What Is DEI? Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace 

In DEI, equity refers to the fair treatment of all people, regardless of gender, age, race or other characteristic. When policies are designed and built with equity, it means that opportunities or workplace outcomes are not predetermined by someone’s identity. In a subtle but important way, equity differs from equality. While equality assumes that all people should be treated the same way, equity considers a person’s unique circumstances and adjusts treatment accordingly so the end result is equal. It’s a leveling of the playing field. 

Equity has been defined as the outcome of diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression. When the historical and systemic barriers and privileges that cause oppression are eliminated, all people have the fair access, opportunity, resources and power to thrive. 

The global pandemic illuminated racial injustice and disparities in healthcare delivery across systemically disadvantaged groups in the United States. Spurred by an increase in violence and intolerance against racial and religious minorities, organizations have felt a heightened social responsibility to “lean in” to DEI initiatives. Organizations are recognizing the economic and social realities of Persons Excluded due to Ethnicity or Race (PEERs) and are focusing on equity along with diversity and inclusion.

Strategies for creating and promoting equity in the workplace include:  

Inclusion refers to how members of the workforce experience their workplace and how well, or poorly, organizations embrace all employees and enable them all to make meaningful contributions to the company’s operations, leadership, success and culture. Inclusive means “all.” It means that a person who is different in some way is not treated as a “less than” or perceived as an “only,” and rather than being subjected to a series of microaggressions, they are rather free to openly be themselves and share information about their lives, or not share, as they see fit.

The strongest examples of workplace practices that contribute to an atmosphere of inclusivity are those intended to ensure that each employee is seen, recognized and included:

The business case for diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices has been made time and time again, with evidence to suggest that smart DEI policies can create better-performing organizations that attract top talent, are more productive, experience less employee turnover and are more well regarded. 

Veronica Calderon, chief inclusion, belonging and equity officer at DeVry University, says, “Businesses that have tied DEI into their overall missions are communicating to all of their communities of interest that diversity and inclusivity are important to them. Whether it’s in recruiting and hiring new talent, nurturing and retaining existing talent or looking forward in terms of talent succession, businesses that have made an across-the-board commitment to DEI can perform better and be more valuable than organizations that have not.”

Studies have shown that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have stronger financial returns than their national industry medians. Similarly, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have such financial results. These findings alone make a business case for increased diversity, but it’s clear that increased diversity is swiftly moving from something that organizations would like to have to a must-have for increased performance.

Employees and jobseekers alike expect employers to support DEI initiatives and embrace a collaborative, welcoming and respectful organizational culture. In terms of your recruitment strategy, a commitment to DEI can help you expand the pool of candidates who want to work for your company.

Studies have shown that organizations with diverse teams are more likely to outperform their less-diverse competition. According to a Gartner insights article, strong diversity is much more than a “feel good” phenomenon. It is driving increased profitability. Through 2022, according to Gartner, 75% of organizations with frontline decision-making teams that reflect a diverse and inclusive culture will exceed their financial targets.

Teams with diversity in age, gender, race and ethnicity are likely to be a reflection of the broader user base of most companies, enabling them to better serve those customers. Diversity in thought, or cognitive diversity, mixes people with different thinking styles and perspectives together, avoiding “group think” and contributing to better outcomes.

Research shows that diverse organizations also do better at retaining talent. Employees indicate that their decision to stay at their organization is linked to their feelings of inclusion. Inclusive workplaces are also less likely to experience high levels of absenteeism.  

Corporate chief diversity officers say that DEI initiatives result in both higher revenue and enhanced reputation. In an online survey, 168 chief diversity officers at companies with annual revenues of at least $500 million answered questions that sought to measure where their organizations fell along a DEI alignment continuum. 85% said they believed their company’s initiatives were either aligned or well-aligned.

