The Case for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Exploring the importance of DEI and associated strategies in the context of health and well-being at work

This year, the US has moved against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, with social media giant Meta ending DEI programmes and returned President Donald Trump removing the same in the military and suggesting diversity is to blame in a recent air tragedy.

Such moves fly in the face of evidence and experience highlighting the importance of DEI to business success and, importantly for this Substack, workers’ health and well-being. Programmes, strategies, and behaviours that support DEI have been shown to have wide-ranging benefits for organisations across the globe.

[Qantas CEO Alan Joyce notes] “a very diverse environment and a very inclusive culture…got us through the tough times…diversity generated better strategy, better risk management, better debates, [and] better outcomes.” ¹

Consequently, while these headlines are yet to surface in other jurisdictions, the potential for harm to workers is significant.

Defining Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

When considering DEI, it’s important to be clear about the terms being used; the figure below illustrates how these concepts intersect.

The relationship between DEI elements (and belonging) [Source: Burnette (2019)]

Diversity

This refers to the range or variety of identities within a group, organisation / business, or society. It includes differences between people expressed as ethnicity, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, language, socioeconomic status, marital status, ability, and neurodivergence.

Equity

“The principle of considering people’s unique experiences and differing situations, and ensuring they have access to the resources and opportunities that are necessary for them to attain just outcomes.”²

It differs from – and is often confused with – equality (the idea that everyone is treated the same via access to the same resources and opportunities).

Inclusion

This refers to the processes, practices, attitudes, and behaviours that give effect to an environment in which people feel like they are treated equitably and respectfully

“Inclusion is experienced when people believe that their unique and authentic self is valued by others, while at the same time have a sense of connectedness or belonging to a group.” ³

Benefits of DEI

Despite recent headlines, promoting DEI in the workplace has been identified as being critical to the success of businesses around the globe. According to the US National Bureau of Economic Research, DEI approaches are driven by financial and social motivations. This reflects an idea that diversity – particularly diversity of thought – has an inherent economic value, and that strengthening DEI represents a moral or ethical element businesses are obligated to support.

Businesses that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion are seen as promoting mentally healthy work. In this way, DEI initiatives protect and promote the health and well-being of staff. In addition, they have been linked to several benefits, including:

• increased innovation (and improved competitive advantages)

• improved perceptions of productivity

• better, more informed decision-making, including by “reducing groupthink”⁴

• improved morale

• improved collaboration and cooperation

• opportunities to draw on a wider range of skills, knowledge, and experience

• improved ability to adapt to changing needs and circumstances

• strengthening a sense of belonging for staff

• better design of jobs, work, and supporting resources (e.g., inclusive design of PPE)

• increases the likelihood of staff reporting safety concerns, expressing different views, and challenging the status quo; and

• lower turnover/higher retention.

As identified above, a stronger sense of belonging is seen as a key benefit for staff in workplaces where DEI practices are effective. A sense of belonging is, of course, an important part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and decades of research highlights its importance to the health and well-being of employees. The down-stream effects of improved health and well-being associated with feeling a sense of belonging include improved productivity and commitment to - and engagement with - work, resulting in business success.

Barriers and Challenges

While DEI initiatives have been linked to a range of benefits for businesses, strengthening and/or promoting DEI is not without its challenges.

Narrow definitions

One common barrier associated with diversity is an over-emphasis on visible diversity – that is, sex and ethnicity. Yet considering ‘hidden’ diversity is important for innovation, creativity, supporting different approaches to engagement, and problem-solving. Organisations need to consider diversity on a broader level, accounting for cognition, neurodivergence, and socioeconomic status/background.

While ‘lumping’ diversity, inclusion, and equity together has its own risks, research suggests the DEI ‘whole’ is greater than the sum of its parts.

Low effort, buy-in, and resistance

Two barriers that are sometimes inter-related are businesses’ lack of effort to address DEI issues such as bias and stigma, and resistance to change in an organisation. When unaddressed, both may result in situations where individuals and/or groups:

• are marginalised or discriminated against

• have less opportunities for career progression or access to training/development

• experience low psychological safety; and

• experience down-stream effects on health and well-being (e.g., low morale and job satisfaction, stress, fatigue, or mental illness).

Similarly, a lack of buy-in from key leaders presents a real barrier to DEI that is experienced by many businesses. Such a challenge limits access to appropriate resourcing, slows down change, negatively affects inter-team collaboration, and undermines positive efforts to promote DEI.

