Companies need to make sure that their workers are representative of the communities they work with and that they provide a fair and welcoming workplace where they can do well. To help the DEI goal, it's essential to use DEI metrics to evaluate your organization's work and then act on the data that you get. What are the most essential DEI measures to keep an eye on?
Organizations are likely to go back to old habits if they need a straightforward way to keep track of their diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. If a company has good DEI metrics, it may mean something other than that it is doing well in this area.
Still, keeping track of your progress is essential because it helps you find management bias, unconscious bias, fairness, and justice at work. Today, you will get to know what DEI metrics to track.
Not only are DEI metrics important for making sure that nondiscrimination laws are followed, but they're also great for checking on the health of a company.
71% of people who answered Culture Amp's 2022 Workplace DEI Report said that their companies do more DEI programming than is necessary for compliance, and 74% said that their top leaders do enough to help them with their DEI efforts.
Even though DEI programs are getting a lot of attention and popularity, they aren't working as well as they could because of problems with how they are judged. The same Culture Amp study found that only 27% of those polled think their company knows how to measure how well its DEI programs are working.
Population data is critical to finding out how diverse, fair, and inclusive something is. According to the Harvard BusinessReview, companies that collect detailed personal information about their employees are better able to create welcoming environments than companies that don't.
But this is more than just the people on your current team. The fairest and most welcoming companies keep an eye on trends throughout the careers of their employees in the areas below. Here are the top 11 DEI metrics to track in your dei program!
1. Hiring
Paying attention to the demographic information in both groups will help you find people from a wide range of backgrounds, including races, gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, and more. A diverse hiring group can also help stop unconscious bias in hiring and make better decisions about who to hire.
2. Representation
If groups that have yet to be represented well in the past want to be more visible, organizations need to know where they begin. One way to do this is to ask employees what they think about diversity and inclusion through polls.
3. Retention
Companies that really care about diversity, equity, and inclusion don't just want to hire people from different backgrounds; they want to make sure that these values are part of the company culture and that employees stay involved and committed.
4. Advancement
There's been a lot of talk lately about how important it is for leaders to be diverse. But companies should keep an eye on the data that shows which workers are moving up in the company, even if they're not in the C-suite.
5. Job Satisfaction And Engagement
If you do surveys of your workers, keep track of which ones say they are delighted with their jobs and which ones don't. For instance, are there any patterns among workers who say they are not satisfied or engaged with their jobs?
6. Employee Resource Group (Erg) Participation
ERGs give employees from a wide range of groups and backgrounds a chance to feel more like they fit in their company. If your company has set up ERGs, look at how many people are actually participating in them.
7. Accessibility
To be diverse, fair, and welcoming, you need to put people first. To complete the inclusion piece of the puzzle, it's essential to make sure that you're creating a workplace and setting where everyone feels welcome.
8. Leadership
As we've already said, it's becoming more apparent that having a diverse group of people in charge of a business is suitable for it. This is true not only for keeping face and avoiding PR problems but also for making more money.
A study by McKinsey found that companies with more women in leadership positions were 25% more likely to make more money than companies with fewer women in leadership positions (quartile 4). Of course, more than just talking about women is needed when it comes to diversity.
9. Suppliers
Last but not least, you can't just look at the people your company hires. You should also think about who you work with to make sure that bias doesn't get in the way of the process of choosing them.
Are you working with a variety of sources or giving small businesses that aren't well-known a chance to work with you? Do you have a range of speakers for your seminars and training sessions? Those different services, methods, and points of view can help your business.
How Do You Use DEI Metrics For Your Strategy?
Before you make your roadmap, you should figure out where your company stands, whether you're starting from scratch or going over an old DEI strategy again.
Before making goals, it's a good idea to get information and a baseline by giving DEI tests or just listening to your employees. While DEI schooling and programs are great for getting people involved at work and giving them the tools they need, Kratz says that "systems and processes are really the pinnacles of diversity work."
DEI means looking at everything, from how employees are hired to how they are reviewed on their work to how many employees stay with the company and how many leave. Creating and backing DEI means that you are not only teaching the team's hearts and minds, but you are also going over basic steps for detecting unconscious bias.
To get a sense of where you stand, look at diversity statistics and engagement trends. Talk about the data with the ERGs and management of your company to find ways to dig deeper. Then, make a list of your goals and be clear about how you plan to make things better.
Breaking Down DEI Data Analytics
Diversity Metrics
Diversity measures are used to keep track of how many people from different racial and ethnic groups work for a company. This covers things like sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, and other types of diversity.
Diversity metrics measure how well an organization represents the diversity of its workers, no matter what their status is or where the organization is located.
To find patterns, unconscious biases, and other DEI traps, it's essential to look at both old and new information here. Deloitte says, "Setting clear diversity goals is one of the best ways to increase the number of women and people from other minority groups in leadership positions."
Equity Metrics
Equity numbers check whether an organization's rules, actions, and chances are fair and equal for everyone. They check to see if everyone, no matter where they come from, has the same chances to get resources, benefits, promotions, and job advancement.
Some examples of equity metrics are equal pay, equal representation in leadership positions, equal chances for growth and advancement, and fair distribution of work duties and tasks.
Inclusion Metrics
The main goal of inclusion metrics is to find out how much people feel valued, respected, and involved in the culture and decision-making processes of the company.
These metrics measure how well the company works to create a welcoming space where different points of view are valued and taken into account. Some inclusion metrics are employee engagement surveys, ways for employees to give input, the number of women in leadership positions, and the percentage of women who stay with the company.
Role Of DEI Analytics
By looking at DEI data, organizations can go beyond anecdotal proof and get helpful information that helps them make strategic decisions and makes diversity programs work better overall.
Using DEI analytics means collecting and analyzing diversity data on different parts of the workforce, like pay equity, employee happiness, and the number of people from different backgrounds who are hired.
These data not only give a number to how DEI is doing in a company right now, but they also show patterns, trends, and possible areas for improvement.
Organizations can get more detailed views on diversity measures, find differences, and see how interventions are working overtime by using advanced data analytics tools.
This method, based on data, makes it easier to track progress, set attainable goals, and deal with problems before they happen.
DEI data are also essential for keeping track of how healthy projects are doing. Companies can keep an eye on diversity and how well their training programs are working by looking at the results of employee surveys and seeing how policies that are open to everyone affect things.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are DEI Metrics?
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion metrics assess an organization's efforts in fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
What Are Examples Of KPI In DEI?
Workforce diversity percentages pay equity, employee satisfaction with inclusion efforts.
What Are The Metrics To Measure Your Organization's DEI Progress?
Representation rates across demographics, promotion rates, training participation, and employee resource group engagement.
How Do You Measure DEI Effectiveness?
Conducting regular surveys on employee experiences, tracking the advancement of underrepresented groups, and assessing the impact of diversity initiatives on organizational culture.
Conclusion
I hope that this article has let you know what DEI metrics to track. There is no universal set of rules to measure diversity and inclusion. Diversity metrics need to be customized for the organization based on what they want to measure. While deciding what they need to measure, the organization also needs to make sure that they do not alienate anyone in the organization.
Regardless of the size of the organization and how many people are being hired at a time, every organization needs to have a system in place to ensure that biases don't creep in at the time of hiring. Schedule a free demo today and unlock success beyond your imagination.