100 Days Of Starting Your DEI Journey
Congratulations! You are ready to move further along the diversity continuum and would like to start your Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Journey. Regardless of the size of your company or ruling year, there are actionable and measurable steps you can take to shift from conversation to practice in the next 100 days. The DEI Roadmap developed by I Follow the Leader recommends seven strategic action steps.
Leadership affirms that DEI initiatives are a strategic priority. While other steps in the roadmap can occur in a different order, this step is most critical. To help leaders and board members enhance their knowledge and understanding of DEI strategy and the business case, a presentation or executive summary may be beneficial.
Conduct a Cultural Audit. Recommend that the cultural audit is conducted by an outside firm, so they can provide you with best practice recommendations. Elements of the audit may include a DEI focused survey distributed to all-staff, hosting focus groups, interviewing stakeholders to gather historical data, and a review of documents.
Based on data from the Cultural Audit, prioritize next steps. The audit will provide a wealth of information and baseline data so you can evaluate your companies’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Leadership will need to determine and prioritize next steps based on the company’s overall strategy, resources, and bandwidth. For many companies, the next step is hosting a training for all staff. Potential topics include implicit (unconscious) bias, DEI, and racial equity.
Develop a DEI statement to guide DEI initiatives. The statement is a tool that articulates your company’s commitment to DEI; it should also serve as a guide for future strategy.
Form a DEI group or taskforce to help lead DEI initiatives. This group allows passionate stakeholders to help execute initiatives and provide oversight for the DEI plan. These groups can be an essential resource for HR and diversity officers if they have a strategic purpose that is determined in advance by leadership.
Develop a strategic and measurable 1-2-year DEI Action Plan. Recommend that the plan contains goals, strategies, activities, measurements, timelines, and lists the parties responsible for executing each activity.
Begin executing the plan. Measure results, schedule regular check-in meetings, update key stakeholders on progress, and pivot when needed.
Progressing along the DEI Roadmap will allow your company to heighten awareness of DEI initiatives. If executed successfully based on best-practices, the process will improve the overall culture and increase profitability, creativity, and innovation.
Written By: Antoinetta Mosley
DEI leader, Certified Diversity Professional. Researcher, Writer, Speaker, Consultant, and Advocate.
Antoinetta founded I Follow the Leader LLC- a place where those of a different feather can soar together. I Follow the Leader is a Leadership Consulting Firm specializing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work.
Learn more about I Follow the Leader here.