Business size

Good intentions and buy-in aside, the size of a business is seen as a barrier to the effective implementation of DEI strategies.

The larger the business – and the better its financial position – the thinking goes, the more resources it has available to investigate, gather and analyse data, and implement and monitor interventions. Concurrently, however, a larger organisation may experience difficulties with ensuring support from senior leaders filters down to staff ‘on the ground’ and ensuring this happens consistently and equitably.

The size of a business may also present barriers in the form of reduced critical mass – the idea that ‘enough’ members of a minority group are needed to facilitate inclusion and combat groupthink – and tokenism.

Smaller organisations will make it difficult for a minority group to achieve critical mass and, at the same time, may be more susceptible to tokenism (taking a tick-box or minimalist approach to diversity – such as, having one female manager among a group of male managers – to give an appearance of inclusivity).

Such phenomena can severely undermine other efforts to strengthen DEI in a business.

Low psychological safety

As indicated above, DEI practices and psychological safety are closely related. When DEI practices, policies, and procedures are poor or ineffective, affected workers can feel it is no longer safe to speak up, contribute, or challenge the status quo. This can have significant effects on individuals’ health and well-being, while also affecting teams and organisations, and businesses’ bottom line.

Excluding groups and false silos

Often, the nature of businesses and organisations as hierarchical entities means that those at the top of the pyramid – senior managers, business owners, CEOs etc – feel their voice or perspective is the most important. This leads to a situation where some individuals and groups are excluded from decision- and policymaking. Middle managers, team leaders, non-managerial staff, and vulnerable groups (such as casual, new, or younger staff) often do not have an equal opportunity to present their perspectives on day-to-day operations and long-term strategies and policies.

Some of the barriers/challenges discussed above can be attributed to a false separation of human resources, health and safety, and management functions. For example, while HR might have an approach to recruitment and retention that supports DEI, HR staff do not work with H&S teams to ensure this approach is reflected in relevant policies (e.g., referencing cultural differences in safety policies).

Without taking into account cultural differences, safety professionals run the risk of misinterpreting the perception and understanding of workplace risk, which can lead to ineffective policies and superficial progress.⁵

Poor data

An oft-cited DEI issue is that of data collection, recording, and reporting. While businesses often gather data on employees’ characteristics (e.g., sex, gender, and ethnicity) and information related to safety metrics (e.g., injury rates or experience of workplace violence), these are separate processes.

[A business’] failure to track diversity statistics sends a message of indifference – or, worse, may be taken as evidence that the company has allowed bias to flourish.⁶

Understanding how different datasets intersect provides opportunities for identifying opportunities for improvement within a business. Several formal tools are available to support data collection and analysis, but businesses should look to collaborate with each other and with public health agencies and research centres to leverage existing and emerging tools.

Strengthening DEI

There is a range of approaches and tools businesses can use to promote and strengthen DEI. However, as recently pointed out in a report from the UK Government’s Inclusion at Work Panel, the nature of DEI as a social science prevents the ability – even in empirical research – to establish a clear cause-effect relationship between interventions designed to strengthen DEI and their results.

Nevertheless, America’s National Safety Council has recently presented a list of emerging best practices for DEI:

Emerging best practices to improve the integration and implementation of DEI [Source: NSC (2023, p.32)]

Importantly, any intervention a business chooses to implement should be structured, evidence-based, proactive, and driven by data informed by assessments of an organisation’s DEI culture.

The evidence suggests that many organisations’ D&I approaches are drive by pre-existing notions, assumptions, and pressures rather than empirical evidence.⁷

To achieve the benefits demonstrated in research and experience, DEI initiatives need to encompass diversity, equity, and inclusion and should be designed and implemented in a structured way to ensure this breadth can be appropriately served.

There are no positive outcomes from only embodying two [of the three] elements because groups of people are consistently left out.⁸

Training

Organisation-wide training is perhaps the most frequently cited strategy for improving DEI in a business. To get the most out of this training, businesses need to ensure it is voluntary, based in and draws on real-world experiences, inspiring, and practical. Important goals for training include:

1. ensuring there is shared understanding of DEI concepts; and

2. understanding and addressing biases, assumptions, and stigma.

Doing so will help reduce bias in an organisation, while simultaneously reducing the negative impact of these biases.

