After a couple of years of incredible DEI work, many organizations have found themselves at a standstill. They’ve spent time and resources on training and awareness campaigns. Nevertheless, they have found difficulty taking their efforts to the next level to find sustainable, substantial, and impactful success. All the intent and aspirations are there. However, they may be caught in the quicksand of “awareness,” and when that occurs, it can create even more issues.
Employees may develop “diversity fatigue,” and others may disconnect entirely from all the hard work and efforts. To keep your team engaged and take your DEI efforts from awareness to action, follow the four P’s: Practice, Policy and Procedure, and Pipeline.
Practice
To turn intention and vision into something concrete and effective, the goals have to be practical. The ideas for DEI work are grand and have considerable implications like bias, racism and sexism, and systems. Although the training is lovely and informative, the long-term goals may seem out of reach. To bring things back to Earth, create goals that you can achieve with tangible actions you can follow.
In addition, keep learning. Training that generates awareness and education can’t be a one-time occurrence; training must be ongoing, with new education occurring periodically to ensure everyone is updated and allows new development opportunities.
Policy and Procedure
Just like bias and bigotry make up the systems of discrimination, organizations need to create systems of justice and equity. Carefully crafted, thoroughly planned policies and procedures will make this system. For that reason, there need to be clear rules. Clear rules and policies that are unambiguous to ensure fairness and transparency.
Also, there should be an evaluation of all the areas of interest and improvement as a procedure. Evaluate diversity and equity in pay, participation, and opportunities. Observe any issues, and create goals with metrics and milestones for review. Consistent evaluation will ensure progress.
Pipeline
The way to combat systems of inequality is by creating pipelines to opportunity and success. Much of DEI work becomes too heavily centered on the D – diversity. Organizations focus on the appearance of diversity, but not the equity and equality of opportunities and access. The primary complaint cited by racial minorities and women in the workplace is the lack of opportunities for advancement. It’s obvious when we look at the demographics of the upper levels of management. Diversity work is superficial when your diverse employees don’t have equal access to things like mentorship, networking, and advancement opportunities.
Consequently, by following this strategy and remembering the four P’s of practice, policy and procedure, and pipelines, you’ll find great success in effecting substantial change and transforming vision and DEI aspirations into action.