DEI&B and Learning: Transforming Workplace Culture for Competitive Advantage
We live in a global, interconnected world where diversity is a key distinguishing feature of modern society. While businesses are making progress in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B), there is still a long way to go. One of the challenges is that It’s not always clear to organizations how diversity in the workplace impacts not only morale, but performance and output, too. Another hurdle that often arises is translating awareness and learning into impactful actions and valuable outcomes. But with an understanding of your organization’s goals, DEI&B policy, and your employee needs, you’ll be in a position to begin the journey.
What is DEI&B?
As we continue to enhance our awareness and learn, our understanding of what DEI&B means evolves. However, at its core, DEI&B aims to make all individuals feel seen, welcome, and safe. While the different elements are often lumped together as a single entity, they are different and each contributes to the concept in a unique way. Let’s take a look at each of the elements in turn.
Diversity
Diversity refers to the ways in which we differ. WeWork defines a diverse workplace as one ‘made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds at every level of the business, from entry-level roles all the way up to management’. It’s important to note that diversity describes a characteristic of groups, not people. We don’t refer to diverse individuals, but rather individuals of a diverse group or community.
Equity
InclusionInc says, ‘Equity seeks to provide equal opportunities as opposed to equal treatment’. Equality ensures equal treatment, while equity seeks to ensure fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people. Whereas equality presupposes everyone begins from the same starting point (with the same background, environment, opportunities, barriers, and experiences), equity acknowledges individual circumstances and allocates resources and opportunities needed to create an equal outcome.
Inclusion
Inclusion refers to actively ensuring every person in the business is invited to contribute, participate, and to be heard. In businesses, inclusion means ensuring that every employee is given the room to thrive and succeed.
Belonging
According to FindEm, belonging centers around the employee experience of feeling accepted at work. It means employees feel like their ideas and perspectives are valued, and they are provided a safe environment to express themselves.
Why Now?
Our work environments tend to mirror the dynamics of broader society. During the pandemic, the world saw social justice movements, the birth of the Great Resignation, and a move to remote work, where possible. Moreover, employees and customers have begun to take a stand and demand better, and more. These ongoing changes have led decision-makers in organizations to become increasingly aware of how diverse groups experience life and work, and this diversity in experience must be considered.
How Does DEI&B Benefit Your Business?
Job Seekers Prefer Diverse Work Environments
According to online job-search platform Monster, 92% of online job seekers agree that “Diversity improves creativity and innovation in companies”, while 85% agree it’s important that the company they work for actively tries to recruit and retain a diverse workforce. So, when job-seekers are researching companies they would potentially work for, they’re looking at your organization’s treatment of DEI&B.
Diverse Workplaces have Lower Employee Turnover
Without a culture of equity and inclusion, employees who feel underrepresented are likely to quit, taking their knowledge, experience, and talents with them. Diverse and inclusive work environments are those where people feel valued and like they belong. And when people feel like they have something to offer, are appreciated, and have a safe space in which to be themselves, they’re less likely to leave.
Diversity Workplaces Perform Better
According to a World Economic Forum article, the coming together of people from different ethnic backgrounds in different cities and countries is a key driver of innovation. Without diversity, organizations will most likely lack new perspectives and be less competitive than other companies that do embrace diversity.
When businesses hire employees from diverse backgrounds, they invite in those different perspectives, ideas and experiences. This helps to create teams that are creative, innovative, resilient and effective, and can outperform other organizations who have not made DEI&B a priority.
What Doesn’t Work?
Focusing on the Optics
Declarations about commitment to DEI&B that aren’t followed up with a real effort to make an organizational culture change can do more harm than good. According to a recent article from Talent Canada, only 40% of Canadian companies report having a DEI policy. Without a policy, a real cultural change can’t be made. It’s critical that businesses demographically represent the customers they serve, not just because of the optics, but because it leads to an authentic understanding of the needs of their customers.
Inconsistent Effort
Real sustainable DEI&B requires a consistent and intentional effort to drive cultural change from the top down of the organization. This is where a DEI&B policy and training provide robust support for that effort.
One and Done Training
Real and sustainable behavior change begins with learning new or unfamiliar concepts. But that’s not where it ends. Employees and leaders should walk away from DEI&B training with an action plan. The path forward should include DEI&B goals for the company and should include specific, measurable outcomes (remember SMART goals?).
How Do You Enable DEI&B in the Workplace?
DEI&B can’t be taught in a single workshop or eLearning alone. Of course, formal learning plays a role in the journey to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, but the real benefits are reaped when the culture of the organization shifts entirely and employees feel and see the difference. To enable this shift, a cultural change in terms of learning is needed.
DEI&B in Learning Organizations
Learning organizations are those that have learning interwoven into the cultural fabric of the company. They recognise that continuous professional development and lifelong-learning are critical to innovate and succeed in a world that’s in flux. Learning organizations encourage their employees to have a growth mindset. With a growth mindset companies assume that everyone in the organization can learn and grow, given the right opportunities.
This belief in the ability for all employees to develop given equitable chances and a safe accepting environment in which to thrive, is the core of DEI&B. So, it makes sense then that the journey to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is facilitated by learning culture.
Create Safe Spaces for Learning and Practice
For real, impactful learning to take place, employees must feel safe to express themselves and be themselves - their whole selves - in the workplace. Creating a psychologically safe workplace means that employees feel it is safe to express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions without the fear of getting into trouble, being ostracized, or losing their job.
Look at Power Distribution
Take a look at the decision-makers in your organization, from board level right to first-line management: how diversified is this group? With regards to voices being heard, in meetings, who speaks out, and who steps back? Is everyone encouraged to participate and are their contributions valued?
Creating a psychologically safe, inclusive, diverse and equitable work environment is a journey with many learning steps and mistakes along the way. But it’s a necessary journey, not only from a moral point of view, but also from a business perspective.
If you’d like to chat about your company’s DEI&B journey, whether you’ve taken the first step or not, reach out - we have some ideas!