Some Organizations Continue to Struggle with Effective Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
A survey conducted earlier this year paints a promising picture of widespread adoption of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, but also revealed that a number of businesses are struggling to keep up or meet goals.
“The Future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” conducted by The HR Research Institute, reveals that most diversity, equity and inclusion programs remain undeveloped, despite the fact that building DEI initiatives is shown to foster stronger employee relationships and increase financial performance. A mere 9% of respondents rate their organization’s DEI initiatives as being highly effective. Organizations with successful DEI programs put in the time to comprehensively define and prioritize them, and they have the support of top management.
“It is a hard hill to climb and to get leaders to understand the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in an organization and how that does drive business operations and business decisions. You say you want to look like the communities in which you serve, but do you really? And it’s really taking a step back and looking at it and saying we just got to do better,” said Billie Wright, VP of People Operations at Nava Public Benefit Corporation, who serves on HR Research Institute’s The Future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 2022 Advisory Board.
Other major findings include:
• Companies struggle to fully develop their DEI programs: Only about 22% indicate that DEI initiatives in organizations have reached the “expert” or “advanced” stages of the HR Research Institute’s DEI maturity model. Although most organizations are having trouble effectively managing DEI, more than 44% say that DEI plays a role in strategic planning and another 32% integrate their DEI frameworks into the business strategy.
• Less than half (48%) agree that pay is equitable in their organization and most are not investing in understanding gaps: Just 9% say equitable pay is a top priority among executives, while 28% say that equitable pay is not currently an organizational priority at all. Only 30% say they are actively investing in understanding the pay equity gap in their business, while 14% say they don’t measure pay or pay equity at all.
• Most companies underutilize DEI metrics and training: Those that do measure their current state of DEI most rely on basic compliance-oriented workforce data (56%). Only 40% offer DEI-related learning and DECEMBER 2022 This content is produced by the L.A. Times B2B Publishing team. It doesn’t involve the editorial staff of the L.A. Times. B2B PUBLISHING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION & ACCESSIBILITY 7 development to all employees. The most common program is unconscious bias training (69%).
• Progress has been made in cultivating a more diverse workforce, but many companies still have a long way to go: Nearly half (48%) agree their workforce is more diverse than it was two years ago, but more than half (57%) say ethnic/ racial minorities make up no more than one-fifth of their organizations’ leaders and 20% say the same about women.
• Companies are often not implementing benefit programs that appeal to a diverse workforce: While 70% offer flexible work options, fewer offer paid parental leave (58%), benefits for domestic partners (43%) and family building benefits (23%), and 18% only provide the benefits mandated by law.
The survey also found that organizations with strong DEI practices are more likely to consider a wider range of characteristics in their scope of DEI, integrate DEI strategic frameworks into their business strategies, emphasize DEI in talent acquisition and employee communications, and have programs to improve diversity in the leadership ranks through an array of training and metrics.
“DEI has become a top concern over the last two years, but organizations can’t get to DEI success overnight. In fact, we found that only about a fifth of HR professionals say that DEI initiatives in their organizations have reached the ‘expert’ or ‘advanced’, stages of HR.com’s DEI Maturity Model,” said Debbie McGrath, CEO of HR.com. “So, we still have a long way to go. The good news is a lot more HR departments are prioritizing this and seeking out best practices so their organizations can boost diversity, equity and inclusion as quickly as possible.”
Similarly, research from Culture Amp reported earlier this year found that while many companies have made diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments, few organizations are yet to make meaningful progress on these commitments. Culture Amp’s 2022 “Workplace DEI Report” revealed a striking disconnect in organizations’ commitment, action and impact on DEI, with many organizations failing to collect DEI data or strategically invest in programming that will improve DEI outcomes.
In Culture Amp’s survey of HR and DEI practitioners, 81% reported that they believe that DEI initiatives are beneficial to their organizations. Yet only 34% of respondents reported having enough resources to support their DEI initiatives. Despite lacking resources to drive change, the overwhelming majority (85%) of respondents agreed that their organization is building a diverse and inclusive culture, and employee perceptions of diversity have improved year over year.
Six out of 10 (63%) companies reported hosting events and DEI-related discussions, but research finds that companies often stop there. Only 50% of surveyed companies reported having a DEI mission statement and only 49% have a strategic diversity plan in place - both crucial steps in creating the organizational alignment necessary to create lasting, structural change.
More organizations are investing in DEI staffing and specialists, with 40% of organizations building out the specialized expertise needed to build successful equity & inclusion programs. Eight out of 10 DEI roles have been hired in the last 18 months, meaning that most companies are still at the beginning of their change journeys and there may yet be hope for additional progress.
During the last year, the experiences of Black and Asian employees largely improved, a trend that could be partially attributed to collective activism around Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate. While these communities have seen improvements, Black employees still experience a gap in “perceptions of equal opportunities,” and Asian employees still report they often lack a voice at the leadership level. On the other hand, Latinx and LGBTQ employees’ experiences largely declined.
Culture Amp’s research also shows that companies aren’t doing enough to support working parents and caregivers. These investments would have been especially beneficial for women, with women reporting a 7% point decrease in agreement to “I am able to manage any caring responsibilities while transitioning back to work.”
Moreover, there was a significant decrease in women’s ability to balance their workloads. While most companies (94%) reported providing some type of mental health benefit, only 21% said they are providing child care assistance and less than 10% of respondents reported providing senior care benefits. In order to create a better work world, companies will need to flex their benefits to better serve the urgent needs of their employees.
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. Research also shows that only 40% of organizations are conducting DEI-specific surveys (a key driver of inclusion).
Culture Amp data shows that improving the transparency and consistency of core organizational processes are the best way to drive equity. Specifically, initiatives that are particularly effective at driving equitable outcomes include:
• Implementing employee recognition programs
• Having formal mentorship or sponsorship programs
• Creating clear advancement processes
• Explicitly sourcing underrepresented candidates
“Investing in DEI is more important than ever,” said Aubrey Blanche, senior director of equitable design, product & people at Culture Amp. “Yet, while many companies believe that DEI is valuable, organizations are often not providing adequate resources or aren’t strategically investing in DEI at the right levels to create significant change. This means that companies are largely performing, rather than creating DEI. There are steps that companies can take to move the needle on their DEI commitments. Making decisions based on DEI data and having a mission statement are important first steps. To build a diverse and inclusive workplace, companies need to build fair, equitable processes. Greater investment in DEI data collection, employee recognition, formal mentorship and clarity of advancement processes will better equip companies to achieve the sea change they say they’re seeking.”