Why Employers Focus on DE&I

Employers are increasingly recognizing the unique make up of their organization, not just in regard to the mental well-being of their employees, but across the many facets related to diversity equity and inclusion, commonly referred to now as DE&I. And within DE&I, we strive to think about facets like race, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, age/generation, the makeup of family and how family is defined, as well as physical and mental abilities, and gender or sexual orientation.

So why are employers focused on DE&I?

Honestly, it is the right thing to do, but aside from that there are true benefits to be found in the organizational success, financial performance, and innovation that comes from embracing the diversity that exists within a company. With that said, it’s an emerging topic, and employers are beginning to recognize and embrace the reality that how companies used to look at and consider their benefits programs is not the reality for many, perhaps even most employees today. Now, employees are in multiple generations, some caring for young children, some focused on building their careers, others, on caring for their parents/grandparents. Not everyone will have caregiving responsibilities either – some may have a disability or based on their background may be more susceptible to certain health conditions. All this just makes it important for employers to be thoughtful about the benefits program structure to address many different facets, and strength both the employee engagement through a focus on the employee experience and on the value proposition for the talent in the marketplace they wish to attract to join their organization.

How are you addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion in your organization? Are you considering key questions like, what your communications look like? Are they including pictures of people who look like those who work for your organization, and do they reflect the communities that you serve, or are working in? What about holidays – are you recognizing days that are important to different religions or races? There are infinite angles that employers can take to start evaluating their benefits program through a DE&I lens once you start to build that framework.  I invite you email me at [email protected] and share your thoughts on what you and your connections are seeing in your organizations related to DE&I.