Go Beyond DEI To Include ‘Belonging’

Diversity means increasing the number of under-represented groups within an organization while equity is removing discrimination and giving employees the tools they need to succeed. Diversity and equity are achieved by establishing organizational policies, practices and procedures.

But the purpose of DEI programs isn’t just to improve diversity metrics within a workplace, noted the WBR Insights/Traliant report. Some businesses and organizations are taking inclusion to the next level and adding “belonging” to their DEI goals.

“In workplaces across all industries, employees are transitioning to a new phase from inclusion to belonging where people do not just want to feel included but want to be accepted for their authentic self,” said Ebrahim at Unisys. “This means employees need to feel safe and comfortable in bringing their whole selves to work. There is an opportunity for organizations to create psychological safety for everyone to be themselves,” she said. Unisys uses an “Inclusion Index” to measure employee perspectives to see whether they feel they can be themselves at work.

That means creating a work environment where diversity is not just a goal, but something to be celebrated.

It also means proactively identifying, addressing and routinely mitigating unconscious bias and microaggressions – something that only 12 percent of organizations now do, according to the WBR Insights/Traliant survey.