DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AUBREY BLANCHE
Understanding the DEI landscape Now, more than ever, organisations are beginning to recognise the urgency of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This article lays out the six key global trends in the DEI space and shares where companies could be investing in order to drive true, structural change.
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he urgency for advancing DEI has never been greater: the workforce of the future will be more diverse than ever, and Gen Z is heavily prioritising company values in their employment decisions. So the question becomes: what should companies be doing to accomplish more effective and measurable change? While the challenges to building a representative workforce and an equitable culture are complex, they are not insurmountable. Culture Amp’s latest research shows while many companies are making commitments, they are often not collecting data on these issues, strategically investing in programmes that actually make a difference, or holding their leaders accountable for change.
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HUMAN RESOURCES
WINTER 2022
Global trends still relevant in Aotearoa 1. Companies ‘value’ DEI, but aren’t investing at the right levels to drive change In Culture Amp’s survey of HR and DEI practitioners, 81 per cent report that they believe DEI initiatives are beneficial to their organisations. Yet, only 34 per cent of respondents reported having enough resources to support their DEI initiatives. Surprisingly, despite lacking resources to drive change, the overwhelming majority (85 per cent) of respondents agreed that their organisation is building a diverse and inclusive culture. While this might reflect that companies are getting ‘credit’ for high-visibility actions like making diversity commitments, the low level of investment means change
is unlikely to be substantial or sustainable without additional resource allocations. 2. Though organisations are making commitments to DEI, they aren’t necessarily making it a strategic priority While 63 per cent of companies reported hosting events and DEIrelated discussions, only 50 per cent of surveyed companies reported having a DEI mission statement – a crucial part of creating the organisational alignment necessary to create change – and only 49 per cent have a strategic diversity plan in place. This suggests that, while company leaders may be responding to employee interest in DEI, they largely aren’t yet prioritising this work at the highest level.
