Your organization aims to embrace diversity. But is there an accurate way to measure how your DEI efforts are working? What does the data look like when individual workers feel they belong? That was the theme of “Finding the Most Accurate and Enlightening Ways to Measure DEI,” a panel at From Day One's live conference in Seattle, moderated by Puget Sound Business Journal’s Cathy Duchamp. 

You know you have an inclusive, culturally relevant workplace if people there are thriving, said Leann Pereira, senior director of people and learning sciences at Emtrain. Her company sees cultural knowledge and inclusion as a learned skill, she explained. “Our model is focused on people first learning to stay grounded and be self-aware, and then learning to connect and build relationships with others who may not be exactly like them.” Emtrain offers assessment at different levels: to help people understand the quality of their individual relationships; to assess team dynamics; and to assess organizational systems and processes. “We provide a way for DEI practitioners to speak to executive stakeholders and board members and develop strategies because they have data and analytics that can inform programs.”

Elizabeth Umphress, a professor and faculty director of the Consulting and Business Development Center at the University of Washington, has spent 25 years researching training. Her work includes finding out what doesn’t work as well as what does. For example, she cites a meta-analysis of studies showing that making diversity training mandatory may be counterproductive. Voluntary training is better. “I see an incredible amount of promise with civility training, which is learning how to treat one another with respect and dignity. If I was an organizational leader, that's what I would look to. I certainly wouldn't look to mandatory diversity training, and I would definitely not make it online. Civility training is amenable to different formats and much less costly.”

The current period is one of well-known challenges related to burn-out and workforce retention. Gloria Ngezaho, senior human resources manager for workforce & workplace equity for King County, Wash., points out that, at the same time, a generational shift in the workforce has begun. Gen Z is coming in with different desires and expectations. Interviewees often make it clear they’re attracted to inclusivity and more interested in projects than in long-term security. So, ways of creating workplace culture need to shift, too, says Ngezaho. Delay planning for your changing workforce, and you're going to struggle to attract the type of talent that you need.

The next generation is not just motivated by a paycheck, Ngezaho said. They’re interested in how they feel at work. “Do they feel comfortable, do they feel safe? Do they feel like they’re happy in the space? Do they feel like they’re contributing something beyond Monday to Friday, 8-5? We're just starting to understand them, because they're just starting to show up in data points.”

Mardia Shands, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Swedish Health Services, agrees about the importance of looking to the future. Organizational preparation now has to go beyond DEI discussions about race to consider the needs of every demographic within an organization, including parents of young children and caregivers. The question is, “How are you creating a culture so that people can come into that organization and thrive as their whole, true, authentic selves?”

Trust and Surveys

There is such a thing as survey fatigue. But Pereira says that the right survey can help you understand the way people experience work. “Where our surveys need to go is to assess risk and to understand the experience and then to inform strategic actions.” 

In decision-making, Umphress recommends asking the opinions of those who are going to be most impacted. “We have really smart people who are working for us,” she said. “And if they trust you, they will tell you what they think.” Her research demonstrates that employee distrust is generated not just by experiencing unfairness but also by observing it. So, she encourages people making decisions about layoffs and pay cuts to think about long-term consequences for their workforce. “You need to probably expect a performance reduction. And you might expect turnover, too,” she warned. “The people who are going to leave are going to be the ones who can leave, which are going to be the ones who are the high performers.”

Beyond surveys, “We get data every single day that we overlook,” said Ngezaho. That data can come from one-on-one conversations, through the interview and feedback process, and from internal data: on harassment and discrimination, and from employee assistance programs, affinity groups, and disability programs. “There's a lot of data that's already there, that people have been sharing all the time.” 

Pereira observed, “The clients who have the most successful human resources practices, I think, are the ones who understand that it’s qualitative data. I'm hearing my colleagues say, ‘Use all your stories and all your numbers. Don't just do surveys.’”

It also helps when employees believe that surveys lead to action, notes Umphress. A best practice she sees within organizations is transparency regarding salient outcomes like salary. Looking at data by gender, race, and ethnicity will reveal significantly unequal outcomes, owing to the prevalence of implicit bias. Several panelists underlined that point: unconscious bias is real. But the growth mindset, says Umphress, is to accept that reality and take it on. “There's data-demonstrated interventions that we can do in order to change that.”

In tightening economic times, how does one make the pitch to managers to maintain or grow teams? Shands reflected, “We as a society have to get to a place where we recognize the humanity in people. In order for us to thrive, we have to invest in ourselves, and organizations are no different. That's why we invest in making sure that the organization is diverse and inclusive. And we have to have a sense of belonging in order for us to be able to bring our best performance.”

Valerie Schloredt is a writer and editor living in Seattle. She is the former books editor for YES! magazine.