Four Ways to Make DEI a Priority at Your Firm

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have become pressing issues that companies can no longer afford to ignore. Promoting DEI in your workplace is not only the right thing to do, but also makes good business sense. Companies with more diverse workforces tend to be more innovative, profitable, and have higher employee satisfaction.

Why DEI is Critical to Business Success

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are fundamental values that contribute to creating fairer and more accessible workplaces for all. By actively embracing DEI principles, organizations can support individuals from diverse backgrounds, including different ethnicities, religions, abilities, races, sexual orientations, genders, and political perspectives. The result is a workplace that fosters a sense of belonging, where everyone feels welcomed, accepted, and respected. Read on to learn about four ways you can make DEI a priority at your own firm.

1. Track Your DEI Metrics

Measuring DEI efforts is crucial for organizations that are committed to creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace. Without a clear and concise way to track DEI efforts, minimal progress is likely to be made. Having great DEI metrics does not automatically mean that a business is reaching all of its goals, but this insight can provide you with valuable data points that can help you identify unconscious bias, fairness and justice in the workplace. Deltek Talent Management offers several ways to track DEI progress in your own organization, with reports designed to help you understand pay equity, employee diversity and more. By leveraging the data held in your HR systems today, you can better understand the current makeup of your workforce and spot potential inequities.

2. Foster an Inclusive Culture

Promoting DEI requires more than just policy change, it requires a real cultural shift within your organization to make employees feel welcomed, valued, heard, and able to thrive regardless of background. When working to create an inclusive workplace, think about the many ways you can create a safe and diverse space for employees. With Deltek Talent Management, firms have many opportunities to weave inclusivity into the employee lifecycle -- from attracting diverse candidates with job requisitions distributed across job boards and an easily accessible job portal, to soliciting valuable employee feedback with built-in survey tools, to housing and tracking completion of trainings, and more. With the right tools and strategies in place to promote an inclusive culture, you’ll be creating a winning work environment and empowering your people to do their best work.

3. Remove Bias From Systems and Policies

When thinking about all aspects of your business, take a hard look at your company's current systems and policies through a DEI lens. Do they create unfair barriers or disadvantages for underrepresented groups? By examining your existing processes and acknowledging the challenges and pitfalls that exist today, you can truly begin the work to tackle the unconscious or otherwise ingrained biases that your employees are facing. After this comes the work to remove those biases, which can come in the form of implementing more diverse leadership, implementing standardized processes to mitigate discrimination, and providing bias training.

4. Lead From the Top

Efforts to promote DEI cannot succeed without buy-in from leadership. Company leaders need to vocally express their commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. That includes regular communication about DEI goals and progress being made, and continuously soliciting employee feedback. When leaders model the behaviors they want to see, it sets the tone for the entire company.

Making DEI a true priority requires an ongoing commitment, but the rewards for your business and employees make the effort more than worthwhile. Use the strategies outlined above as a starting point to begin making meaningful progress.