Are Organizations Truly Embracing DEI? How You Can Help Employees Belong.

What’s powerful is that we’re seeing a growing number of first-generation, immigrant and minority students entering colleges and universities nationwide. According to the American Council of Education, “between 1995–96 and 2015–16, the share of students of color among all undergraduate students increased from about 30 percent to approximately 45 percent. This increase was largely driven by the increase in Hispanic undergraduate enrollment.”

What does this mean for your organization? This positive momentum means we must keep careful watch on how their experiences are during school, work and even in their personal lives:

Did you know that highly gender-diverse executive teams are 21% more likely to outperform on profitability? It’s easier for an individual to feel like they belong and to have a sense that their voice will be heard if they have an example to look up to. Not necessarily a parent nor a relative, but someone in their workplace, social circles or even their school, who they share commonalities with, and they see is being heard.

As a first-generation college graduate myself, it was a teacher with a similar background as mine who not only served as my mentor, but also provided that sense of comfort and reassurance about my goals and desire to learn.

My experience is an example that when diversity shows up in more than just your peer population, but also in roles of leadership, it can truly make an impact. Individuals should have colleagues and mentors they can turn to, seek guidance from, and be candid with about their goals and challenges and in the end, help foster their sense of belonging and encouragement.

Organizations, just like higher education institutions, might consider applying this data to their DEI programs. Improving outcomes like productivity and job satisfaction could begin with efforts to collect data continuously that demonstrates trends and possibly the need to offer ongoing talent development opportunities, to proactively identify and support advancement in their roles or to reskill to another department.

The Harvard Business Review points out something to consider as it relates to ownership of DE&I goals, because in most organizations, “diversity data are collected and tracked by the HR, DEI, or People Analytics teams far from the front line. Besides making data less accessible to the average employee, this practice can also reduce employees’ sense of ownership over the numbers.”

In the end, we’re all a part of a bigger solution—to help advance underrepresented talent. Each of our organizations are working towards the changes that are needed in the workplace and society. Having a shared purpose, plan and vision for how to make meaningful change is a non-negotiable.