Collecting useful diversity and inclusion (D&I) data is a sensitive task that can be expensive and time-consuming. But speaking from experience, Ryan Wong, CEO of Visier, writes that the main reason companies don’t do it is that they don’t want to face uncomfortable truths – or take difficult actions in response.
With Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in the news this year, companies across the U.S. have faced a reckoning around diversity and inclusion (D&I). Women, people of color (POC), LGBTQ2+ people, and individuals with disabilities are still underrepresented in companies’ highest echelons, even though companies with more diverse leadership perform better and innovate moreOpens a new window . And consumers are growing impatient for change: Companies from Microsoft to Adidas have faced criticism for failing to live up to their public statements of support regarding D&I.
To effect real D&I change, companies must dive deep into their HR data to uncover the real reasons for the lack of diversity in their ranks. This data-driven approach is unfortunately rare: Only 35% of chief diversity officersOpens a new window measure employee demographic data, even though changing demographics is a key diversity goal. If you want to move the needle on D&I metrics, your company must do better than just delivering lip service – both by collecting more data and by actually acting on it.
Learn More: How to Get Results with HR Data Collection
What Makes Up the “Right†D&I Data?
Most companies track hiring, retention, and attrition of different employee groups. However, knowing that members of a particular group tend to leave your company doesn’t tell you why they’re doing so.
To understand that, you need to delve deeper into employees’ day-to-day experiences at work. Low pay and delayed promotions can certainly impact employees’ decisions to leave, but discrimination and microaggressions can also take root in less formal aspects of office life, with equally devastating impact.
If an employee misses out on mentorship, is overlooked in meetings, or isn’t invited to social gatherings, increased pay or other incentives won’t be enough to convince them to stay. Companies that don’t collect and analyze data related to these less formal aspects of work life leave themselves with a major blind spot – one where destructive patterns can take root.
By investigating the role of race, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employee turnover, you can identify which everyday interactions might be sabotaging your attempts to create a more inclusive workplace.
Cohort analysis is a particularly useful tool for revealing nuances of employee experience that aren’t captured in simple entrance and exit data. By comparing an individual to similar colleagues or other employee groups, these tools can reveal patterns that point to potential causes for departure.
For example, if your company hired several women of color, only to have all of them leave in a year, performing a cohort analysis could reveal whether the problem was likely related to missed promotions, interactions with a particular manager, or other issues they encountered. From there, you can use this data to create a targeted, strategic plan to fix your retention problem.
Learn More: 4 Areas Where Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Technology Can Enable Organization-Wide Change
Turning Data Into Action
The tools companies need to fix their blind spots and take real action on diversity are widely available. So why don’t more companies use them?
Collecting useful D&I data is a sensitive task that can be expensive and time consuming. But in my experience, the main reason companies don’t do it is that they don’t want to face uncomfortable truths – or take difficult actions in response.
In general, companies aren’t very good at addressing problems that lack quick solutions and require long-term investment. D&I issues certainly fall into this category. Companies must be willing to labor long and hard – and sometimes publicly fail – to make real change that sticks. Rather than take that on, too many organizations put this and other long-term problems on the back burner, hoping they’ll fade away or solve themselves.
As a CEO in tech – an industry with long-standing D&I issues – I can sympathize with leaders who feel overwhelmed by the task at hand. But that’s not an excuse to stand by and do nothing.
For us, D&I improvement is a work in progress. We make an extra effort to recruit employees from underrepresented groups, of course – but we also make sure that they have mentors, get invited to meetings and events, and generally feel supported after onboarding. We still don’t do everything right, but at least we’re taking steps to address D&I concerns in a lasting way – and I’ve been heartened by our progress.
Taking the First Step Toward True Inclusion
Most CEOs and leaders agree that D&I is an important issue to tackle, but you have to fully understand a problem to solve it. Sticking your head in the sand by refusing to collect, analyze, and act on D&I data won’t just hold you back from achieving diversity goals – it’ll also impact your company’s reputation and ability to deliver business results.
To effect real change, companies need to step back from showcasing surface-level hiring stats and take a long, hard look at their employees’ everyday experiences. The results of this analysis may be painful in the short term, but avoid the temptation to sweep hard truths under the rug. The quicker you acknowledge and understand your D&I shortcomings, the quicker you’ll be able to address them and build a more diverse, inclusive workplace for all your employees.
What metrics are you capturing to address the diversity issue in your organization? Tell us on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window .