Diversity and Inclusion have been spoken about more in the last 5 years than before but more needs to said and more needs to be heard.

Diversity is the presence of differences within a given setting. In the workplace that can mean differences in race, ethnicity, gender or any other number of things. Inclusion is the practice of ensuring that people feel a sense of belonging and support from the organization

Mckinsey report in May 2020 says: Our 2019 analysis finds that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile—up from 21 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2014.

How you can measure diversity and inclusion:

MEASURING DIVERSITY

1. What percentage of your workforce is male?

2. How many different ethnicities are represented at your company?

3. What percentage of females are in leadership positions?

4. How diverse is the executive team?

After your baseline metrics are established, gauge what your employees currently feel about diversity at your workplace. Send out a survey to every employee that asks targeted questions like:

1. Do you feel that the leadership team at (Your Company) is committed to diversity?

2. If you had to rank (1-10) the current status of diversity at (Your Company), what number would you give us?

3. Do you feel like you’ve had adequate unbiased racism training?

4. Would you be interested in participating in a diversity council?

Once you have your answers, you can begin to work towards improving them.

MEASURING INCLUSION

Inclusion is a little trickier to measure since most of the metrics will need to be collected from survey results vs. demographics. Similarly to how you gauge diversity, send out a survey (preferably at the same time as the diversity survey) asking your employees how they would rank inclusion at your company. Here’s a few example questions:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, I feel like I belong at (Your Company)

2. True or false, my voice matters at (Your Company)

3. I feel that (Your Company) does a good job at providing an inclusive workplace for everyone

4. What things could (Your Company) do today to make me feel more at home in the office?

If done right, your survey will uncover baseline metrics that you can later use to compare results. If all goes well, you’ll have some tangible goals to aim for that showcase improvement

Would love your thoughts, questions or shares in what you are doing in your business around diversity and inclusion.

Shivani x