Strategies for Achieving DEI Goals Successfully

In today's evolving workplace, diversity has emerged as the key to creativity, growth, and engagement. Organisations are now aware of the link between diversity and increased effectiveness, productivity, and employee happiness. Humans are hardwired to see differences with scepticism, which results in prejudices emerging. Setting and achieving DEI goals in an organisation must start with this understanding. However, people who are culturally agnostic are less likely to be given leadership opportunities. Cultural awareness is the ability to understand and value cultural nuances. Although establishing attainable goals is the cornerstone of DEI success inside an organisation, we also require proficiency in comprehending and relating to individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Strategies for implementing DEI in the workplace

Diverse, ethical, and welcoming cultures encourage relationships, raise acceptance and tolerance, build trust, and boost morale. These are all significant and advantageous in and of themselves. Here are a few strategies that organisations can consider while implementing DEI goals in your organisation.

i.?????????DEI in the base level

Whenever a new initiative is being considered or a new employee is being recruited, DEI goals need to be at the base of everything. New recruits need to understand what the organisation stands for and understand what they are signing up for. Considering DEI early on in the process ensures that the impact will be positive.

ii.????????Measure DEI efforts

Measuring the success of initiatives can be done using tools and surveys. When an organisation prioritises their employees and customers, their feedback will be taken into consideration for making changes on their way forward. This is where a proper feedback system helps.

iii.??????Prioritising inclusion

Diversity in race, gender, ethnicity and culture becomes pointless without inclusion. The pandemic was tough for everyone when equality and inclusion were compromised. Being heard and valued is a basic human necessity. If the marginalised groups do not feel valued, their engagement levels decline drastically.

iv.???????Open Communication

Open communication is crucial in the workplace. If all employees feel represented and heard, their productivity and engagement levels are sure to soar. Leaders need to adopt a relationship-centric approach while listening to their employees and not bring their own biases while dealing with their concerns. Humble leaders are self-aware and understand that they can listen without judgement and take an inclusive approach while handling problems.

v.????????Coaching Programs

In the initial stages of DEI implementation, every individual invariably faces roadblocks on their journey. Training is an underrated way of achieving an organisation’s goals, especially DEI goals. In fact, it equips employees with the cultural competency, speaking skills, and frameworks necessary to exercise purposeful collaboration, implement DEI tactics, and speak boldly on challenging problems.

Why do DEI strategies become unsuccessful?

While DEI policies are essential for enhancing the organisation's culture, they also give businesses an edge in the outside market. DEI strategies fail due to a number of reasons. Inclusive practices are what truly make diversity work. We can improve only if we are able to track the progress. Effective measurement and analysis using scientific methods need to be done without fail. Lack of alignment within the system is yet another reason that DEI strategies fail. The objectives need to be communicated by the senior leaders to employees across all the levels in the organisation. If all employees are not aligned with the goals, there will be a disconnect as they may not be in a position to put in their best efforts.

Another pain point that arises in the implementation of a successful DEI strategy is when organisations consider it like any other data point. The implementation of strategies without considering the values of the organisation and the people involved will not be fruitful in the long run. While chasing only numbers, the true essence of embracing diversity is lost and its true potential cannot be harnessed. Awareness along with competency is required for creating a workplace that is inclusive.

Along with creating awareness through training, not having enough time and resources will affect DEI strategies adversely. Any plan that is not far-sighted is bound to fail. Commitment to DEI should start at the hiring stage and follow through with the retention of resources. Going by the concept “Managers manage change, leaders create change,” leaders need to model inclusive behaviour and empower others around them to contribute to the growth of the organisation diligently.

The role of seniors in setting a process

A strong corporate culture is key to winning in the marketplace. An organisation’s culture can be described based on the values its people profess and the unconscious thoughts that drive employees’ behaviour and decisions every day. Starting from the founder, these thoughts based on shared assumptions, help employees resolve internal and external conflicts. The culture in turn determines how the employees see themselves as part of the organisation. Hence the strength of the culture must be evaluated based on the environment in which it competes. When leaders see that a part of the culture is becoming maladapted to overcoming challenges, they must take necessary steps to improve the situation.

Even when leaders realise this, changing the culture is difficult as it is deeply ingrained and difficult for those in the system. Culture originates from shared learning. Building collaborative relationships with others irrespective of their differences begin with an open mind which requires self-confidence and a genuine interest in changing for the better. As mentioned earlier, we cannot change our neuroscience but can only recognise our biases.

Learning cultural awareness and cultural competency is imperative to contributing to a genuinely inclusive environment and the advantages that diversity has to offer. Learn more about how Dale Carnegie Training helps you develop cultural awareness and competency in your teams, people and organisation.