Measuring Progress
More than any other country, America defines itself by a collective dream: the dream of economic opportunity and upward mobility. Its proudest boast is that it offers a chance of the good life to everybody who is willing to work hard and play by the rules.
How to Show Up
- Disaggregate data. This is the most effective way to identify inequities and outcomes gaps both internally (e.g., compensation) and externally (e.g., program outcomes).
- Define where you stand. Explore where your organization lands for each component: diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging (see definitions) to identify which diversity metrics to implement.
- Audit your approach. Look at leadership, talent processes & infrastructure and culture to identify where improvements may be needed.
Getting Started
There’s a lot to learn! Here are 4 resources you can use to start your journey. Browse even more resources below.
- Review your organization’s diversity metrics and ensure they are aligned with your organizational values.
- Read: Putting Metrics on Diversity & Inclusion
- For Directors: Identify race equity champions at board & senior levels.
- For Direct Service: Join or create a DEIB Working Group.
More Resources
What does achieving each component of DEIB look like?
Diversity is the demographic and psychographic mix of a specific collection of people, taking into account all elements of human difference.
Improving equity means promoting justice, impartiality and fairness within the procedures, processes and distribution of resources by institutions or systems.
Inclusion is the degree to which diverse individuals are able to participate fully in the decision-making processes within an organization or group.
Belonging is how employees feel at work. “Do they feel valued? Do they feel like they should be there? Do they feel that their insights, commentary and perspectives matter?”
Diversity metrics need to be aligned with key organizational values and goals.
When deciding which diversity metrics to implement, ask yourself the following questions:
What do you want diversity to help you achieve?
What do you need to implement?
How can you measure it?
There are two basic types of measurement:
Quantitative: takes a variety of forms, such as headcount, percentages, rates, proportions, ratios, volume, scales, and indices
Qualitative: used to evaluate quality of efforts and results of business.
From Project Include: we recommend regularly reviewing demographic data and running employee engagement surveys. This includes data on different processes, like hiring, promotion, and managing attrition, cut by demographics, and comprehensive surveys periodically with lightweight pulse surveys more frequently. This quantitative and qualitative data is critical to understanding organizational health and areas for improvement. For example, it can help identify things like problematic drop-offs in recruiting pipelines, or key predictors for dissatisfaction and turnover, and correspondingly, good areas for intervention and improvement.
WATCH: The Missing Link in DEI | Lorén Cox
WATCH: AllianceBernstein on Diversity
Download Measuring Progress Glossary
