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DEI initiatives are often complex and difficult to manage for many reasons. These factors range from shifting organizational demands to changing employee expectations and political changes. Yet, DEI remains vital in organizational success in the diverse and connected digital era.
A company’s greatest asset, its talent, has also warmed up to the importance of DEI. Findings from the Pew Research Center involving over 5,000 hires in the United States revealed that 56% of employees have a positive opinion of their company’s focus on DEI.
Yet, establishing and managing DEI initiatives could prove difficult for the unprepared enterprise. Biases may continue to abound, companies may lack the DEIB metrics needed to secure investor interests, and recruitment could fail to tap fully into a diverse workforce.
The good news is that benchmarking real-world case studies offers a realistic perspective to navigate the tricky and unpredictable DEIB journey. To that end, we have compiled insightful DEI lessons from the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Lighthouse Program to keep your DEI initiatives on track and on target.
5 Lessons of DEI Initiatives From The World Economic Forum 2024 Lighthouse Program
The World Economic Forum founded the annual Lighthouse program that presents the latest DEI practices trends. The program shares creative DEI initiatives from industry leaders that boost workforce engagement, employee satisfaction, and productivity.
A lighthouse initiative showcases how decision-makers can improve DEI campaigns with a systematic and integrated approach. In addition, a lighthouse approach often includes innovative talent management practices and transparent communications that foster positive and inclusive cultures.
We highlight the key points of the 2024 Lighthouse program report in the following sections.
Eliminating Financial Gaps For Women Through DEI Initiatives
Women continue to face financial challenges as an underrepresented group. The Pew Research Institute reveals that the gender payment disparity has remained largely unchanged in the US in the last decade – where women earned an average of 82% of the salary of men.
Private sector bank Banco Pichincha’s lighthouse initiative implemented policies that empowered women with equal access to financial services in Ecuador. So, these strategies include an exclusive bond offered to women entrepreneurs. The bank’s innovative DEI initiatives resulted in a 16% closure of the financial gap between men and women.
Banco Pichincha formed an internal commission responsible for overseeing the long-term success of the DEI initiative upon implementation. So, through consistent reporting systems, the bank monitored and measured the progress of its women-focused initiative to ensure the continuous impact of its campaign.
Takeaway for Employers and Hiring Managers
Like Banco Pichincha’s financial directives, companies can empower female talent with inclusive initiatives in workplace practices. For example, business leaders could collaborate with hiring managers to oversee salary disparities between men and women hires.
In addition, HR managers could appoint a committee for women-focused initiatives to report on insightful talent metrics like engagement, promotions, and retention. So, committee members would monitor recruitment and talent management metrics related to women hires. They would then use this data to plan DEI strategies with employee resource groups (ERGs).
These collaborations allow ERG representatives to keep HR informed on insights from women in the workplace to address issues and create equal opportunities. Effective communications can help HR teams narrow the income gap between talent while promoting a positive. It can also help create a more accepting work culture that attracts candidates from diverse backgrounds.
Creating More Leadership Opportunities For Underrepresented Groups for Your DEI Initiatives
Beer manufacturing giant Heineken implemented its Women in Sales initiative that increased the representation of women in leadership positions within its sales team. The initiative applied a comprehensive approach to attracting, retaining, and developing women in the sales department. Thus, boosting overall DEI campaigns.
The Women in Sales initiative’s success led to a growth of women senior managers from 9% in 2020 to 19% in 2022. Heineken aims to boost these figures to 25% by 2025. So, the beer company achieved DEI success by actively listening to talent perspectives throughout the recruitment process and incorporating suggestions and feedback in decision-making.
Heineken’s primary steps involved:
- Diagnosing the issues faced by women in sales leadership by conducting a survey that identified the lack of career conversations and opportunities.
- Setting a clear goal based on diagnostic findings resulted in the planned 25% increase in women’s senior leadership in sales by 2025.
- Gaining buy-in from business leaders to prioritize and drive the initiative across all operations. So, Heineken’s global DEI team collaborated with the global commerce team to ensure smooth program deployment.
- Assigning DEI leaders to each local operation to oversee the program, providing measurable KPIs and action plans.
- Tasking every operation to develop creative hiring solutions with action plans that boost women’s senior leadership in sales. So, the global process enabled Heineken to optimize each hiring campaign based on geographical context.
