Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. As a discipline, DE&I is any policy or practice designed to make people of various backgrounds feel welcome and ensure they have support to perform to the fullest of their abilities in the workplace.

- Diversity refers to differences within a setting; in the workplace, that may mean differences in race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and socioeconomic background.

- Equity is the act of ensuring that processes and programs are impartial, fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual.

- Inclusion is the practice of making people feel a sense of belonging at work.

Combining these three elements, DEI is an ethos that recognizes the value of diverse voices and emphasizes inclusivity and employee well-being as central facets of success. To bring those values to life, companies must implement programs and initiatives that actively make their offices more diverse, equitable and inclusive spaces. DEI issues matter to candidates and employees, and initiatives improve the long term health of companies

Diversity in the workplace is important because with different backgrounds come different points of view, which ultimately leads to better ideas and solutions.

In order to ensure equal circumstances for all individuals across the organization, equity requires that employers recognize barriers and advantages. This is the crucial difference between “equity” and “equality.”

While the workplace does require professionalism and etiquette, an inclusive culture should not bar individuals from being themselves.

So how can employers be compliant in regards to DEI? In general:

- Employers can include DEI in the handbook.

- Employers can provide training/education sessions to their employees.

- Employers can set up a DEI committee where the situation is analysed and goals are set to be improved.

- Employers can make sure they balance all three and focusing on one can cause the other two to suffer.

More specifically diversity can be improved by:

- Employers can use a blind hiring process which will allows the hiring team to focus on qualifications and experience. A blind hiring process involves names and other identification factors to be removing before the CV is sent for review.

Equity can be improved by:

- Employers can work with each employee to identify development opportunities.

- Employers can avoid asking for previous salaries and instead provide salary guidelines with pay bands that offer equitable salaries for various positions.

Inclusion can be improved by:

- Employers creating a policy on inclusion for the company. In this, issues that have been known in the past can be addressed in this.

- Employers can provide benefits that are flexible and compatible for a more diverse workforce such as floating holidays so employees can have time off for the holidays they choose to celebrate or health insurance plans that offers benefits for LGBTQ+ employees.

- Employers can support differences. If employers provide food, perhaps have a separate fridge for Kosher food.