Building an effective diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy is more than a financial investment. This journey is about cultivating a culture where all employees – regardless of their identities and backgrounds – feel valued, safe, and supported.

A lack of resources, such as limited funds or a small team, can keep leaders from setting strategic DEI goals and measuring progress. Largely due to budget constraints, 23% of organizations are not using any tools to measure DEI and have no plans to implement one soon, according to CultureAmp.

These barriers present challenges throughout a company’s DEI journey, but they shouldn’t hinder progress. No matter how big or small, every organization can proactively foster inclusion and a culture of belonging.

To help leaders evolve DEI at their companies, here are five strategies that reflect a commitment to building an equitable workplace.

Educate leaders and employees on the importance of DEI in the workplace

One of the most cost-effective ways to promote DEI within your company is through education and awareness-building initiatives. Conduct regular training sessions or encourage team members to join free webinars on the foundation of DEI and how to build a culture of belonging.

Your organization can also build an online learning hub full of free articles, e-books, podcasts, and videos that cover allyship, dismantling unconscious biases, using inclusive language, and other important topics related to DEI.

Uplift Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and belonging communities

At Perfeqta, we believe that if people are the heart of your company, ERGs are the pulse. ERGs can play a crucial role in building community within the organization, boosting employee engagement and a sense of belonging.

You can provide your ERG leaders with formal training on how to develop a strategic plan that provides members with a safe space to connect, share experiences, and offer support. Training sessions can also help ERG leaders with strategies for membership recruitment and building relationships with DEI leaders and leaders in other departments.

Develop inclusive recruitment practices

Building an inclusive recruitment strategy might not always require more funds or people. Sometimes, leaders have to look at their current strategy and identify where DEI can be embedded into it.

Partner with local organizations, attend networking events, and leverage online platforms for historically excluded groups to diversify your candidate pool. Review your job descriptions to make sure the language is inclusive. Train your hiring managers on inclusive interviewing practices and ensure your interviewing team is diverse.

This is also a great time to provide unconscious bias training for hiring teams to educate them on equitable decision-making practices.

Promote accessibility across the company

Accessible policies and systems are key components of an equitable work culture. Whether your team is virtual, hybrid, or fully in-person, it’s important to make information available in multiple formats to meet all employees’ needs and abilities.

Consider offering flexible work opportunities, such as remote work hours or compressed work weeks. Make all communication materials accessible by adding captions to videos and ensuring all digital platforms, including websites and internal communication tools, adhere to web accessibility standards.

If employees are required to come into the office, ensure that the workplace is physically accessible, with ramps, elevators, clear signage, and accessible restrooms.

Measure DEI progress and collect data

When evolving DEI at your organization, your team must have a system in place for tracking data and monitoring progress.

Track quantitative data such as employee demographics, turnover, hiring, advancement, and pay equity.

You can also use focus groups, surveys, and one-on-one meetings to track qualitative data such as employees’ perceptions of the company’s DEI initiatives, company culture, sense of belonging, and career development opportunities.

Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and remove barriers to improve workplace culture, employee engagement, retention, and productivity.

Take Perfeqta's FREE quiz and get immediate insights on how to evolve DEI at your organization

In just 10 minutes, you can assess your company’s DEI maturity. Here’s how it works:

👉 You answer 20 questions about your company’s current DEI initiatives and strategies and we’ll show you where you fall within Perfeqta’s 5-stage DEI Maturity Model.

👉 We also send immediate recommendations on how to evolve DEI at your organization based on our six categories of DEI success.

👉 After reviewing your results, we’ll invite you to book a discovery call with our DEI expert consultants to dive deeper into your quiz results and review our top recommendations for evolving DEI at your company.

Take a look at our free quiz here and unlock your readiness score today!