should look to best practices for applying DEI principles in the workplace.
Consider some best practices for creating effective DEI policies.
Form an Employee Resource Group
To gain insight into the actual barriers to DEI that may exist in an organization, it may be necessary to form employee resource groups (ERGs).
ERGs can take many forms—groups for women, LGBTQ employees, Black employees, Latino employees, international employees, and so forth—and can provide much-needed transparency into the lived experience of workers across an organization.
Effective ERGs promote transparency by increasing leadership’s awareness of other cultures and life experiences, providing safe environments for exchanging information about discrimination, strategizing about improving workplace culture, and fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion.
Consider creating an ERG to:
- Promote allyship
- Establish platforms for dialogue around difficult topics
- Foster systems of social support within the organization
- Encourage inclusion, which increases employee retention
Audit Organizations for Bias
Organizations may be falling short of their DEI goals and not realize it. An organizational audit can reveal that despite DEI goals, teams may be suffering the effects of unconscious bias in hiring, promoting talent, and offering opportunities for advancement.
Unconscious bias becomes a problem in workplaces when it leads to preferential treatment of individuals who belong to some groups and unfair treatment of individuals who belong to other groups.
Organizations should track their metrics and activities and routinely audit them for potential bias. For example, organizations that excel at hiring and promoting women and nonbinary people to leadership positions may still fail to do so for employees with disabilities. By routinely tracking and evaluating individual, team, and organization-wide processes, companies can become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
Work Together to Take Action
Addressing workplace inequality is a collaborative, coalitional project that requires the support and coordination of everyone in an organization, as well as an understanding of DEI principles.
Successful DEI policies will consider the responsibilities of each person and team to promote fairness, transparency, and justice in both the short and long term.
Organizations can work collaboratively to advance DEI in many ways. While each organization will have its own priorities and opportunities, general tips for developing DEI policies and practices include the following:
- Supporting diversity in its many dimensions.
Organizations should strive to promote diversity across race, gender, age, sexuality, gender identity, disability, nationality, and languages, as well as all other forms of diversity. - Pushing for equitable pay. Organizations that promote diversity without pay equity should be held accountable. Employees at any organization should work together to demand equitable pay. They can do this by transparently sharing their compensation packages and making formal group complaints in cases of potential pay inequities.
- Forming a designated DEI committee. Most DEI goals can’t be achieved through a single initiative; progress is often made over time and may require iteration and ongoing work. Organizations that form a designated committee or team in charge of developing DEI strategy may have a better chance of sustaining DEI efforts in the long term.
Take the Next Step to Expand Your DEI Knowledge and Skill Set
Understanding DEI principles is crucial for promoting diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environments.
Learn more about the DEI certificate with the Center for Continuing & Professional Education at Suffolk University. This program provides participants with engaging materials, so they can explore concepts such as unconscious bias, cultural intelligence, and privilege. Discover how you can incorporate DEI knowledge and concepts at your organization and become a DEI leader.
Recommended Readings
The Impact of Lifelong Learning on Your Health
Education as an Investment
Elements of a Good Online Course
Sources:
Fast Company, “Not Doing This One Key Thing Will Undermine All Your DEI Efforts”
Forbes, 14 Tips For Implementing DEI Initiatives That Actually Succeed
Gallup, “Workplace Equity: The ‘E’ in DEI and Why It Matters”
McKinsey & Company, Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters
Society for Human Resource Management, “Workers Expect Equal Pay, DE&I Policies from Employers”
TechCrunch, “Why DEI Programs Are Failing”
TechTarget, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “What is DEI? Defining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”