HR Glossary

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging

What is diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the workplace?

DEIB encompasses initiatives that foster a workplace where all employee, regardless of race, gender, age, nationality, or experience, are represented, included, and granted fair access to opportunities and resources to excel.

Why does DEIB matter in the workplace?

A psychologically safe workplace makes employees feel valued, respected, and supported, which empowers them to perform at their best. DEIB initiatives unite diverse perspectives shaped by unique backgrounds and experiences, enhancing decision-making, problem-solving, and business results. When employees address unconscious bias, practice inclusion, and support each other, collaboration and communication strengthen.

What are the four pillars of DEIB?

Here are the four key pillars that organizations often use to guide their DEIB initiatives:

• Representation

Organizations should move beyond just showing diversity numbers on paper and instead truly reflect representation in their hiring initiatives, leadership roles, key decision-making, and high-impact projects. Employees across different backgrounds should be enabled to make a difference in every single aspect of the organization.

• Accessibility

Organizations should ditch the one-size-fits-all approach to develop a more inclusive and accessible workplace. This involves designing culture, policies, and systems in a way that addresses the varied needs of employees. For instance, working mothers may benefit from flexible work policies and childcare facilities.

• Respect in action

Organizations should embed respect into each aspect of their daily interactions with employees, including communication, collaboration, feedback, conflict resolution, and difficult conversations.

• Belonging

Organizations should create an environment where employees feel safe to share their challenges, feedback, suggestions, and disagreements. They should be able to bring their real selves to work without the fear of judgment or retaliation from the organization or managers.

What is an example of DEIB in the workplace?

Consider an employee who is away from work for three months to care for a sick parent. In an organization without strong DEIB practices, their performance may be compared directly with their peers who were continuously present. As a result, they may be rated low due to fewer deliverables. An organization that values DEIB would take the absence into account during performance reviews and assesses them based on their impact while actively working, rather than penalizing them for circumstances beyond their control.

Another practical example of DEIB in action is inclusive hiring panels. Instead of limiting interview decisions to managers or C-level leaders, organizations involve employees from different functions, levels of seniority, genders, and experiences. This helps reduce bias, brings multiple perspectives into hiring decisions, and leads to fairer candidate evaluations.

How can HR teams promote DEIB?

Here's a five-step guide that'll help HR teams take the necessary actions to strengthen their DEIB practices:

• Revise policies and processes

As a first step, revisit existing policies and processes to identify potential gaps. Map the employee lifecycle and focus on high-impact areas such as hiring, compensation, promotions, performance reviews, and learning and development. Within these areas, examine how decisions are made and where disparity exists. Look for processes that rely on single decision-makers instead of diverse panels, and assess whether clear criteria or checklists are in place to support fair decision-making. Review outcomes to identify recurring patterns or disparities, and speak with managers to surface inconsistencies in how processes are applied. Use these insights to redesign processes with clearer guidelines, shared accountability, and built-in checks to promote fairness.

• Offer training programs

This is crucial to bring your whole organization onboard with your DEIB initiatives. Before you start, determine the level of understanding your employees have about DEIB using surveys, audits, and focus groups. Instead of designing a one-time program, make it continuous and comprehensive across a wide range of DEIB topics, including unconscious biases, inclusive leadership, respectful communication, microaggressions, allyship, inclusive language, neurodiversity, and equity in practice. Support different training methods, such as e-learning, blended learning, self-paced learning, micro learning, and instructor-led learning.

• Establish ERGs

Employee resources groups, also known as ERGs, can be an excellent way to support DEIB at your organization. ERGs create a safe space where employees can share their problems and challenges. They should also provide a way for employees to access coaching, mentoring, skill-building, and more, while fostering a sense of belonging. Back up ERGs with the right goals, leadership buy-in, and required resources to make it a success.

• Make your workplace truly inclusive

Create an inclusive workplace where employees are treated fairly. Establish clear criteria for important HR functions like hiring, performance, training, leave management, and promotions. Develop flexible workplace policies so that employees can balance both their professional and personal commitments. Train managers to communicate respectfully, use inclusive language, prevent biases, and invite the perspectives of different team members while making a decision. Show them ways to allocate tasks and projects to employees fairly.

• Gather feedback from employees

DEIB is definitely not a one-time exercise. It's important to get feedback from employees to understand what's working and what's not, and to make the necessary adjustments. You can create anonymous surveys to gather feedback so that employees can share what they really think. If some employees are looking forward to sharing honest feedback, focus groups can also be incredibly helpful in receiving deeper insights. This information can be used to tailor your DEIB initiatives in a way that aligns with your employees' needs.

What are some key metrics used to measure the success of DEIB initiatives? 

Here are some metrics that you can track to ensure that your DEIB initiatives are on the right path:

• Workforce demographics
• Hiring pipeline
• Promotion rate
• Pay equity
• Leadership representation
• Turnover rate
• Employee engagement scores