Where do I start with equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)?
Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is a hot topic these days and a necessary one. However, not all organizations know their first step forward on EDI. If you are an Executive Director or Chief Operating Officer and eager to move your organization forward, but don’t know where to start, this article is for you. EDI can feel daunting to leaders, but it doesn’t have to be. If you have the resources, I would suggest conducting an internal audit to know your areas of strengths, gaps, and where exactly to focus. However, if resources are tight right now, I’ve got a few suggestions on where you can start to implement on, and a few of them you can do right away.
Your Strategic Plan
Think about how you want to strategically move EDI forward in your organization, especially at the leadership-level. As backed up by research, EDI needs to start at the top. You may want to start with your strategic plan and identify if and how EDI is incorporated. The strategic plan is the blueprint for your organization and your guiding document for the next few years. Organizations that have EDI written into their strategic plan are more likely to act upon it. EDI statements that are outside the strategic plan and as a separate document often sit on a website and gather dust.
Implement Measures
Develop measures for the EDI initiatives in your strategic plan. The old adage ‘what doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get done’ is very true. Organizations track their marketing and sales initiatives, the same needs to happen for EDI for long-term, sustainable change. You don’t need to create a whole slew of measures, just a few to get started. For example, you may want to put in a couple of HR measures such as:
# of search firms partnered with to recruit BIPOC professionals
# of BIPOC focused organizations partnered with to advertise positions
% of staff that are BIPOC at all levels of the organizations
Compensation of BIPOC professionals compared to white, male staff in similar positions
These are just some examples, but really think about the measures you are collecting on and how they are going to inform the initiatives outlined in your strategic plan.
Collect on Your Indicators
Start tracking your measures. For some of the measures, you may already have access through your HR database and it’s a matter of putting the reports together; for example, staff compensation. For other measures, such as staff perceptions on EDI, you may need to deploy a survey, but again, start small, collect on a few measures and then grow from there. At first, you may want to collect baseline data as your starting point. Over time as you implement the EDI initiatives, the data will help to show which initiatives are working and where to make changes.
I hope this has been helpful. Have questions on any of this? Reach out, comment on the post, or visit my website at www.ddinclusion.com and book a call. Would love to hear from you.