03. DEIB INITIATIVES IN MODERN HRM

 DEIB Initiatives in modern HRM

WHAT IS DEIB ?

            Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is a comprehensive approach to creating a workplace culture that values and respects the unique perspectives, experiences, and contributions of every individual. 

            DEIB stands for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Together, these four concepts are a core focus of human resources and company leaders who aim to create a work environment where employees from all backgrounds feel included, valued and comfortable being themselves.

            DEIB is the practice of creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace where employees feel like they belong. By creating equitable systems and an inclusive culture, companies can create an environment where employees feel seen, supported and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. Let’s break down each of these components:

DIVERSITY

            Diversity is the representation of different backgrounds and identities in a workforce. This encompasses various demographics, such as gender, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, location, nationality, and disability status. Having a diverse team is essential, but it’s equally important to create an environment that supports and nurtures diverse employees.

EQUITY

            Equity is when employees of all backgrounds are treated fairly and given equal access to opportunities. Companies can incorporate equity into their hiring practices by looking for processes that might unintentionally exclude candidates from underrepresented groups, and level the playing field in their workforce by addressing pay disparities and providing training about unconscious biases.

            An equitable organization ensures that every employee receives equal opportunities, fair treatment, and the necessary resources to succeed, regardless of their background.

INCLUTION

            Inclusion goes beyond fair treatment and seeks to create a welcoming environment for all employees. An inclusive company makes sure everyone is included in conversations and considers the needs of all employees through flexible work arrangements, accessible facilities and inclusive language. Companies might also create employee resource groups to learn how it can help make workers from underrepresented groups feel more welcome.

             An inclusive environment treats all employees with respect and care, regardless of differences. Inclusion fosters a sense of welcome, value, and being heard. Inclusive teams tend to perform better than non-inclusive ones.

BELONGING

            Belonging focuses on creating psychological safety within teams. It ensures that every team member feels accepted, valued, and comfortable expressing themselves without fear of judgment or retribution. Regardless of tenure, everyone should experience camaraderie and equal opportunities.                   The importance of belonging made its way into HR offices in recent years, when it was identified as a missing emotional component to the diversity and inclusion field.

TRAINING FOR DEIB

            It is a considerable task to train your entire workforce with DEIB best practices, for example, ensuring all employees are aware of their biases or know what to do if they or a colleague is ever faced with inequality, exclusion, or prejudice.

            A study has found that annual workshops and training temporarily improve DEIB, and employees will often gradually regress back to how they behaved prior to the training.

            What’s more, you need to make sure that your trainings comply with the rules and regulations outlined above.

IMPORTANCE OF DEIB

            The integration of DEIB principles is not just a moral imperative but a strategic advantage in today’s globalized business world. The interplay of the four elements contributes to organizational success in the following ways:

• Increasing retention rates: A report by the Achievers Workforce Institute found that 40% of respondents with a strong sense of belonging rarely think about looking for a job elsewhere, versus 5% of respondents with a low sense of belonging. BetterUp also found that DEIB initiatives can lead to a 50% reduction in turnover risk.

• Boosting employee engagement: When an employee feels included in a team and valued, they’re much more likely to go the extra mile at work. That motivates their colleagues to do the same, increasing the overall levels of engagement.

• Improving productivity: When employees feel safe and comfortable and are supported at work, they perform better. In the same Achievers report, 45% of respondents with a strong sense of belonging say they are their most productive self at work. Only 6% of those with a low sense of belonging say that. Moreover, BetterUp reports that strong DEIB initiatives can result in a 56% increase in job performance and a 75% decrease in sick days.

• Helping your employer branding: 51% of respondents with a strong sense of belonging would recommend their company as a great place to work, versus 4% of those with a low sense of belonging. Plus, DEIB initiatives can lead to a 167% increase in the employee net promoter score.

• Improving bias awareness: Implementing DEIB initiatives in the workplace helps make everyone more aware of unconscious bias, whether it’s during the recruitment process, when giving raises and promotions, in performance reviews, and more. 

