4 Questions to Evaluate Your Company’s DEI Strategy

Companies that invest in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace are proven to have stronger financial performance, more innovation and less employee turnover. Developing an effective DEI strategy requires thoughtful consideration and a commitment in time to effectively incorporate DEI broadly into an organization’s culture, recruitment, leadership, and benefits. Employers can solidify their DEI strategy and take full advantage of the value it has to offer by asking a few questions to evaluate the strength of their current DEI efforts:

1. Is DEI part of your company culture?

Take a look at how DEI is actively practiced in your organization, from core values to day-to-day interactions in the workplace. A company can include DEI in their mission, vision, and values as a good first step, but employers can take it further by proactively exploring tools to communicate DEI practices to their employees. For example, offering educational resources pertaining to a variety of diverse topics, such as a guide to using personal pronouns or identifying microaggressions, can increase awareness, understanding, and mutual respect. By helping members of your organization better practice diversity, equity, and inclusion themselves, these elements can become an integral part of your company culture to form a strong foundation that supports an effective DEI strategy in the long-run.

2. Is DEI part of the recruitment process?

According to a report by McKinsey, companies with a diverse group of employees are up to 35% more likely to financially outperform their competitors. To develop a diverse workplace, companies can increase accessibility to job opportunities by enhancing inclusive practices within the recruitment process.Taking a look at the job description itself is a good start. Using inclusive language throughout the job description and posting it on a variety of platforms are both good methods to make job opportunities more accessible to a wider group of candidates. Blind recruitment can also be used to filter a candidate’s resume to remove their name, gender, address, and other identifiable characteristics that are not directly related to the job’s qualifications, which can reduce unconscious bias and allow for a clearer picture of the candidate’s fit for the role.Additionally, employers should review their company policies to make sure they are inclusive. For example, improving flexibility through remote work options or flexible work hours can accommodate a wide variety of employee needs, especially for working parents, caregivers, or employees with disabilities. WIN Family Services can also enhance flexibility for employees through return-to-work support and resources to help parents or caregivers. As a bonus, improving flexibility is simply a desirable perk that can attract a larger pool of diverse applicants while supporting equity and inclusion.

3. How diverse is the executive team?

Diversity within an organization’s leadership team is not only an important indicator of DEI commitment, but it can also result in 19% higher revenues compared to companies with less-diverse counterparts. Diverse executive teams are comprised of people who have a variety of different experiences and perspectives, which can improve innovation and better support an inclusive workplace through representation. Companies that lack diversity in senior leadership roles may look to improve their DEI strategy overall in order to better attract and retain executives from marginalized groups. Additionally, fostering the professional development of existing employees can help to grow diversity and inclusion in leadership roles.

4. Do your benefits support DEI?

Companies that invest in making their benefits package more inclusive by offering parental leave, mental health benefits, and family-building benefits are rewarded with reduced absenteeism and lower employee turnover. Employers with such benefits in place can also proactively look for new opportunities to further increase equity and inclusion. For example, providing conventional fertility benefits may not meet the needs of all employees, which can limit options for LGBTQIA+ and single employees who want to have children. In order to cater to all employees, a comprehensive family-building benefit that includes fertility treatments, fertility preservation, reproductive behavioral health, adoption, and surrogacy can be the answer. Offering WIN’s family-building benefits can fortify a DEI strategy by providing support to all employees regardless of gender, sexual identity, or partnered status, which serves as an actionable commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.Employers that are dedicated to embedding DEI practices in multiple elements of their organization are rewarded with improved recruitment, retention, innovation, and financial gains compared to their competitors. Specifically, companies that invest in family-building benefits to amplify their approach to DEI receive the additional advantages of lowered healthcare costs and truly satisfied employees.Contact solutions@winfertility.com to speak with a Sales Executive and learn more about how WIN’s family-building benefits can strengthen your DEI strategy.