Employee engagement is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. It requires understanding and addressing the diverse needs, preferences, and expectations of your workforce. In this article, you will learn how to make employee engagement more diverse by following these six steps:
The first step is to evaluate how diverse your organization is and how engaged your employees are. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other methods to collect feedback from your staff and identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement. You should also review your policies, practices, and culture to see how they support or hinder diversity and inclusion.
Understanding the employee profile, with special focus to their age group, and the needs of the generation is important in planning the employee engagement initiatives. The attractiveness of the initiative is important to get the results.
Employee bodies should always be representative cross-sections of the employee population, with specialist interest groups formed as focus groups. However, consultation, collaboration and interlocking are key. Specialist interest groups must not become echo chambers if they are to influence the corporate agenda and drive change. Identify allies who can gain a deeper understanding and help to champion the diverse needs and views of specialist minority groups within the employee population. Employee polls and pulse surveys are also effective ways of capturing diversity data and correlating sentiment on key themes. And of course, people stories are always a great way to highlight challenges and share the lived experience.
The need for current situation assessment among employees is key. As this helps to dimension and collate outcomes of the engagement initiatives into resourceful end to meet targeted goals. This is achievable by segmentation of the initiative into different groups such as focus groups that can help to identify what gaps need to be filled.
In my new organisation, this was thrown at me as a goal to make the employee engagement diverse, this is what I did 1) Divided engagement into HR and Non-HR 2) HR Handles the core HR engagement and employees handle Non-HR 3) Non-HR, divided into ERG's (employee resource groups) and EIG's (employee interest groups) 4) Mix of HR and employees handle ERG's but EIG's are handled only by employees 5) Brainstormed what problems are we trying to solve for the organisation and society and started creating respective ERG and EIG , put them as goals 6) Roll out a form and ask people to choose ERG 7) Set yearly goals, track the progress and reward the members driving it
It is essential to create an inclusive work environment that values and respects individuals from various ethnic, cultural, gender, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This may involve implementing diversity and inclusion training programs for all employees and promoting equal opportunities for career growth and development. And than companies should actively seek diverse perspectives by encouraging employee feedback and involvement in decision-making processes. It is crucial to listen to the voices of all employees and provide platforms for them to share their ideas and concerns. Lastly, organizations should prioritize diversity and inclusivity in their recruitment and hiring practices.
The next step is to set clear and realistic goals and metrics for your employee engagement strategy. You should align them with your organizational vision, mission, and values, as well as with the needs and expectations of your diverse employees. You should also establish how you will measure and track your progress and outcomes, such as employee satisfaction, retention, performance, or innovation.
Establishing clear goals and metrics is crucial to measure the effectiveness of diversity initiatives and identify areas for improvement. This can be done by tracking diversity metrics and monitoring employee satisfaction, retention rates, and career development opportunities for underrepresented groups.
Defining clear and aligned goals and metrics is crucial for a successful engagement strategy. It's essential to ensure that these objectives reflect both your organization's core values and the unique needs of your diverse workforce. By establishing measurable outcomes like employee satisfaction, retention, and performance, you can track progress effectively and continuously adapt your approach to meet your engagement goals.
Ensure efforts are targeted and measurable, such as increasing participation in DI training programs by 50% or achieving a 30% rise in underrepresented groups in leadership roles within a year. It's important because it provides a concrete framework for tracking progress and holds the organization accountable to its diversity and inclusion objectives. Setting a goal to diversify project teams can encourage collaboration and innovation, reflecting a range of perspectives. By establishing specific metrics, companies can better assess the effectiveness of their initiatives, adjust strategies as needed, and transparently communicate progress to all stakeholders, thereby fostering a more inclusive and engaged workplace environment.
What do you want to achieve? Often companies talk about diversity, de&I, and it's importance, but don't know the true impact of a more diverse network, or what a more diverse network might look like! It's not all black and white!
When we launched DEI in a previous role, we didn't define our targets, goals and metrics first. Instead, we undertook a deep listening exercise to better understand the landscape within our business and educate our leaders and employees. This allowed us to gain a much clearer understanding of the challenges, define more realistic goals and ensure an authentic and organic transition to a diverse workplace.
The third step is to design your initiatives and programs that will foster a diverse and inclusive work environment and enhance employee engagement. You should consider the different dimensions of diversity, such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or education, and how they affect your employees' experiences, motivations, and challenges. You should also involve your employees in the design process and solicit their input and feedback.
If diversity is desired, it should be emphasized. Most of the time, employees think rote, ordinary, and accepted ideas are desired. If you don't tell them otherwise, they will adopt corporate norms, try to fit in, and avoid diversity of thought...until some leader tells them it's important.
Diversity should reflect throughout employee life cycle. So how do you do that? Everything from Hiring, Learning, Career progression, policies, opportunities and initiatives have to be driven by keeping diversity at the core. In short, everything that impacts. Ways to do that: 1. Advocates from diverse groups have to be included in design planning 2. Know your employee base and it’s known and unknown demographics 3. Bias needs to be eliminated. Thus sensitising all stakeholders adds to a lot of openness.
Co-design is an effective approach for improving the diversity of engagement strategy, informed by the perspectives and preferences of the the people most directly involved. You can’t design for diversity in isolation.
In my perspective, designing inclusive initiatives and programs is pivotal. It's essential to take into account the multifaceted aspects of diversity and how they impact employees' experiences. Involving employees in the design phase not only ensures that these initiatives are relevant and effective but also fosters a sense of ownership and inclusion, making them more likely to succeed in enhancing overall employee engagement.