MEASURING DEIB

            Because diversity and inclusion are multidimensional, qualitative and quantitative research can help you better understand the current state of your DEI&B. To measure DEI&B, start with the diversity and inclusion metrics that help companies assess their DEI&B status and initiatives. Common DEI&B metrics include:

• Candidate demographics
• Advancement and promotion rate 
• Retention and turnover
• Diversity throughout the entire organization

            Companies often use employee surveys to measure how successful their DEIB initiatives are. However, these often fail to dig deep into how candidates and employees truly feel, and there is rarely 100% participation. In addition, by the time an issue is flagged, it has been left to fester, and it can take considerably longer for substantial changes to be made.

DEIB CHALLENGES

Challenges of Diversity

            Some of the most important challenges to diversity are unconscious bias and small recruiting pools.

• Unconscious Bias - Many times, someone of a different race, ethnicity, age, sex, or other identifying factor may be denied a job simply because they are different from the hiring manager or interviewer. Many leaders may not even realize they are making a judgment or discriminating against the person.

• Small Recruiting Pools - Diversity is often impeded when an organization hires primarily from an area that has low diversity to begin with. For instance, hiring from only the small town where your company operates may yield very little diversity in applicants. 

Strategies to improve Diversity

• Setting Goals for Diverse Hiring - It’s tough to strive for diversity when you don’t have a clear idea of the end result. 

• Blind Screening/Hiring Processes - Blind screening and hiring can be an effective strategy for mitigating bias. Start by removing personally identifiable information from applications and resumes during the initial stages of evaluation.

• Expanding Hiring Pools - Actively seeking candidates from a wide range of sources can increase your chances of finding diverse talent. 

• Clear Discrimination Policies - Implementing explicit policies against discrimination is essential to creating a fair and inclusive work environment. 

Challenges of Equity

            Creating equity within an organization often involves addressing systemic issues that may not be intentionally malicious. However, these obstacles can still hinder the success and growth of certain individuals or groups. Here are some examples:

• Limited Resources - Resource allocation is one of the most common equity problems. Inequity can arise when some employees lack access to certain tools, support, or opportunities required for success. 

• Outdated Systems of Operation - Inequity can surface in any number of areas — pay structure, benefits, working hours, training, and even leadership. For example, a lack of flexible working hours may seem like nothing more than a tough reality, but consider how this might create inequity for working parents. 

Strategies to improve Equity

• Creating Special Opportunities for Marginalized Groups - It’s important to recognize that marginalized or historically unrecognized groups may have fewer opportunities. 

• Investing in Better Resources and Training - When employees have equal access to resources and opportunities (and equal ability to use them), it levels the playing field for all people to advance and contribute to the organization. 

• Promoting Diversity in Leadership - Unconscious bias can impede internal mobility, and a homogenous group of decision-makers ensures some systemic issues never change.

Challenges of Inclusion

            Since inclusion is often deeply embedded within an organization's culture, it can be particularly challenging to identify and address. It isn’t as easy as updating a system or offering better pay to a certain people group. Issues with inclusion often involve several factors perpetuated by multiple individuals within an organization:

• Unconscious Bias and Microaggressions - Unconscious bias refers to the subtle, automatic judgments individuals make based on stereotypes and prejudices, affecting how they perceive and interact with others. 

• Disparity in Opportunities - Unequal access to opportunities can significantly hinder inclusion.

Strategies to improve Inclusion

• Additional DEIB Training for All Employees - Comprehensive DEIB training should be made available to all employees, regardless of their role or background. Such training can help raise awareness about unconscious biases and microaggressions and help prevent discrimination. 

• Give Minorities a Platform to Share Experiences - Helping minority employees  share their experiences can foster empathy among other team members and illuminate some issues that need addressing. 

• Ensure Equal Participation in Key Discussions - Ensure employees from all backgrounds have opportunities to contribute to critical discussions, especially with executives and decision-makers.