However, there is growing evidence to suggest this approach is largely ineffective in changing individuals’ behaviour. Furthermore, the effectiveness of training has been shown to be eclipsed by support for and commitment to DEI from leaders and coworkers.

Consequently, it is argued “that educators working in the inclusion space should take a broader cultural approach – rather than an individualized [sic] approach – to promoting inclusion in the workplace.”⁹

Working with data

Leveraging data is an important strategy for businesses to adopt. HR functions need to work with health and safety practitioners and leadership teams to gather and collate DEI-related data. Valuable data can be gathered via a needs assessment; this can help businesses understand their current state, potential gaps, and opportunities for improvement.

An essential element here is data analysis; organisations need to work to understand:

• recruitment and retention trends

• diversity levels across the business

• employees’ views on inclusion and equity

• incident reporting (e.g., is the incidence of incident-types more prevalent among some groups?)

• risk management

• points in employees’ lifecycles where leaders may be more prone to bias; and

• the success and failure of tools and strategies.

Goal setting

This has drawn criticism, with some raising concerns around tokenism, tick-box-exercise behaviours, and reverse discrimination. However, others support the act of setting measurable objectives in promoting DEI. Such actors suggest that the effectiveness of this approach depends on:

• how well goals are communicated to staff

• the breadth of goals (i.e., incorporating inclusion, equity, and diversity)

• how accountable leaders are for meeting objectives; and

• the degree to which goals are combined with reward and recognition strategies.

Focus on culture

In promoting DEI, businesses need to consider their wider culture. Embarking on a DEI journey requires significant change; often, the level of change needed is underestimated by organisations. Essentially, an organisation needs to transition from a culture in which DEI is viewed as a compliance issue that ‘should’ be managed to one in which DEI is fully integrated into every level of the business, its policies, processes, and operations.

Organisations’ cultures need to move from DEI compliance to integration/embedding of DEI

To make workplaces diverse, equitable and inclusive [sic], DEI priorities must be part of the fabric of an organization [sic] and its culture.¹⁰

Inherent in this approach is the need for cross-functional collaboration. Managers and staff in different functional areas (e.g., HR and H&S) need to work together to agree on how DEI will and can be prioritised and to develop policies, practices, and procedures that will promote DEI.

Strengthen psychological safety

Given the links between DEI and psychological safety, as part of their cultural review, businesses need to ensure they are giving staff an environment that is psychologically safe and trusting.

Power dynamics within an organisation – many of which are often hidden – can act as a barrier to inclusive engagement and participation; such dynamics are antithetical to DEI practices. In addition, workers’ experiences influence their understanding of, and appreciation for, DEI.

Consequently, a high level of psychological safety is a key starting point for managers to engage in kōrero with their staff to strengthen and promote DEI.

Develop / improve policies, processes, and practices

If they don’t already exist, businesses should look to establish new policies, processes, and practices that minimise biases and promote DEI in decision-making and operations. Alongside this mahi, organisations should review existing policies etc. to ensure they remain fit-for-purpose and double-checking elements such as hiring practices and development opportunities support DEI.

As noted earlier, a narrow view of diversity can be a barrier; consequently, it is crucial new or updated policies, practices, and procedures reflect a wide-ranging perspective of diversity.

It is also worth keeping in mind that “good practice does not mean a proliferation of written policies”¹¹, reinforcing a need to emphasise factors that have been shown to be more important, such as leaders’ demonstrable support and commitment.

Feedback and engagement

When engaging with policies, processes, and practises, organisations need to leverage feedback from new, existing, and previous staff (this latter via exit interviews or similar). At the same time, businesses should avoid a ‘one size-fits-all’ approach.

Individuals have different personal needs, values, and beliefs. Management practices need to be consistent but also flexible and inclusive to support both individual and business needs.¹²

A common theme in all efforts to support health and well-being at work is engage, engage, engage. The sphere of DEI is no different. Businesses need to leverage constructive kōrero with staff, using a range of channels to gather information and feedback. Crucially, engagement needs to:

• present a transparent feedback loop, such as giving a timely, specific response to feedback received from staff

• ensure communication strategies are not only designed for a small segment of the workforce

• be linked to clear goals and actions; and

• support a process of continuous improvement that seeks to review and enhance current approaches.

Without these elements, open communication becomes virtually meaningless.

Effective leadership

Leaders – including senior leaders and middle managers – are key to promoting and protecting the health, safety, and well-being of workers. This is no different in the DEI space.

