The 7 ‘golden rules’ for building and implementing an effective DE&I strategy

In the context of growing debate on the critical importance of DE&I in the workplace, the need for organisations to develop a clear vision for inclusive change, underpinned by a coherent and comprehensive diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, is becoming increasingly critical as a business priority.

To ensure sustainability, an organisation’s DE&I strategy should be underpinned by a time-orientated action plan, supported by data-driven goals and KPIs. It should have leadership sign-off and commitment to funding the agreed actions. Additionally, any successful DE&I strategy should work within a strategic alignment framework – aligning to the organisation’s overall business plan, culture and both people plans and customer engagement initiatives.

Without such alignment any DE&I strategy runs the risk of remaining at the margins of business thinking, the ‘nice to have’ agenda in times of economic, social and political stability. Finally, any successful DE&I strategy should follow the 7 ‘golden rules’ as set out below. 

Rule No. 1: Collect, track and analyse data

Before businesses can set a direct of travel, HR functions need to provide leaders with a business ‘heat map’. This heat map would will be created by collecting, tracking and analysing data on the make-up of your workforce. An effective DE&I ‘heat map’ is created by collecting, tracking and analysing data in key people decision-making areas including, recruitment, work allocation, time with leaders and performance reviews scores.

Information should also be analysed based on role, function, pay and reward. This process provides organisations with hotspots of systematic bias. By aggregating data across different diversity groups, businesses avoid a blanket labelling based on difference, and instead provide smart data covering a range of groups, such as women, LGBTQ+ community and people of colour. This process also includes conducting diverse pay audits.

Rule No. 2: Take an intersectional approach to DE&I

Different groups experience bias and exclusion differently. Additionally individuals are also members of multiple communities; we all have a race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Smart organisations use their data to apply an intersectional lens to workplace bias, examining in detail the cross-cutting themes of race, gender, social background, religion, age and other factors.

MD of FAIRER Consulting Dan Robertson explains, "This will be different in different countries too, especially countries where you are not a minority. In my work with clients, I often take an intersectional approach when examining talent review processes."

Rule No. 3: Educate your workforce

There is much confusion as to the nature of inequity in the UK. A common definition of bias – individual conscious intent – fails to recognise the true nature of systemic and institutional exclusion within UK society as a whole and discrimination at work. Ensure all key business stakeholders attend meaningful education programmes that focus on exploring:

• Inclusive leadership

• Conscious inclusion training

• Promote fairness and inclusion in decision-making

While society at large has to deal with prejudice in all its forms, we, at work, all have a part to play in the way that we can best influence. So, as business leaders of organisations, we need to ensure that we endeavour to be free from discrimination and use our platforms to influence others.

Rule No. 4: Build a workplace community

Many UK business have prioritised diversity at the expense ofconscious inclusion and belonging. The focus on representation, while good in intent, has, in many ways created cultures of division and separation. The current numbers-based strategy fails to promote psychological safety and cultures of belonging. Businesses should seek to raise the cultural competencies of leaders, HR colleagues and others. To promote inclusive work cultures businesses should:

1. Invest in and empower their employee resource groups  (ERGs) – while many businesses have these groups already set up, they tend to be under-funded and have limited structural connectivity to organisational leadership and decision-making. A key point to make here is that, while it may be tempting to merge ERGs into one large multi-identity group, doing so will inevitably mean some lose the necessary spotlight to really affect the change we are seeking to make.

2. In the context of post-COVID-19, a sense of remoteness from organisational decision-making is exaggerated. Leaders need to find creative ways to ensure that they continue to engage in a long-term dialogue with all colleagues, and ensure their voices are central to any future DE&I strategy.

3. HR colleagues should measure a sense of psychological safety, connectivity and belonging through employee engagement surveys and listening groups. Organisations should also hold micro-listening groups at keys stages of any DE&I implementation plan, as these provide useful ‘pause and reflect’ points, allowing for adjustment as necessary. Again, this process should be undertaken in partnership with your ERG members. It is important to recognise that if we want lasting change to happen, the voices of diverse stakeholders should be listened to and their views acted upon. Without doing so, any approach to DE&I will be limited in understanding and scope.

Rule No. 5: Integrate DE&I through your supply chain

Business leaders should use their financial muscle by driving DE&I through their supply chain. Procurement teams should set explicit criteria for awarding new business contracts and in-contract re-negotiations.

Examples include working with head-hunters and recruitment companies – insisting on diversity in the final shortlists; driving inclusion when working with a wide range of suppliers, from construction companies to those working in the creative industries. Companies should be awarded contracts based on commitments to DE&I, and those who fail to meet stated goals and targets at contract re-negotiation stage should face financial penalties.

Rule No. 6: Set DE&I targets

Working under the principle of ‘what gets measured, gets done’, businesses should set public targets for promoting diverse and inclusive workplaces. These targets should cover all areas across the employee life cycle, including recruitment, employee engagement, development opportunities and promotions. To meet these targets business should utilise the positive actions provisions within the Equality Act 2010.

Other activities include implementing sponsorship programmes and creating a diverse leadership bench. Organisations will need to agree quick-win targets as well as longer-term strategic goals. Targets should be communicated both internally and externally, as public targets increase accountability and act as a motivator for sustainable and long-term action.

Rule No. 7: Establish accountability structures and a ‘devil’s advocate’ process

Businesses should establish long-term structures for measuring progress against any DE&I strategy. Led by senior leaders, a DE&I action group should be established. Representation should include stakeholders from a range of key business functions as well as diverse employees. Effective DE&I action groups should include a ‘devil’s advocate’ – an independent voice whose role is to provide expertise, advice and guidance, as well as scrutiny. Part of the devil’s advocate approach would include, for example, representation of diverse colleagues in interview panels. Of course, organisations should avoid tokenism in this approach.

Conclusion

These seven golden rules for creating an effective DE&I strategy should be considered as foundational best practice. Clearly, any approach to developing an effective DE&I strategy should take into account multiple factors unique to each business, including leadership ambitions, market conditions, business sector, history of activity to date and overall position on the DE&I maturity scale.

At FAIRER Consulting we support organisations to drive strategic change using our FAIRER Framework. Our framework has been developed with the aim of driving inclusive change by moving organisations beyond the compliance approach of DE&I integration. We focus on driving lasting and impactful change through cultural and behavioural measures, based on our values of:

• Fairness for all

• Access to opportunities

• Inclusion drives performance

• Respect for difference

• Equity as a driver for lasting change

• Representation and diversity drives innovation 

We partner with organisations to create bespoke DE&I strategies that reflect the needs and voices of their people. Using real employee insights and data, we deliver measurable, lasting culture change. Discover our tailored DE&I strategy programme or book a complimentary call with one of our consultants.