Creating an inclusive working environment where each unique individual can feel valued and seen no matter who they are is crucial. in the workplace.

“I look at the diversity and inclusion mandates that were happening after George Floyd,” said actor and film studio owner Tyler Perry at the Intuit QuickBooks + Mailchimp Fireside Chat for Black History Month. “And now a lot of them have fallen away—people are backing away from them really, really, really quickly.”

Indeed, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are losing some of the enthusiasm and financial backing that businesses gave them as recently as 2020. Some DEI efforts and affirmative action have been under political attack, and gone backburner to concerns such as the Great Recession and economic uncertainty. Recent DEI articles on Harvard Business Review have headlines like “DEI Is Under Attack. Here's How Companies Can Mitigate the Legal Risks,” “Why DEI Leaders Are Burning Out - and How Organizations Can Help,” and “How Companies Can Recommit to Their DEI Goals.”

Recommitting to DEI is exactly what business owners can do today, by taking a look at any existing policies and making a plan for DEI moving forward. The past four years of DEI initiatives and policies can serve as a guide for incorporating DEI into the workplace now. Laura Morgan Roberts, an organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, emphasized the message on a Harvard Business Review (HBR) Ideacast.

“Leaders have to be even more focused, intentional, and sophisticated in approaching this work,” Roberts said on the podcast. “This is not the time to pull back or drop the ball on what is the most central question that leaders are going to continue to face now and into the future, and that is how to create a workforce in which everybody can thrive and flourish, including, and especially, those who historically [have] not had those opportunities to do so at work.”  

Build DEI into the Whole Business

If your business is large enough, installing a chief diversity officer as a respected member of the leadership team can be an effective way to generate, evaluate, and maximize the effectiveness of DEI efforts. But adding one position doesn’t “check the box” for diversity.

Regardless of whether your organization has the resources to tap a diversity chief, it’s important to be sure that your entire leadership team and their departments are taking responsibility for diversity efforts. Asking just one person to lead DEI initiatives can be a massive emotional drain for that person, and it isn’t the most effective way to make sure policies are enacted. 

“We have this blending where the objectives get established, but they are shared objectives because they get baked into my colleagues’ objectives just like they get baked into mine,” one DEI professional told researchers in an article for HBR. “That’s my point about making sure that you’ve got it woven into the corporate fabric, the critical HR systems, whether it be compensation, whether it be recruiting, whether it be just the internal staffing that goes on, whether it be performance reviews. You’ve got to make sure that it’s baked in so that the organization is paying attention.” 

Create Policies and Work Programs that Support DEI

Integrating policies that support DEI into your hiring, business operations, and culture ensures they’re woven into the fabric of your business so they can’t be ignored and creates the kind of environment that employees can do their best work in.

Roberts, a psychologist who does DEI research, suggests that employees can flourish at work if, among other freedoms, they’re free to be their authentic selves and become their best selves. On HBR, Roberts suggests a handful of actions that business owners can take to enable these freedoms for marginalized groups and employees at large:

• Setting anti-discrimination policies that are at least as rigorous as those set by law.

• Training employees on unconscious bias and how to overcome bias at work.

• Encouraging allyship through training and team building. 

• Praising employees’ strengths during reviews and ongoing development.

• Giving managers the tools to be coaches who are experts in providing constructive feedback.

The policies that support an inclusive work culture start with recruiting and flow all the way through the employee experience. Leaders should actively participate in initiatives to show employees that it’s important to believe in and live these values. 

Consistently Assess and Evaluate

When it comes to discrimination and inequality, all efforts should be viewed as a work in progress. There’s always room for improvement. Instead of letting DEI initiatives that don’t seem to be working die out, you should instead analyze what didn’t work, why, and how to better achieve the intended outcome.

Checking in with your employees is a critical step to determine whether the policies and initiatives you’re putting in place are having their desired effect. Get feedback through methods like anonymous surveys and candid conversations with employees. Encourage honest sharing without repercussions.    

Other standard procedures, like recruiting, pay, promotions, and incentives, should also be evaluated routinely to ensure that all potential recruits and employees are being assessed and rewarded equitably. 

Create a Workplace That’s Inclusive

It can’t be overemphasized how important it is to make your business one that’s inclusive for people’s diversity backgrounds, identities, and self-expressions. DEI isn’t a trend; it’s the way that we treat others and raise up groups of people who have been marginalized in the past. Diversity gives businesses a breadth of ideas and perspectives for success, and it creates a better culture for everyone.

At Certum Solutions, we know DEI initiatives are an important part of the workplace, along with internal and external issues affecting your employees, customers, and stakeholders. Please reach out to us to discuss DEI or anything else that’s on your mind.