Whitney Simon, Head of DE&I Consulting

As we move through 2024, I can't help but feel we're living in a tale of two narratives when it comes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). On one hand, we're witnessing incredible milestones that fill my heart with hope. Simone Biles has become the most decorated American gymnast ever, and our new Parliament is the most diverse in history across multiple demographics. These achievements are worth celebrating and show the progress we've made.

But when we zoom out, a different story emerges. The UK recently witnessed a series of Islamophobic and racist riots fuelled by misinformation online, the far-right and anti-immigration sentiment. And in the corporate world, we're seeing a troubling "DE&I backlash." Giants like Google, Zoom, and Microsoft are scaling back or even eliminating their DE&I teams. It's beyond disheartening to see this retreat from commitments that seemed so solid just a short time ago.

So how can we continue to push for meaningful change in the face of such challenges?

I've been finding inspiration in the work of Lily Zheng, a diversity, equity, and inclusion strategist. Their message resonates deeply with me: focus on tangible, measurable outcomes tied to real data.

This approach has me reflecting on how often organisations roll out DE&I initiatives that sound great on paper but don't align with their intended outcomes. Or worse, they're so aspirational that they're nearly impossible to measure. When DE&I activities lack clear metrics, they risk falling into the trap of performative work – all show, no substance. And let's be honest, that's the last thing any of us want.

Six questions to audit and measure your DE&I progress across the organisation

Zheng emphasises that DE&I outcomes go far beyond just demographic representation. While tracking demographics is important, we need to measure a broader set of outcomes that stakeholders value. Inspired by their work, we have created this simple set of questions to audit your ability to measure DE&I in your organisation:

1. Accountability infrastructure: How are leaders held responsible for achieving DE&I goals? 
2. DE&I infrastructure: What resources and groups are dedicated to DE&I work? 
3. Progression: How equitable are promotion and career development processes? 
4. Misconduct and conflict resolution: How effectively are incidents of discrimination addressed? 
5. Wellbeing: What systems are in place to support employee wellbeing? 
6. Social impact: How does the organisation positively impact its surrounding communities? 

By focusing on these areas and developing clear indicators and metrics, we can keep stakeholders accountable, measure return on investment, and most importantly, identify where things aren't working so we can make changes.

Zheng also stresses the importance of creating a theory of change – a set of connected hypotheses for actions that will move an organisation from its current state to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive one. This theory of change can then inform specific proxy metrics that help track progress towards the desired outcomes.

For example, if we're aiming to increase representation of underrepresented groups at all job levels, our theory of change might include lowering turnover rates, creating formal sponsorship programs, developing equitable hiring practices, and implementing accountability processes for senior leaders. Each of these steps would have associated metrics to track progress.

Data to drive action

Disaggregating metrics into specific demographic and organisational factors can reveal specific challenges that need addressing. And it's crucial to have a plan in place for following up on what the data reveals – treating DE&I metrics with the same rigour and accountability as any other serious data-driven initiative.

As we face these challenging times, this data-driven approach offers a path forward. By focusing on measurable outcomes and using data to guide our efforts, we can continue to make progress even in the face of backlash and setbacks.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. How are you approaching DE&I in your own spaces? It's paramount that we keep this conversation going and work together towards a more inclusive future. If you would like to talk about strategies to move beyond performative gestures and create initiatives that truly make a difference – ones we can measure, improve, and celebrate – we’d love to collaborate.

If you want to hear more about our DE&I Consulting services, get in touch with Missive today.