We asked HR Pros and Employees About DE&I Efforts in their Workplace. This is What They Had To Say

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Harmony within a workplace is essential to boosting employee productivity, team collaborations, and, ultimately, a company’s success. Studies reveal that ensuring employees have great work relationships with each other boosts their perceived freedom and confidence level. On top of this, their ability to work independently and submit timely and quality outputs also improve.

In addition, establishing an excellent company culture promotes a culture of trust, openness, and transparency in operations.

However, amidst the seemingly progressive thinking in the contemporary world, some workplaces still need help establishing a great work environment for their employees.

Discrimination, harassment, and bullying remain present in today’s workplaces, affecting employees’ job productivity and often resulting in job burnout.

Due to these concerns, companies and human resource professionals (HR PROs) formulated policies, measures, and programs to reduce and eliminate these toxic workplace elements; one of these programs is workplace diversity, equity, & inclusion (DE&I).

What is DE&I?

DE&I refers to programs and policies to ensure the representation and harmonious participation of various groups of individuals in one space. These individuals may vary in age, race and ethnicity, abilities and disabilities, gender and sexual orientation, culture, and religion but collectively work in one space.

DE&I is often applied in workplaces to promote a diverse and inclusive workforce without conflict.

There is diversity in a workplace when differences are present in one space. Equity is an approach that gives each member of the workforce access to help and support in consideration of their capabilities and limitations with the ultimate aim of giving them equal opportunities.

Meanwhile, inclusion is a continuous process of ensuring that representatives of all groups and demographics are in the organization. This diverse representation must also come with the ability to speak up and contribute to the progress of the workplace.

Why Is DE&I Necessary?

Studies report that companies adopting inclusive cultures and policies enjoy a 59% increase in innovation and a 62.6% increased chance of boosting profit and productivity.

Millennials in workplaces also value the ability of team members to speak their opinion, attributing this feature to improving workplace excellence, as reported by 86% of millennial workers.

In addition, 83% of millennials are more active in the workplace when they perceive adequate organizational initiatives to promote an inclusive culture.

Furthermore, by addressing the gender gap alone, the global economy can expect an additional $28 trillion by 2025. These numbers show the ideal scenario when companies adopt and establish DE&I.

In addition, continuous monitoring of DE&I implementation and effectiveness is crucial in determining whether a company’s DE&I policies and programs work to eliminate discrimination and the lack of representation.

For instance, more than a third of HR PROs and employees frequently and very frequently witness workplace discrimination, and employees are at a disadvantage for being more prone to bias.

As a result, 30% of employees hide some personal information to avoid discrimination for their age, gender, and ethnicity, as among the top three aspects of discriminatory incidents.

Changing Workplace Dynamics

Monitoring these initiatives is also vital in identifying and formulating new programs and policies to fill the gap in concerned areas. Only 23% of HR PROs say their organization has a formal budget to close pay gaps. Merely 33% agree or strongly agree that their organization has proper tools to detect internal pay gaps and inequity.

Start exploring these statistics and more about DE&I in the workplace. Use these numbers to reevaluate your company’s culture, employee classification, and policies and ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in your work environment.