DEI analytics can help businesses thrive in uncertain times (or anytime!).
With soaring inflation, impending recession and supply chain issues front of mind, organizations are scaling back on what they perceive as non-essential spending. For some, this include cutting down – or worse still, cutting out – investment in DEI. This is exceptionally short sighted!
You see, DEI is much more than something to express support for when everything is ticking along nicely. On the contrary, investment in DEI supercharges your resilience and kits you out to weather short term tumult and longer-term pain.
Let us explain…
Sustained DEI Efforts Boost Your Brand
Authentic and consistent DEI efforts can garner serious competitive edge. Who doesn’t want that during unstable economic climates or boom times alike?
This is because your commitment to creating a positive and progressive culture matters. It matters to the employees who are a part of your culture day in and day out. Although you’ll likely experience less attrition when your staff feel like they’re part of a team that cares and shares. And what’s more, DEI matters to your clients. Clients are increasingly compelled to do business with organizations that demonstrate ESG, (environmental, social and governance).
DEI Helps to Address Staff and Skills Shortages
It’s X100 tougher to navigate upheaval when you lack the staff and the skills to be the best version of your business. And having a solid reputation for DEI helps overcome these obstacles by catapulting your employer branding.
It expands your talent pool, attracting greater volumes of high-octane, qualified talent from a broader range of characteristics. In turn, this helps you build a fitter and more durable workforce. It also saves you money on potential litigation, staff churn and subpar customer service if you’re not on track with DEI.
DEI Keeps You in Touch with Your Customers
Society in general has evolved in to an increasingly diverse melting pot. In to the bargain, your client base quite probably represents a snapshot of that world.
So, doesn’t it make sense to employ a workforce that represents your client bases? Doing so equips you to meet your clients where they are. Plus, it can even provide you with invaluable insights in to what they need, want and require.
What are You Waiting for?
All this and more make for a compelling case for harnessing DEI. DEI can help you to thrive now and in the future, no matter if things get worse before they get better! And with a ‘job for life’ mentality in short supply these days, DEI is a not-so-secret weapon for keeping staff engaged.
But, here’s the thing – and it’s quite a big BUT…
It’s all well and good to think about DEI. It’s even better to have a plan of action for implementing it across every touchpoint, from talent attraction through to exit protocol. BUT a plan is just lip service if you lack the tools of the trade to bring your best laid plans to life.
At the most basic entry level, you need tools for:
- Understanding the current spread of workforce characteristics and demographics
- Implementing measures to plug gaps
- Tracking outcomes
Meet DEI analytics.
DEI Analytics Support Smooth Sailing Through Every Climate
Katy Bennett and Jason Bawanabala of PwC’s Inclusion and Diversity Consulting team define in simple terms just why DEI analytics are such a powerful asset:
“Organisations that collect and analyse data on the diversity of their workforce have a deeper understanding of their people and the lived experiences of their employees”, they explain. “They can use this data to identify any existing biases, gaps or issues and work towards improving them”.
Having DEI analytics at your fingertips empowers you to look at your people situation with fresh eyes. It does this by initially furnishing you with unrivalled real time insights into the current shape of your workforce.
Building blocks for evolving
These meaningful insights are the building blocks upon which you can continuously evolve and progress. And when all’s said and done, it’s challenging (or impossible) in the absence of facts and figures around key factors such as:
- Attracting and hiring diverse talent
- Compensating and promoting fairly
- Developing and providing opportunities impartially
- Retaining under-represented talent
- Ensuring diverse talent is represented in succession planning
It’s a seismic first step to be able to find answers to these questions. And it’s much more than you could expect from spreadsheet data pulled together from multiple ATS, HRIS and / or HCM reports! But, wait up, because there’s even more going on with DEI analytics!
On top of getting your hands on the fundamentals of people analytics, you can also slice and dice your data in whatever ways you like. This superior level of market leading functionality provides a deep dive in to your current position, define your needs, and inform the fulfilment of those needs.
Yet no matter how incredible this all sounds, DEI analytics can still get stuck in the ‘vanity metrics’ category if they don’t enable you to see beyond the basics on a page or screen. And this is why the most sophisticated examples of DEI analytics on the market go a step further. They actually pull together all your recruitment, retention and churn data.
It’s the interactivity between these volume data strands that equips you to identify gaps and implement relevant strategies. And these strategies unblock the bottlenecks standing in the way of your DEI goals.
We can help
At HireRoad, our unrivalled PeopleInsight by HireRoad software includes a dynamic user-friendly diversity dashboard. It integrates and fuses your people data from any existing systems you already have. PeopleInsight by HireRoad is the perfect platform to understand today and plan tomorrow, consolidating and elevating the strategic value of DEI within your organization.
Want to take a look? Get in touch to arrange a complimentary ‘show and tell’. It’s a fast, hassle-free non-obligatory look behind the curtain at leading edge DEI analytics that help keep your business on an even keel. No matter what the outlook.