Using DEI analytics to action DEI strategy

Written by Nataliya Baytalskaya, PhD, Managing Research Scientist

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, including impacts stemming from globalization, hybrid/virtual working, generative AI, social media, and large-scale societal changes, the work environment has never been more complex. However, amid all this change, one critical factor remains true: People are the fundamental cornerstone of organizational effectiveness.

Consequently, in an effort to focus on people and their varied perspectives while increasing representation, fairness, and belonging in organizations, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has become a critical people strategy for many organizations. However, to truly maximize DEI efforts, usage of DEI data analytics is essential.

Positive impact of DEI efforts

DEI initiatives have shown substantial positive outcomes when properly implemented, including:

• Enhanced employee engagement
• Lower turnover
• Greater innovation
• Enhanced organizational financial performance

However, to truly understand and leverage DEI benefits, organizations need to first understand how to track and measure progress, how to pinpoint areas for improvement, and how to turn those insights into action and successful outcomes. This is where DEI data analytics come into play.

What are DEI analytics?

DEI analytics are a collection of metrics used to measure, analyze, and interpret DEI-related data within an organization. They help quantify DEI trends, identify gaps with organizational goals, and inform decision-making. These metrics may include:

1. Current workforce demographics: Illustrating the diversity of the workforce (e.g., gender, race, age, disability status, etc.) can help identify areas where representation may be lacking.
2. Hiring and promotion rates: Tracking the diversity of candidates at each stage of the hiring process and monitoring promotion rates across groups may indicate if there is any potential bias in these practices. For example, an organization may find that while women are being hired at equal rates to men, their rates of promotion are significantly lower.
3. Engagement and climate survey data: Collecting feedback through survey research can be used to assess differences in workplace perceptions and can reveal disparities in employee experiences. Regularly ask employees about their job satisfaction and engagement, as well as DEI-related topics such as how fair and inclusive they perceive their organization to be (i.e., inclusive climate). It is critically important to listen to employees and focus on their feelings of inclusion and belonging within the organization, as well as ask them for input on initiatives they want to see implemented. Without this key piece of information, diversity efforts on their own will often fall flat.
4. Pay equity statistics for similar jobs: Analyzing compensation data by demographic group allows organizations to identify and address pay disparities, ensuring all employees are compensated fairly and equally for similar work. Advances in AI like AI-assisted overlap analysis are also making it easier to standardize compensation. It helps conduct job comparisons to determine if there are overlapping job roles and responsibilities across the organization to enable equitable pay scales for similar jobs.
5. Retention and turnover rates: Examining retention and turnover rates among different groups can help identify whether certain groups are more likely to leave the organization and why. It is also crucial to gather qualitative data (e.g., exit interviews) to get a better understanding of the reasons for leaving and if any patterns emerge.

Effectively using DEI data analytics

The key to successful DEI analytics lies in examining the metrics at every step of the pipeline – from recruitment/hiring to turnover, and every stage in between. A major pitfall for many organizations is neglecting to look at data past the hiring point, or simply identifying the demographic makeup of their workforce without taking further action. Their goal may be to introduce more diversity into their workforce, but setting employees up for success once they are hired should be the main goal rather than an afterthought.

While diversity in itself has many benefits, if it is not properly supported by the organization, it can also lead to conflict and disengagement. However, looking at metrics from a DEI lens (e.g., differences between demographic groups on engagement/climate survey results) can pinpoint where there may be a neglected problem and necessitate a targeted solution.

How to use insights from DEI analytics

While DEI data analytics are an incredibly powerful tool to gather insights and identify problem areas, the ultimate goal is to use them to take action and enhance the organization’s DEI strategy. To maximize the utility of DEI analytics, consider taking the following steps:

1. Involve leaders and stakeholders: The precursor to any successful DEI initiative is getting buy-in and support from leaders and stakeholders. They should be involved in reviewing current DEI data analytics, setting new DEI goals, and developing action plans. Ideally, individuals from this group will also be vocal champions who can build organization-wide support for any resulting initiatives.
2. Have objectively measurable DEI goals: DEI goals and objectives should be able to be quantified and tracked in concrete ways. Without having tangible goals to work toward, it’s difficult to know if substantial progress was made or if certain initiatives need to be re-evaluated. Even something that is harder to quantify can still have an approximate target goal. For example, when tracking engagement survey result improvements, a goal could be to increase the average score 20% from the previous year.
3. Connect various streams of data: Ensure that you can sync data from various systems such as performance appraisals, promotion rates, and survey results to be able to look at various pieces of data at the same point. Looking at only one factor in a vacuum may be misleading and lead to less optimal action steps. Integrating HR systems with dashboarding software can also help build a comprehensive visual of the available data and help track results year over year to monitor improvement levels. Dashboarding can also help get insights in the most efficient way to the people who need them, to facilitate quick and impactful action.
4. Drill down to team/department levels: Sometimes DEI-related issues may stem from specific areas of the organization, which means looking at company-wide averages may paint an incorrect picture. Alternatively, if certain areas are exceeding DEI goals, it is worth understanding their strategies and possibly deploying them on a larger scale.
5. Pair quantitative data with qualitative data: Utilize multiple employee feedback forums such as surveys with open-ended items, focus groups, and stay/exit interviews. Gathering qualitative data can help fill in gaps and better illustrate why something is happening and put it into proper context.
6. Put insights into action and adjust as needed: Targeted DEI interventions can come in many forms. They can include revising recruitment strategies, increasing resource access, starting a mentoring program, creating resource groups/committees, better standardizing selection processes, and implementing bias training. Ask for feedback on any new initiatives and track progress on the targeted DEI analytics. It is necessary to continuously monitor and adjust strategies in order to ensure that the DEI efforts remain relevant over time.
7. Communicate with transparency: Sharing the results of DEI analytics and strategies with employees is essential for building trust and driving change. Communicate clearly about the organization’s DEI goals, where improvements are needed, and what actions will be taken. Furthermore, acting on direct feedback received from employees enables them to have a voice in the initiatives moving forward and to feel included in the decision-making process.

Use DEI analytics to strengthen your organization

DEI analytics are a powerful tool for organizations committed to bringing diverse voices to the table and enabling them to thrive. While some organizations may shy away from analytics for DEI enablement, with proper measurement, goal setting, and transparency, DEI analytics can deliver rich insights and enable deliberate, targeted action plans that can be tracked over time. When DEI data analytics are properly analyzed and thoughtfully acted upon, the result is a more inclusive, fair, collaborative, and high-performing workplace for every employee.