- Presenting the proposed hiring/recruitment solutions to The Global Commerce Talent Committee ensured that at least one female candidate on the shortlist would be assessed for every senior sales vacancy.
- Actively tracking, measuring, and improving the program centered on the critical metrics of the percentage of women in sales manager roles.
Takeaway for Employers and Hiring Managers
Heineken implemented a methodical and systematic initiative by identifying the existing DEI issues in their hiring/recruitment process. Therefore, companies can achieve similar results by first establishing the root cause of their DEI efforts. For example, hiring managers can monitor the percentage of hired women and its impact on the quality of hire.
Establishing a data-backed perspective enables DEI and hiring teams to determine the best practices with senior management. With leadership on board, companies should establish clear goals and KPIs with realistic timelines (e.g., Heineken’s aim for a 25% increase in women senior leadership in sales by 2025).
Your recruitment team should consult an external committee, task force, or advisory board that holds the company to its DEI programs by checking against critical campaign metrics. Hiring leaders could seek mentorship opportunities with diversity experts for professional development. So, these expert collaborations can help drive effective DEI initiatives tailored to a company’s business case.
Talent management teams could consult focus groups to examine KPIs like diversity representation, pay equity, and retention rates more thoroughly. Diversity representation is the number of team members from an underrepresented group.
Reducing Attrition With Personalized Talent Engagement
McKinsey & Co. developed its lighthouse initiative upon discovering a significantly higher attrition rate of mothers (returning from extended maternal leave) than other team members. So, the company consulted data from multiple sources. This included its HR systems and employee surveys, to identify parent employees’ challenges in returning to the workplace.
The company responded to the talent concern with a reboarding program that supported employees in seamlessly returning to their roles. McKinsey & Co.’s reboarding program included metrics for monitoring and tracking the initiative’s progress and kept leaders informed about the program outcomes.
McKinsey & Co. adapted the program for regional context to ensure the best results based on an operation’s local needs and priorities. The initiative optimized leave management support with a tracker that accurately records employees’ usage of reboarding program components, leave start/ return dates, and attrition within the first 12 months post-leave.
By meeting employees’ needs, the initiative led to a 20% decline in attrition among mothers returning from leave.
Takeaways For Employers and Hiring Managers
McKinsey & Co. recommends that HR teams consider every aspect of the employee journey when preparing and implementing a DEI program.
A successful DEI strategy should optimize employee experiences from the recruitment stage to a hire’s offboarding. So, companies should reference the relevant success metrics needed to track the progress of their initiatives throughout the process.
One aspect of McKinsey & Co.’s initiative could help enhance the efficiency of hiring managers dealing with DEI. Specifically, the company provided individual coaching through professional executive specialists who customized personal plans that enhance the employee reboarding experience.
Similarly, hiring managers could tailor the recruitment process by fulfilling candidates’ needs and priorities according to their profiles. So, the steps to achieve this may include prioritizing inclusive job descriptions (JDs) and candidate support services that offer the resources and information for successfully applying for a position.
Prioritizing LGBTQI Inclusion
PepsiCo’s lighthouse initiative focused on LGBTQI inclusion by empowering employees with a self-ID process. The company achieved this by equipping HR teams and people managers with the tools and training that streamlined the initiative.
They, then, developed the campaign based on the findings from accumulated data on the representation of women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and veteran status. The company discovered a lack of information from LGBTQI representatives. This resulted from the complexities involved in identity disclosure (due to the privacy involved).
PepsiCo responded to the knowledge gap with internal training sessions on the importance of self-ID and pronoun disclosure and their effect on realizing a more equitable workplace. The initiative gained senior leadership’s support, providing access to the resources needed to drive efforts.
The organization’s local HR managers oversaw implementing the self-identifying process, while chief human resources officers encouraged employees to utilize the feature in their centralized employee profile system.
PepsiCo’s initiative led to large-scale changes in how employees identified sexual orientation and gender identity, with 7,400 employees globally listing their preferred pronouns.
Empowering employees to express themselves freely contributes to an accepting company culture. As such, PepsiCo’s initiative can help establish inclusive environments that improve employees’ overall mental health while reducing the risks of discrimination and legal disputes.
Takeaways For Employers and Hiring Managers
LGBTQI inclusion remains an integral aspect of DEI that requires a strategic approach and careful management due to the privacy of disclosure. Aside from celebrating openness and empowering existing hires, HR managers should implement inclusive recruitment strategies and tools that attract top talent from underrepresented groups.
