Working at an organization should be a pleasant experience for employees. Being part of a team, working toward goals, and furthering the company’s mission can only be accomplished well with a diverse and unique team. Hiring and developing diverse employees can lead to better success and performance. It leads to more engagement among employees, more comfort, and more inclusion across the board. It’s also the right thing to do and builds trust between employees. Everyone from company leaders to customers can benefit from a strong focus in DEI at a company. Using technology to improve your DEI policies and initiatives is the most direct route to finding the best people to make your organization strong. In this article, we’ll tell you how to use technology to strengthen your DEI Initiatives.
Why Organizations Need Strong DEI Initiatives
The world of work is always changing and evolving. To keep your teams strong, working in harmony with one another, and ultimately thriving together in the workplace, it’s important to have strong DEI initiatives. The concept of DEI—otherwise known as diversity, equity, and inclusion—is integral to any business. The more distinct, diverse, and equitable your business, the better off you are. Diversity refers to including anyone, regardless of race, gender, identity, age, and disability. Equity means treating people equally, avoiding bias, and giving everyone equal opportunities. Inclusion means cultivating an atmosphere of respect and understanding, where everyone feels they can contribute and be heard. By incorporating all of these into your business, everyone can feel free to work together, in harmony, and toward relevant goals.
Talent Acquisition
Attracting diverse talent to an organization is crucial today. Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are important for talent acquisition, too. They help organizations identify and attract a more diverse pool of candidates. As we mentioned previously, more diversity leads to better innovation and productivity. DEI initiatives can also help create a more inclusive environment that is welcoming to all employees regardless of their background. Everyone feels welcome in an environment where DEI gets taken seriously. Using technology in order to support DEI initiatives for talent acquisition is fairly simple. Organizations can use online tools to assess candidate skills and qualifications. These tools can also serve to help determine if the candidate is a solid cultural fit within the organization. Other tools, like social media platforms, are fantastic for promoting diversity and inclusion values inside and outside the organization. Utilizing the tech tools you have available to improve DEI efforts at your organization can only lead to positive results in the long-term.
Educational Platforms
Another way to improve DEI is to offer educational Platforms. Create a technology space for people to learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion through online learning platforms. These can be in-house learning platforms that are part of your enterprise management system or outside courses designed to thoroughly train new hires about the role DEI initiatives play in different organizations. LMS systems allow employers to monitor and assess how well candidates are doing with the courses, offer new/unique content relevant to diversity, give equal access to pertinent information, and ultimately help train employees to avoid bias. Many of these classes can be done online, are self-directed, and come loaded with plenty of resources to help everyone succeed.
Employee Training
When you hire new employees, it’s a good idea to include diversity, equity, and inclusion training as part of the onboarding experience. Some companies partner with diversity networks to include and attract a diverse workforce. Other times, it comes through in employee training. This could happen with actual training sessions, meetings, or one-on-one conversations with managers. Individual training, alumni training, and reinforcement of DEI training should happen at all steps of the organization. Some companies might even use professional coaching services to help create a diverse and equitable environment for everyone. Training is critical to helping employees understand and achieve their goals, so using communication technology and other platforms to facilitate their training will only help matters in the long run. Employees who understand the benefits of these initiatives are more likely to be on board with them, so ensuring it becomes a major focus throughout training is critical.
Building Engagement Through Tech
Technology can play a role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. By providing platforms for open communication and collaboration, tech can help organizations build engagement. Employees from diverse backgrounds and perspectives can readily collaborate and work with each other with ease. Companies can use online tools to help create a more inclusive workplace by making it easier for people to connect with each other—especially with those who share their interests and experiences. Using technology to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives is an effective way to foster employee engagement and create a more inclusive work environment. And in a constantly shifting world, that’s more important than ever.
