Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Disruption. It’s the only real certainty in today’s shifting business environment. From a pandemic to a labor shortage to a pressing inflation problem, organizations are grappling with a lot. To cope with what they have in front of them, and what may be ahead, they need to be resilient and nimble—which is only possible with an innovative, productive, and collaborative workforce.

Beginning in 2017 with the #MeToo movement and propelled by the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, there was a strong call for all companies, including tech, to rethink their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In the years that followed, across the spectrum of industries, companies were put in a position of self-reflection and choice about how they would tackle this issue going forward.

This report shines a light on the experiences of frontline workers of color, the pathways from the front line to the middle class, and the skills workers need to advance. It also offers steps companies could take to improve job quality and better support frontline workers of color to develop and progress in their careers.

When it comes to culture, let’s agree that creating change is everyone’s responsibility. No one person or group of people holds the exclusive power to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture. However, some people do have the ability to affect change in a particularly dramatic way. They are “people managers” who interact with and influence employees on a day-to-day basis.

Culture Amp has long used its research and data to highlight important trends in DEI in the workplace. Their 2018 and 2019 Diversity, Inclusion, & Intersectionality Reports called “attention to trends that remain strong across industries.”

If you are struggling to demonstrate the effectiveness of your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), you are not alone. Research backs up your concerns, but there is an answer to this dilemma.

In preparing for this piece, I set my sights on demystifying the term “equity,” as in diversity, equity, and inclusion, (DEI). I wanted to explore the part equity plays in creating a healthier workplace culture, which led me to this question: “What exactly is the difference between ‘equity’ and ‘equality’?”

For 75 years, SHRM has served millions of HR professionals who-in turn have continued on to impact the lives of billions of workers across the world. When we attended SHRM22 in New Orleans last week, we celebrated the relationships formed over those years and how we can move forward collectively to make workplaces better, for everyone.

What does it look like to prepare the world’s future business leaders to be stewards of diversity, equity and inclusion? For Yale School of Management (SOM), it means shaping an environment that reflects the value they place on inclusivity and the kind of culture they are striving to shape, within the school, and into the world.

Inclusive leadership can make the difference between organization-wide engagement with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and widespread indifference. But while there’s a fair amount of talk about inclusive leadership, there’s much less in the way of guidance on how to put it into practice. This makes cultivating and engaging inclusive leaders a sometimes unseen or little mentioned DEI strategy.