Co-design for engagement. You might have awesome ideas, but if the group you’re attending to engage with don’t share or like them, you won’t get the result you’d hope for. Engagement is a form of relationship and a form of conversation, and the best relationships and conversations move in both directions. Listen if you want to be listened to; hear people if you want to be heard.
The fourth step is to implement your initiatives and programs and communicate them effectively to your employees. You should ensure that you have the necessary resources, support, and leadership commitment to execute your plan. You should also provide training, guidance, and recognition to your employees and managers to help them embrace and benefit from the diversity and inclusion efforts.
I think that successful implementation of diversity and inclusion initiatives hinges on resource allocation, leadership commitment, and clear communication. Equipping employees and managers with the necessary training and guidance is pivotal to ensuring these efforts yield positive results. Recognizing and celebrating the progress made in embracing diversity and inclusion can further motivate and engage the workforce, fostering a more inclusive and productive work environment.
Before rolling out any program, ensure leadership is fully invested and ready to lead by example, demonstrating the value and importance of these initiatives. This commitment from the top down sets a tone of seriousness and dedication, encouraging broader employee buy-in. Programs should be clearly communicated to all employees, outlining their objectives, benefits, and how everyone can participate. Examples include mentorship programs for underrepresented employees, diversity training, and inclusive team-building activities. Clear leadership support and transparent communication ensure these initiatives are not just formalities but integral parts of the company culture, leading to a genuinely diverse and engaged workforce.
The fifth step is to monitor and evaluate your results and compare them with your goals and metrics. You should collect and analyze data and feedback from your employees and stakeholders to assess the impact and effectiveness of your initiatives and programs. You should also identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of your employee engagement strategy and make adjustments as needed.
Simply having programs in place isn't enough; you must track their effectiveness and impact. Implement regular surveys, feedback sessions, and participation metrics to assess how these programs are received and whether they're meeting their intended goals. For example, measuring changes in employee satisfaction, retention rates among underrepresented groups, and participation in diversity and inclusion activities provides valuable insights. Follow-through is crucial for identifying areas of improvement and success, allowing for adjustments to better meet the needs of your workforce. This continuous evaluation ensures your efforts lead to meaningful change, reinforcing the commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Continuously monitoring and evaluating results is vital to gauge the success of diversity and inclusion initiatives. For example, if one of your goals is to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in leadership positions, regularly reviewing promotion data can provide insights into progress. By collecting feedback and identifying both strengths and weaknesses in your strategy, you can adapt and refine your approach to ensure that your initiatives align with your goals and contribute to a more inclusive and engaged workforce.
The sixth and final step is to celebrate and share your successes and learnings with your employees and stakeholders. You should acknowledge and reward your employees and managers for their contributions and achievements. You should also showcase and share your best practices and stories with your peers and industry. You should also use your successes as a catalyst for continuous improvement and innovation.
Build an inclusive community across teams. Use technology and collaboration tools to keep your team organized, motivated, and productive. Celebrate milestones and successes to galvanize teams and ensure equal access to internal programs such as awards and recognition. Spread positive news about great work and workers across teams. Connect, update on progress, brainstorm, and listen.
Sharing your success goes hand-in-hand with measuring your progress. It's not enough to just say you're making improvements or progress toward your DEI goals. It's important to show how you're actually achieving results. "We set a goal for 50% of leadership positions to be held by women by 2025. We started at 36% in 2018 and we're well on our way. Now we're at 46% in 2023. Huge kudos to the team for driving our DEI initiatives forward."
There are many ways to make it diversify, - Implement policies with inclusive at all levels - Leadership style according to background and perspectives - By giving training - Open communication is the key - Cultural celebration of events and holidays - Mentorship programs that pairs managers and employees - Different hiring process - Providing flexible work options - Equal opportunities for all employees
Inclusive Planning: Involve diverse voices in initiative design. Diverse Leadership: Promote diversity in leadership roles. Varied Communication: Reach all through diverse communication channels. Tailored Activities: Offer diverse engagement options. Cross-Cultural Training: Enhance cultural awareness via workshops.
Many organizations today have a Diversity and Inclusion function. Start by partnering with this team to get a foundational understanding of where diversity stands at your company, ask questions, and review information. Is leadership focused on D&I as a key strategic company focus? Where is the latest workforce diversity report? What developmental opportunities are available for diverse employees? Are employee resource groups available, and if so, what is participation like? Then, think about employee engagement and piece together the missing pieces based on the information you've gathered to put a plan together.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts has to be more than just training individuals for 'awareness'. Organizations must consider how their processes and systems help (or hinder) as it relates to the messaging coming from DEI areas. For example: - An individual who changes their name socially as part of transition - do your systems support this? Where legal name is required, is that protected against misuse? - Are you creating all gender bathrooms in your offices? - Are you relying on the minority groups to drive change (eg through ERGs)? Organizations must recognize that there's more than just awareness needed to truly meet DEI objectives.
Get to know your people. Understand their needs, motivations and interests. Also, actively involve your people in the ideation, planning and implementation of employee engagement initiatives. — To share, in our company, we usually tap 5-7 people from the different departments per quarter to be part of a culture team and to partner with HR in leading various people initiatives. This has allowed us to give a sense of ownership to our people in building our culture while implementing programs that are both interesting and relevant to diverse groups.