For instance, talent managers can leverage Ongig’s AI-driven Text Analyzer platform, which identifies and eliminates biased JD terms. These can help your company leave a positive first impression on every candidate at scale to establish diverse teams.
Encouraging Inclusivity Among Team Members
Salesforce’s lighthouse initiative, Warmline, gave underrepresented groups a sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace. The DEI program empowered individual employees by providing a safe space for receiving timely support and resources from trusted coaches so they could perform optimally in their respective roles.
Salesforce developed the Warmline initiative based on the company’s annual Great Insights Survey findings, which revealed employee sentiments on DEI. The data enabled Salesforce to identify inconsistencies in employee experiences and career bottlenecks, providing the HR team with the details for structuring the Warmline initiative.
Warmline enabled team members to confide in experts regarding barriers to their careers and personal progression. These personalized engagements enabled HR managers to discover pain points in the employee experience and develop effective policies and practices in response.
Salesforce’s Warmline initiative began with a small group managed by the Employee Success team and gradually moved to the management of the company’s Office of Equality. The transition provided access to greater resources and expertise to accelerate Warmline’s success as a business priority.
The initiative significantly improved employee retention, supporting over 2500 cases since its inception in 2020.
Takeaways For Employers and Hiring Managers
Empathy is a cornerstone of DEI success, as seen in Salesforce’s Warmline initiative. Hiring managers and recruiters can instill a sense of inclusion at the start of organizational journeys with unbiased hiring campaigns that attract every qualified candidate.
Some strategies include blind interviews, diverse interview panels, inclusive JDs, and diversity recruitment partnerships with underrepresented minority organizations.
Applying The Common Success Factors of Lighthouses
While each lighthouse initiative approached the DEI subject with varying methods and demographics, they involved a similar structure. Your company could adopt the following common success factors to advance ongoing DEIB recruitment efforts.
Form a Nuanced Understanding With Data
Data makes your DEI initiatives measurable. Access to accurate data provides your DEI initiatives with the details needed for setting up clear talent management goals and objectives. For instance, McKinsey & Co. leveraged data to identify the attrition issue faced by employees returning from extended maternity leave (beyond 12 weeks).
Data-backed information provides a deeper understanding of your DEI recruitment challenges and puts things into perspective. This makes your DEI goals scalable, quantifiable, achievable, and measurable.
A centralized database of talent information offers a nuanced understanding of DEI root causes that require the most attention. For example, your team could apply a diversity analytics platform like Blendoor, which aggregates information from the applicant tracking system (ATS), candidate surveys, and recruitment reports.
Updated talent-related data also helps you present a better case to senior management and leaders for budgeting discussions. Real-time information can also help you understand the pressing issues and concerns of members in underrepresented groups for quick resolution.
Gain Buy-in From Leadership With Defined Success
Each successful lighthouse initiative benefitted from the unwavering support of senior management. Gaining the interest of decision-makers helps you drive your DEI recruitment with greater outreach and resources to accelerate progress.
As a hiring manager, you can strengthen the rapport with decision-makers by highlighting the unique advantages of your DEI initiative. Make a strong case by tying DEI efforts with organizational and investor goals. For example, investing in an inclusive interview training program could help improve employee engagement and retention rates.
As such, your company needs to define DEI’s success transparently and with clear targets. These would include short—and long-term milestones for driving your campaign. However, it is a symbiotic process. Senior management should always remain accountable for each DEI initiative’s inputs and outcomes by linking to performance incentives.
Decision-makers could also initiate cross-functional collaboration (beyond HR) to utilize the resources and expertise for sustaining DEI initiatives. These relationships may include external partnerships with minority group organizations and hiring coaches specialized in diversity and inclusion.
Contextualized Solutions
Once HR teams have identified the root cause of the DEI, it is important to consider the situation and critical factors specific to your company. Effective DEI recruitment initiatives assess context to achieve the most impactful solutions.
For instance, gender parity issues in an organization would require multiple approaches, including inclusive hiring, financial revisions, and other policy changes. Hiring managers must work closely with other departments and senior management to promote the initiatives across the entire organization.