Organisational research suggests leaders’ behaviours have a significant effect on both the success of approaches to strengthen DEI and workers’ feelings of inclusion. Inclusive leaders have been suggested to demonstrate six key traits.

Six traits of inclusive leaders

Inclusive leaders are those who:

1. demonstrate and articulate their commitment to DEI

2. are humble about their own capabilities and welcome others’ contributions

3. are aware of their own biases, understand systemic flaws, and seek to provide opportunities for others

4. consistently present an open mind-set, are curious about and seek to understand others’ perspectives, and avoid judgement

5. are aware of and adapt to cultural differences; and who

6. actively seek and engender collaboration, establishing environments in which DEI can flourish.

A repeated message in DEI literature and evidence from organisations is that all leaders need to ‘walk the talk’, consistently engaging in behaviours that will promote and strengthen DEI practices.

Inclusive leadership goes beyond cultural competence and managing diversity to creating and incorporating conditions that fosters differences without having to hide identities, while letting those identities be their best and do their best and see value in being who they are, and belong and participate in ways [that are] appreciated, engaging and safe [sic].¹³

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Despite recent threats to DEI overseas, it is patently obvious that strengthening and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is an approach that has benefits for individuals, groups, and businesses at large.

Alongside carefully designed training, there is a wide range of initiatives and approaches businesses and organisations can leverage to support their workers and, in doing so, promote and protect their health and well-being.

Bibliography

Bjørndalen, O. S. H. (2023). Beyond Representation: Examining the Link between Diversity, Inclusion and Financial Performance [Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of a Master of Science in Finance and Accounting]. Copenhagen Business School: Copenhagen, Denmark.

Bourke, J. (2018, January 22). “The diversity and inclusion revolution: Eight powerful truths” Deloitte Review, 22. Retrieved from: Eight truths about diversity and inclusion at work | Deloitte Insights

Burnette, K. (2019, January 22). Belonging: A Conversation about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Retrieved from: Belonging: A Conversation about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion | by Krys | Medium

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (2024). Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace. CCOHS: Ontario, CA.

Dalessandro, C. & Lovell, A. (2024). Workplace inclusion initiatives across the globe: The importance of leader and coworker support for employees’ attitudes, beliefs, and planned behaviours. Societies, 14(231). https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14110231

Dunn, A. L., Decker, D. M., Henry, D., Jacques, D. R., Redden, P., & Sigmann, S. B. (2024). “How Can I Help?” How Laboratory Workers and Supervisors Can Promote Laboratory Safety through Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146(26), 17531-17534. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c04828

Edmans, A., Flammer, C., & Glossner, S. (2023). Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. National Bureau of Economic Research: Cambridge, MA.

Inclusion at Work Panel (2024). Report on the Inclusion at Work Panel’s Recommendations for Improving Diversity and Inclusion Practice in the Workplace [Independent report for the Sunak Conservative Government]. UK Government: Kew, London.

Mental Health Foundation (2016). Working Well: A Workplace Guide to Mental Health. Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand: Auckland, NZ.

National Safety Council (2023). Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Safety: Intersections, Integration, and Implementation. NSC: Itasca, IL.

Sanchez, M. (2021). “Equity, diversity, and inclusion: Intersection with quality improvement”. Nursing Management, 52(5), pp 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000743408.29021.85

Walker, M. (2024, May 3). Mahi Hauora: Spotlight on Mentally Healthy Work. Retrieved from: https://mahihauora.substack.com/p/spotlight-on-mentally-healthy-work

Witwer, R. F. (2021). DEI and Belonging: Changing the Narrative and Creating a Culture of Belonging in Nonprofit Organizations [Research report in partial fulfilment of a Master of Nonprofit Administration]. University of San Francisco: San Francisco, CA.

1. Deloitte (2021, p.1).

2. CCOHS (2024, p.1).

3. Deloitte (2021, p.3).

4. Inclusion at Work Panel (2024, p.7).

5. NSC (2023, p.17).

6. Inclusion at Work Panel (2024, p.14).

7. Ibid (2024, p.15).

8. Burnette (2019, p.5)

9. Dalessandro & Lovell (2024, p.15).

10. NSC (2023, p.29)

11. Inclusion at Work Panel (2024, p.21).

12. CCOHS (2024, p.3).

13. Witwer (2021, p.4).