What Does DEI Mean in the Workplace?

April 22, 2024

Diversity in the workplace is no longer something that employers can ignore or pretend it doesn’t impact them. Companies risk reputational damage, poor productivity and high recruitment costs if they ignore the role diversity plays in their organisation.

The first step to embracing a more diverse workforce is understanding what it means to have a diverse workforce. When we talk about diversity in the workplace, we often talk about DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion. 

This is more than just a buzzword you might see on LinkedIn; it’s an approach to diversity that many companies place at the heart of their mission statement. Let’s explore this phrase in more detail.

What is diversity, equity and inclusion?

When companies want to explore their diversity policy, they are commonly encouraged to look at how they approach DEI.

• Diversity refers to the makeup of your organisation and who you choose to hire, promote and fire. There are many benefits to a more diverse workforce, the most obvious being that you can enjoy a variety of perspectives. Diversity can refer to lots of things, including diversity in age, gender, ethnic background, sexual orientation, neurodiversity and physical ability.
• Equity refers to how your employees are treated within an organisation. Contrary to popular belief, equal treatment isn’t the goal, equitable treatment is. Equity means that everyone is given fair treatment, depending on their circumstances. So, a worker with young children at home isn’t treated exactly the same as someone with no partner and no dependents, as these two people will have different needs and requirements. It would be fairer to treat them equitably, which means they are given equal opportunities based on their capabilities and limitations.
• Inclusion means that everyone feels valued and important within the organisation. This helps to avoid the toxic practice of tokenism, whereby workers are promoted to positions to help tick diversity boxes, but then largely ignored once they get there. By making inclusion a part of your policy, you can ensure improved engagement at all levels of the organisation. 

Why is DEI so important?

Company decision makers need to move away from the idea that DEI is something they can choose to include or ignore. DEI needs to be at the heart of your company strategy because of the widespread benefits it can bring. Put simply, companies that value diversity and make this a core part of their hiring and promoting strategy will enjoy better productivity.

Diverse workforces make better decisions that are more aligned with those of their target customers. Workers are more engaged with their work and feel the value of their contribution. Managers find better support in their superiors and are more trusted by their teams. Companies can also enjoy improved staff retention, which helps to drive down recruitment costs.

If companies are slow to adopt these policies, they run the risk of losing their best workers. There is also the reputational damage to consider. Companies that fail to address issues with diversity might find that talk about their company is largely negative, and this can make it even harder to find the best talent.

In short, this isn’t something that companies can ignore any longer. It needs to be something that is hard coded into the foundations of new companies and implemented in existing companies so that it has the buy-in from all levels of the organisation. 

With so many benefits on offer, it makes good business sense to think about how diversity is impacting your organisation and if there is more you could be doing to create a more diverse workforce.