Strong DEI initiatives can boost your organization’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) reputation and perceived trustworthiness in several ways. Chief among them are the ability to improve engagement with customers, enhancing their loyalty and satisfaction levels and improving their ability to relate to the company’s products and services. Another aspect of this reputation building applies to companies’ relationships with suppliers, investors and stakeholders, who may be more likely to support an organization that shares their goals, principles and values.

By following a basic action plan, employers can create an organizational culture that champions DEI. It’s important to think of DEI as a principle that is embedded in your organizational DNA, rather than a one-and-done exercise.

An effective first step along your DEI journey is measuring your current DEI status. It’s important to establish this “baseline” against which to measure your progress. How diverse is your workforce in terms of race, gender and other elements? Does your company have a stated DEI policy? To determine how inclusive and equitable your workplace actually is, questions like the following could be included in a DEI survey:

Diversity questions:

Use the data gathered in your assessment to formulate and document specific, measurable and time-bound DEI goals. Some examples of DEI goals might include requiring all managers to attend diversity and inclusion training, creating an inclusion advisory board of internal and external stakeholders and increasing representation of black employees in senior leadership roles by a specific level.

It's important to be transparent about your goals and the progress you’re making toward them. Share all information with employees across the board and create opportunities to receive honest feedback.

Your DEI action plan should consider all aspects of your organization’s culture, from recruitment and retention, to employee upskilling and reskilling, to benefits policies. Create a more equitable hiring process by writing job descriptions that are free of gendered language or jargon that could make potential candidates feel excluded. If you hope to build a diverse team, this is a way to start strong. State your company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion explicitly in job descriptions and provide links to employee resource groups, codes of conduct or other aspects of your DEI profile that will educate job candidates. 

Being proactive in attracting a diverse talent pool means jettisoning the “Just Like Me” hiring bias from your culture. Many industries have relied far too much on hiring policies that allow managers to use their discretion to hire people with whom they are comfortable, or who look like them and talk like them. This can impede the progress of DEI initiatives and contribute, long term, to a single-dimensional and non-diverse environment where decision-making can’t be informed by fresh perspectives and diverse backgrounds.

By following fundamental steps like using inclusive language, recognizing correct pronoun usage and being inclusive in collaborating, as discussed earlier, employers can create a culture of inclusivity where each team member feels valued and recognized. 

If your company offers a tuition benefits program, be sure that you review its policies to see how they dovetail with your documented DEI initiatives. Look for things that could discourage participation by frontline workers and entry-level careerists. For example, does your program offer tuition assistance paid directly to educational institutions, or do employees pay for tuition and fees up front and wait for the company to reimburse them? For many workers who are in a position to benefit the most from such programs, an inability to finance their education due to poor credit or no credit represents a very real obstacle to their upward mobility. An inclusive tuition benefits program is one that does not impose a financial burden on employees from underrepresented groups by requiring them to finance their education and wait for reimbursement. 

DEI leaders must be assured of senior leadership’s commitment to their organization’s DEI goals. The burden should not fall solely on the shoulders of DEI leaders. The C-Suite must be fully engaged and dedicated to achieving DEI goals and addressing the challenges the company may face along the way.

Employee education is crucial in implementation of DEI initiatives and goal achievement. Data collected by McKinsey suggest employers should look for ways to bring everyone into the conversation, not just employees from underrepresented groups. Approaches like “allies” programs can help to combat microaggressions and calendar notifications can be used to include quieter members in team discussions.

Creating a workplace environment that champions DEI begins with simple, measurable and actionable steps. 

Even companies that have prioritized DEI at every level of their organizations can experience gaps between their strategic implementation and ongoing progress. What factors can potentially derail your DEI program? 

DeVryWorks, the workforce development partnership program of DeVry University, can help you solve current and predicted talent gaps by designing customized learning pathways to upskill and reskill team members. We can also help you develop an inclusive tuition benefits program that addresses your talent succession challenges and is aligned with your DEI initiatives to maximize employee engagement and retention.

Contact us today to discover what DeVryWorks can do for your organization.