Diversity and Inclusion: Understanding the DEI landscape

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.

The 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.

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.

3. Fortunately, more organisations are investing in DEI staffing and specialists

Though nearly 60 per cent of companies reported not having any DEI specialist role, 40 per cent said they are investing in increasing the specialised expertise needed to build successful equity and inclusion programmes. These roles also tend to be new: 80 per cent of DEI roles have been hired in the past 18 months, meaning most companies are at the beginning of their change journeys, and we may yet see additional progress.

4. Companies haven’t done enough to support working parents and caregivers.

This survey found that companies weren’t investing enough into helping caregivers and working parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Culture Amp’s data shows these investments would have been especially beneficial to women, because women reported a 3 percentage point decrease in agreement to “My workload right now feels reasonable for my role” and a 7 percentage point decrease in agreement to “I am able to manage any caring responsibilities while transitioning back to work”.

5. The study found that the greatest drivers of a more diverse workforce are: having a diversity policy, implementing a strategic plan, and using DEI data to make decisions.

Despite these activities being nearly identical to what’s required to drive other types of organisational priorities, Culture Amp found that less than half (49 per cent) of companies have a strategic diversity plan and only 34 per cent share DEI data with all department leaders. To make progress on representation, companies need to collect more data on the demographics and experience of their workforce and use it transparently to help drive leader awareness and action, as well as provide accountability to their employees.

6. To create a diverse and inclusive workplace, companies need to build fair, equitable processes.

The data shows that improving the transparency and consistency of core organisational processes is the best way to drive equity. The following initiatives are particularly effective at driving equitable outcomes:

• implementing employee recognition programmes

• having a formal mentorship or sponsorship programme

• creating transparent advancement processes

• explicitly sourcing underrepresented candidates.

Greater investment in the above areas will better set companies up for achieving the change they’ve committed to.

With an increased focus on DEI from employees, candidates and the broader public, now is the time to make investments to drive change. The 2022 Workplace DEI Report gives science-backed information on where resources can be deployed for the greatest impact, and which initiatives drive certain components of diversity, equity and inclusion. These insights, although globally focused, will help HR practitioners transform their organisations as they progress in the journey to building a better world of work for all.

Aubrey Blanche is The Mathpath (Math Nerd + Empath), Senior Director of Equitable Design, Product and People at Culture Amp, and a start-up investor and advisor. Through all her work, she seeks to question, reimagine and redesign systems and practices to ensure all people can access equitable opportunities and build a better world. Her work is underpinned by her training in social scientific methods and grounded in the fundamental dignity and value of every person. Her professional expertise covers a range of equitable enterprise operations, from talent lifecycle programmes to event design and communications and media. The full report on DEI trends and findings can be found here and Aubrey can be contact on LinkedIn.