By now, nearly every organization understands the benefits of employee diversity. Most companies have some version of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program to help them cultivate a more diverse staff. But are these efforts actually having the effect these companies want? Are they actually increasing representation and diversity within their organizations? Even more, do organizations even know what effect these programs do have?
A recent brief, authored by Hazel-Ann McLean of TriVerum LLC, with the support of ThoughtForm, turns a critical lens on the traditional structures of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. The brief explores how these programs can be improved to truly promote the retention and professional development of Black employees.
The brief takes a research-based approach to understanding and improving current programs. TriVerum conducted interviews with Chief Diversity Officers and Diversity Procurement Officers at a number of banks and healthcare companies. These interviews were intended to uncover some common problems these organizations face when designing and implementing their DEI programs.
These interviews revealed myriad issues, but overall, they fell into three distinct categories:
- Poor retention of Black talent
- Missing statistics on Black employee representation
- Lack of priority on developing Black employees
Based on these findings, TriVerum developed recommendations to help companies shift their DEI programs away from just increasing their “numbers.” Instead, these recommendations promote developing Black talent to improve the lives of their employees and the health of their organization.
To read the full brief, and see you can improve your organization’s DEI initiatives, download the PDF here.
This brief is just the beginning of a larger push to spark a more holistic discussion about DEI programs. Moving forward, TriVerum and ThoughtForm will work together to help organizations apply design thinking principles and change management techniques to improve their DEI efforts. Using this research as a baseline, we will be working directly with organizations to design DEI programs that encourage and uplift Black employees in the Pittsburgh area and beyond. If you would like to learn more about how TriVerum and ThoughtForm can help your organization design meaningful DEI initiatives, reach out to Hazel at [email protected].