How To Plan Your 2023 DEI Strategies
It is a great time to review your current DEI initiatives and make sure they are still aligned with your strategic business goals. This is an opportunity to take a step back and think about what’s working well, what needs some improvement, and how to make DEI initiatives more effective for the new year.
Having a plan will help you stay focused on what your goals are and how to achieve them. It also makes it easier for others in your organization to understand what DEI means and why it's important for the future of your business.
If you’re not sure where to start, hear from industry leaders at Gitlab, Stanford’s Children's Hospital, and Western Digital to share their experiences and insights on how to plan your 2023 DEI strategies. Click below to watch the full recording!
KEY 2023 DEI Strategies
What did you learn from this year that you plan to take with you in 2023? Any strategies that you found effective, or improvements to consider?
Be clear about what your team can and can’t accomplish with the resources given and where your business is at. Use a strategic framework with top questions: what is our aspiration, where will you play, and who are our key stakeholders
Look at strategy from a 10,000 5,000 to 1,000 viewpoint with 10,000 being your company strategy, 5,000 being what your lines of business want and who is willing to be involved, and 1,000 being you and what you’re trying to achieve.
Book Resource: Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by Lafley and Martin
What are the key elements and critical considerations when developing a DEI strategy? How can you customize systems for a particular team or location? What are examples of frameworks?
Ask your team why DEI is important to them, as DEI can be personal and folks gravitate towards what they are interested in and being a part of - and see if there are commonalities of interests and embedding into DEI priority (ex: increase resources to support and expand work in DEI, leadership development)
Ask yourself what outcomes you’re trying to achieve and work backward.
Figure out what the priorities are from a company perspective, then from the different business pillars. Then, see what can be done from a DEI perspective. Give team members resources and experience to thrive and progress in their careers.
Review performance management of employees. Ensure you’re looking at data to see how folks are promoted and if there is any inequity there.
Ensure DEI work is embedded in communication across organizations - it’s a collaborative effort.
What are the best ways to amplify ERG voices in a workplace? Are there examples of ERGs having an actual seat at the table in terms of policy in a workplace?
Have a governance model - that starts from the top to bottom, and bottom up. Have executive sponsors from the leadership team be part of the voice and amplification of ERGs.
Have ERG Leads assigned to amplify the voices of their groups - what is the priority, budget allocation, etc?
Be clear about expectations around what you want to influence, provide a safe space, and have it be communicated using data as a great way to story-tell and have something to anchor on.
Can you contribute to a DEI strategy without being on the People Team?
You don’t have to be in a formal DEI role to be engaged with DEI work, especially since DEI can contribute to your own identity. Ask yourself what you can do in your function to create more equity for the team, stakeholders, clients, etc.
Do you have any suggestions on how best to collect & analyze data when it comes to DEI focus points that turn into programming or areas of further discussion?
Engagement survey results - and slice it up and see where specific areas may have some areas of growth. Have smaller listening sessions with a group leader to get to the root causes or see trends
Review talent points where promotions are taking place and see if DEI is part of those.
Is the DEI makeup of the organization diverse? Ex: geographically, leadership levels, gender, race, etc. Let this help develop tactics to address concerns, for example: building an emerging talent pool.
Watch the recording below
Are you satisfied with the results of your current initiatives? If not, what can be done differently to improve them? Let us help you create meaningful shifts in your organizational diversity. Speak to a consultant for more information.
ModelExpand is a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm focused on radically accelerating the presence of historically underrepresented people in the workforce. ModelExpand’s work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes and CultureAmp.
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