Earlier this year, the Global Parity Alliance, in partnership with McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum released its 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lighthouses Insights Report 2023. The Alliance was formed last year and has 150 large corporate global members across industries. The authors of the report stated that worldwide companies spent $7.5 billion on DEI initiatives and this amount is expected to grow to $15.4 billion by 2026. Workplace DEi programs are a big deal in terms of the dollars spent and the focus such programs received to ensure their success. 

Although there were improved financial commitments to and focus on workplace DEI programs, the report noted that over the past three years, progress was slow, and has reversed in some areas. For example, the percentage of women leaders increased by only 3.6%, 2SLGBTQ+ employees were 1.4 times more likely than their cisgender and heterosexual colleagues to report experiencing workload and work performance evaluation issues, Black, Indigenous, and racialized workers in majority-White countries were 1.4 times more likely than their White counterparts to receive fewer promotions. Organizations have implemented more DEI initiatives, but many workers have not benefited from these programs.

The Global Parity Alliance seeks to identify organizations with DEI programs that are successful, scalable, and sustainable to demonstrate to organizations that are struggling with their DEI initiatives what success can be. Alliance members submitted 29 case examples outlining what worked for their organizations from various industries and countries. Such organizations were named lighthouses and they offered insights into what worked, which activities did not work, and how companies might continue to move forward with their DEI programs to ensure equity and justice for employees, customers, investors, and other stakeholders. From these case studies, the authors identified five key factors that were critical to the success of the workplace DEI programs they reviewed:

1. Nuanced understating of the root causes of inequities by engaging staff to identify the barriers equity-deserving employees experienced. Employee surveys, listening circles, and other tools were used to expose the roots of the problems.

2. Meaningful definition of success by setting clear goals for an organization’s DEI work and developing clear reasons why the DEI programs were important to everyone throughout the organization.

3. Accountable and invested organizational leaders who must lead the work. The organization’s CEO and other executives must be the internal champions, explain the vision, and role model the company’s expectations.

4. Solutions designed for the context because there is no one-size fits all approach. Lighthouses spent time understanding the root causes of the problems and created solutions that were specific to the organization’s needs and goals.

5. Rigorous tracking and course corrections to develop key metrics to track progress and ensure that the programs made a difference. Things that were found to be ineffective were modified or abandoned altogether if found to be harmful.

This report is very informative and offers important insights into the processes of designing, implementing, and measuring workplace DEI programs. The Alliance will produce a report annually to update their understanding of successful DEI programs in diverse workplaces.

Thanks so much for reading today’s post. Please let me know what you believe are key drivers for successful DEI programs in workplaces.

Michelle

CEO 

michelle@mvdconsulting.ca