Flexibility is another important consideration for DEI initiatives. Decision-makers and hiring managers should design each DEI solution with scalability in mind. Doing so futureproofs initiatives against financial setbacks or operational complexities. For example, Ongig’s Text Analyzer platform enables you to scale inclusive JDs based on your company’s needs.
Organizations can support employees toward proactive participation in DEI solutions with internal upskilling initiatives and guidance from external experts. Employees can directly influence your company’s DEI success (e.g., PepsiCo.’s self-ID campaign), so it is important to equip them with the required tools and training for optimal contributions.
Ongoing Tracking And Correction
The lighthouse initiatives demonstrated that HR teams should track and monitor key DEI metrics for continuous success.
It is strategic to include a feedback loop in the post-implementation process. For example, PepsiCo continued to collect responses from the Employee Resource Group on LGBTQI+ inclusion. So, this helped fine-tune the self-ID program. Measurable data reflect the progress of your DEI efforts beyond implementation through strategic iteration.
Rigorous tracking and course correction ensures that your DEI hiring campaign effectively adapts to changing recruitment trends and employee demands. This helps your company optimize resource allocation in response to DEI trends in the dynamic workplace environment.
HR teams and organizational leaders can enhance their measurement strategy by combining data and employee feedback from targeted demographics for comprehensive results.
Training and Development for Hiring Managers
Creating an inclusive workplace starts with well-trained hiring managers. Therefore, training programs and ongoing support are key to building a diverse workplace.
DEI Training Programs
DEI training programs are an important factor for all hiring managers. These programs teach managers about workplace diversity and how to create an inclusive environment. So, unconscious bias training, for instance, helps staff members recognize and reduce biases in the hiring process.
Offering DEI training is the best way to ensure everyone understands the importance of inclusion initiatives and the benefits of DEI. This training should cover topics like ethnic diversity, different cultures, and also physical ability to promote an inclusive work environment.
Ongoing Education and Support
Training shouldn’t stop after the initial program, however. Ongoing education and support help maintain an inclusive culture. So, provide educational events and development opportunities for hiring managers to keep them informed about industry standards and successful DEI initiatives.
Mentorship programs can also be a great way to support career development for people of color and individuals from different backgrounds. So, these programs offer guidance and support, helping everyone feel valued and promoting job satisfaction.
Creating a Supportive Environment
It’s essential to create a supportive environment where managers feel comfortable asking for help and discussing DEI challenges. DEI offices can also provide resources and support for hiring managers. Thus, helping them implement strong DEI initiatives.
In addition, survey results can offer insights into the effectiveness of DEI training and highlight areas for improvement. So, using this data, company leaders can take concrete actions to enhance their DEI strategies, ensuring real change in their hiring practices.
So, invest in training and ongoing support to build an inclusive organization that values diversity and promotes equal opportunity. This holistic approach to DEI not only fosters a great place to work. It also drives better decision-making and financial performance.
Overall, training and development for hiring managers are crucial steps toward creating an inclusive workplace where everyone, regardless of their background or life experiences, can thrive.
Why I Wrote This?
Ongig empowers employers and hiring managers with the Text Analyzer platform that vets and optimizes JDs. The AI-driven technology flags JD inefficiencies, like inherent biases and boring phrases, to help you maximize talent acquisition. Using Text Analyzer helps recruiters improve inclusion initiatives and create inclusive workplaces. Want to see how Ongig’s Text Analyzer can help with your DEI initiatives? Request a demo, today!
Shout-outs:
- Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace – By Rachel Minkin, Diversity, Pew Research Center
- These companies are successfully scaling up Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the globe – By Fernando Alonso Perez-Chao, World Economic Forum
- World Economic Forum – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses 2024 Report
- By CAROLINA ARAGÃO, Pew Research Institute – Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn’t changed much in two decades
- Heineken – Women in Sales recognised by the World Economic Forum
- Center For Employment Equity – What Works?
- McKinsey & Co. – The Global Lighthouse Network
- By Lori Castillo Martinez, Salesforce – Our 2023 Annual Equality Update: Where We Are and Where We’re Going
- PepsiCo’s Data-Driven Approach to Diversity and Inclusion – By Kate Birch, Sustainability Magazine
- EFE Comunica – World Economic Forum ranks Ecuador’s largest bank as leader in empowering women
- By Ron Miller, Tech Crunch – Blendoor data lets you know if companies are living up to diversity pledges
