The concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) constitute a key pillar within any ESG policy framework. From shareholders and investors to employees and consumers, they consider the inclusion management policies of companies, to make their decisions.
Beyond the obligations imposed by law, there is an increasing demand from professionals and consumers to have organizations that demonstrate greater authenticity and commitment, to the different groups that make up society.
What defines the DEI pillars, why companies must align with these values ​​, and how to make them a reality? Continue reading to find out.
What do diversity, equity, and inclusion mean?
The term DEI is used to describe policies and programs that promote the representation and participation of different groups of people in the private and public spheres. These differences may be based on characteristics such as age, ethnicity, nationality, abilities and disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
- Diversity: representation of different social groups and people that make them up.
- Equity: fair and equitable treatment, access, opportunity, and commitment for all people.
- Inclusion: an environment that respects and values ​​all perspectives, ensuring that people within historically underrepresented groups are included and considered.
Why are diversity, equity, and inclusion important for companies?
In addition to placing companies at the forefront in terms of human resource management, the reality is that a corporate policy focused on DEI brings other benefits that we can see in the results of the most recent studies.
These have shown that companies with culturally diverse teams are more profitable. Creating inclusive environments leads to more innovation, and diverse teams gain a broader understanding of their consumers’ needs. Let’s look at the data:
- According to a report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, companies with gender diversity are 15% more likely to outperform their peers. Ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to do the same.
- Research by the NGO Catalyst shows that companies with the highest female leadership statistically outperform their peers consistently.
- A study by the professional services network Deloitte shows that inclusive teams outperform competing companies by 80% in team-based assessments.
How to develop a company culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion
DEI-based policies are critical to driving the future success of organizations. But in order to implement them, it is necessary to build a suitable strategy taking into account the following criteria.
- Understand how far or how close your company is to being diverse, equitable and inclusive. Detect opportunities for improvement and reinforce what already works favorably in this regard.
- Generate key performance indicators (KPIs) of inclusion: wage gap analysis, benchmarking, and population modeling.
- Involve all the teams that make up the workforce. From the leadership controls to the front-line workers.
- Rely on training programs to raise awareness of issues related to IEDs. Plan concrete actions and objectives to be achieved.
- Communicate these objectives and changes in the company culture, as well as the achievements obtained through salary gap reports, salary redistribution audits or an inclusivity index.
A clear example of success in the implementation of management models oriented towards DEI is that of BBVA bank. The company is considered a pioneer in its human resources policies and understands diversity as a business objective, as valuable as any other indicator. Through the establishment of the Diversity Days, they manage to reflect and value the results of the different projects implemented, the challenges, and upcoming objectives, regarding inclusion and diversity.
Without a doubt, transforming the corporate culture in favor of DEI is quite a challenge. But fortunately, there are processes and solutions capable of shortening the path. isEazy ESG, for example, makes it possible to involve all the people who make up a company’s workforce, find out their degree of knowledge and motivation regarding inclusion and diversity, and generate training plans with concrete actions to obtain real results.