Challenges to Belonging

            Belonging is a deeply interpersonal aspect of DEIB. Because of this, the challenges that hinder a sense of belonging are highly individualized.

• Bias and Judgment - Unconscious bias may lead to misinterpretations, miscommunications, or judgments based on a person's cultural background. All of these can create discomfort and exclusion — even for those who aren’t minorities or from underrepresented groups. 

• Not Enough Social Time - Time is a valuable resource. For companies struggling to be more efficient, it’s difficult to allow employees time to bond outside of work-related activities.

Strategies to improve Belonging 

• Rewards and Recognition - Rewarding and recognizing employees can demonstrate how much the organization values them individually. 

• Create Inclusive Team-Building and Leisure Activities - Relationship and team-building exercises are excellent opportunities to strengthen bonds among employees. 

• Improve Communication - You’ll also want to provide tools and channels for employees to express themselves and share their thoughts or experiences. If your internal communication platforms don’t allow everyone to easily connect, that sense of belonging will suffer. 

• Improved Onboarding - Invest in improved onboarding programs to help new employees integrate more smoothly into the company culture.

                                                                  www.slidegeeks.com

How can improve DEIB in the workplace?

            HR professionals can boost DEI&B with these five steps:

• Hire remotely. Remote hiring enables HR leaders to recruit from a wide range of backgrounds, circumstances, and geographical locations. Remote hiring also allows HR to hire professionals who may not otherwise be able to work, such as those who suffer from debilitating physical disabilities or chronic illnesses.  
• Educate. Respect is a prerequisite for a healthy, heterogeneous workforce. HR leaders can run periodic diversity and inclusion training sessions to educate people on respectful communication that nurtures constructive dialogue and disagreement, growth, and innovation. 
• Build employee-manager relationships. HR leaders can promote a sense of belonging by guiding managers to establish trusting relationships with team members. This begins with respectful communication and open dialogue.
• Nurture people’s strengths. HR leaders and managers can acknowledge professionals’ achievements and talents to motivate them to continue contributing quality work. 
• Create transparent guidelines. Addressing diversity and inclusion in the company code of conduct helps managers properly support people, clarify their rights, and keep work conduct aligned with company values.

Why should DEIB be part of modern HR strategy? 

            DEIB allows companies to look in the mirror and ask, “What are we doing to offer equal opportunities to people of all backgrounds and beliefs?” While companies can’t force DEI&B, incorporating DEI&B initiatives assist the organization in extending work opportunities to everyone, no matter who they are and where they come from. Including DEI&B in the HR strategy helps companies hyperfocus on achieving business goals while integrating a varied group of individuals into the workforce.

How can DEI&B in the workplace improve company culture?

            Diversity and inclusion can promote a unified culture that encourages people to share ideas and value differing points of view. Creating a positive environment for discussion and diversity of thought enables a vibrant, growth-minded, and engaging culture that people want to be a part of.

CONCLUSION;

            Organizations that prioritize DEIB in their strategies experience multiple benefits. By cultivating a culture of belonging and inclusion, companies nurture a loyal and engaged workforce that stays committed through challenges. Employees feel valued and appreciated, resulting in higher retention rates and reduced turnover costs. By embracing DEIB, organizations create workplace harmony, harness diverse perspectives, and drive positive business outcomes. 

REFERENCES

WEBJan 29, 2024 

Built In

 https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/deib

What is DEIB? | Global HR glossary | Oyster® (oysterhr.com)

AIHR | Academy to Innovate HR

https://www.aihr.com/blog/diversity-equity-inclusion-belonging-deib

diverst.com https://diverst.com/what-is-deib

2024 Hi Bob, Inc. 

https://www.hibob.com/hr-glossary/diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/.

https://www.ukg.com/blog/employee-experience/what-deib-work.

May 19, 2023 https://www.oysterhr.com/glossary/deib2

What is DEIB? | Global HR glossary | Oyster® (oysterhr.com)

builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/deib