There is a lot of key concepts, ever-changing language and frameworks within Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work. Frameworks that create fair, safe, and representative environments, and not just in workplaces.
You cannot jump to the deep end with these initiatives. It is important to know and establish a firm foundation to build on. Otherwise, you could be prone to accelerating too early. As a result, you hinder your overall progress when fostering meaningful change.
At Edge Of Difference, we train leaders to feel confident in creating strong foundations for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work. We share some of the key concepts in this blog. As well as considerations and infrastructures that we cover in our training to get you started:
Defining Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
Diversity is the presence of difference (representation). Equity ensures fair access to opportunities by removing barriers. Inclusion ensures everyone feels welcomed, respected, and supported. What does this mean when translating into what we describe as the, “Core Pillars of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”:
- Diversity (The “Who”): Represents the mix of individuals within a group. Some social characteristics are protected under the Equality Act of 2010. However, many social characteristics are not yet recognised in the law as needing protection. This is why we train teams on Allyship to underpin the law, and take action on identifying gaps.
- Equity (The “How”): Focuses on fairness. It recognising that not everyone starts from the same place. Therefore, it requires personalised resources and actions to ensure equal outcomes.
- Inclusion (The “What”): Defines a culture where diverse individuals feel a sense of belonging. As well as feeling empowered to contribute fully.
Why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion matters:
Firstly, it matters because it is the right thing to do. The sense of “choice” reflects the injustice that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives should be addressing. Your employees bring their lived experiences to work. In addition, it informs how they show up and need from a workplace.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work not only matters, but has proven to have numerous benefits. Investing in these initiatives improves:
- Performance & Innovation: Diverse perspectives boost creativity and improve decision-making, leading to better business outcomes.
- Talent Attraction & Retention: Inclusive cultures foster a sense of belonging, which is critical for engaging and keeping employees.
- Legal & Ethical Compliance: Helps prevent discrimination, bullying, and harassment while ensuring compliance with equality laws.
Furthermore, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work matters as it focuses on eliminating assumptions, biases, and stereotypes to treat everyone fairly. It calls in not just leaders to recognise individual differences. That fostering inclusion, and ensuring equal opportunities regardless of characteristics rather than relying on preconceived notions.
These initiatives when implemented successfully also ensure that you are:
- Avoiding Assumptions: True equality means not assuming someone’s abilities, needs, or potential based on stereotypes or personal characteristics.
- Challenging Unconscious Bias: It involves actively identifying and challenging personal, often unconscious, biases. If not careful, it can lead to unfair assumptions and discriminatory actions.
- Individual Approach: Instead of making assumptions about groups,, it focuses on treating people as individuals with unique needs.
- Creating Fairer Environments: By removing assumptions, organisations can create environments where everyone has equal access to opportunities. Resulting in a more inclusive, productive culture.
Concepts you should know:
- Intersectionality: understanding how different aspects of a person’s identity (like race, gender, class, sexuality, disability) overlap to create unique experiences of discrimination or privilege, not just adding them up.
- Unconscious Bias: also known as implicit bias, refers to automatic and unintentional judgments or stereotypes formed about people or situations. These mental shortcuts, driven by personal experiences, culture, and upbringing, occur outside conscious awareness and can lead to unfair, hurtful decisions, that can reaffirm someone else’s disadvantages.
- Belonging (DEIB): Often added within Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s “DEI” acronym, it describes where employees feel safe, seen, and truly part of the community.
- Ally/ship: Someone who makes the commitment and effort to recognise their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and works in solidarity with oppressed groups in the struggle for justice. Allies understand that it is in their own interest to end all forms of oppression, even those from which they may benefit in concrete ways. Taking action against an oppressive system to advance the interests of marginalised groups. It’s about striving to understand other people’s experiences. It’s about supporting one another in times of need. Furthermore, it’s about setting a positive example for others. You will make a more inclusive and caring environment.
- Discrimination: Discrimination is “any unfair treatment or arbitrary distinction based on a person’s race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, age, language, social origin or other similar shared characteristic or trait”.
- Tokenism: The practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of diversity. Essentially, it gives the appearance of equality without achieving it, and can give a false sense of achievement.
- Privilege: A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group in a given culture. We are often not aware of our privilege, and we can simultaneously hold forms of privilege while experiencing forms of oppression. In conversations about racism and other forms of discrimination (and our actions), it is always important to be aware of one’s privilege and ensure that we speak and act with this in mind.
- Psychological safety: A culture where people feel comfortable being and expressing themselves, as well as willing to take risks in the belief that they will not be punished for making mistakes.
- Upstander: A person who speaks out or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied, sometimes used as opposed to bystander, or a person who is present at an incident but does not take part.
- Systematic Discrimination: The institutionalization of discrimination through policies and practices that may appear neutral on the surface but which have an exclusionary impact on particular groups. This occurs in institutions and organisations, including government, where the policies, practices, and procedures (e.g. job requirements, hiring practices, promotion procedures, etc.) exclude and/or act as barriers to some groups.
Words hold power. Therefore, using the correct terminology allows you to act with this power, for good. You can read more terminology here: https://unsceb.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/DEI%20Glossary.pdf
B or J in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?
Employees disengage with diluted efforts within Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work. Belonging alone can be co-opted. as a “softer” alternative to hard conversations about systemic challenges and barriers. Making everyone feel good doesn’t centre what Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is trying to challenge. Not everyone is, nor needs the same.
Belonging ranked at the top of the Deloitte 2020 Global Human Capital Trends survey, with 79% of organisations undoubtedly considering it important for their success. However, when leaders don’t get it right, you could be contributing towards“the belonging gap”.
Organisation’s are adopting radical approaches to workforce, inclusion initatives. “B” for Belonging may soon be replaced with “J” for Jusitce.
Justice in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) shifts the focus from mere representation to dismantling systemic barriers and addressing root causes of inequality. JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) reinforces initiatives are not performative. Furthermore, grounds your initaitves in accountability, fairness, and creating, sustained, transformative change to foster a, truly, just, and, equitable environment for, all.
Key Aspects of Justice in EDI:
- Systemic Change: Justice moves beyond individual efforts to identify and remove the root causes of inequity, such as policies and practices that disadvantage marginalized groups.
- Accountability: It ensures organizations are held responsible for creating fair environments.
- Accessibility: Justice involves removing physical, cognitive, linguistic, and psychological barriers to ensure equal access to resources and opportunities.
- Addressing “Isms”: It actively confronts racism, classism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination to create a safe, dignified, and fair environment.
- Distributive Justice: In a practical sense, it focuses on the fair, equitable, and appropriate allocation of resources and, treatment of, people.
You get to decide whether “B” or “J” transforms EDI from a compliance-driven, “tick-box” exercise into a, profound, mechanism for, social change. An opportunity for you to bridge the gap between, simply, having a diverse workforce and, actually, ensuring all members have the, same opportunities for, success.
Want to follow up from your reading with something to take away?
You can read our blog all about ‘Belonging’ and access our interactive resource for you and your leadership team that inspires you to take specialised, relevant actions for your industry.
Lastly, are you ready to work and lead differently? At Edge Of Difference, we work with HR and executive leaders to make change from the edges. Our diversity, equity and inclusion training helps you build workplaces where everyone belongs.
We help teams find the power in differences and turn it into action. Book a call with us to get started.
