Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) gained more visibility. All Fortune 100 companies outline their DEI initiatives on their websites, and 49% of them have a dedicated DEI initiative leader. Despite the increased visibility and attention given to DEIB, organizational leadership is still often white and male.
We expect that one of the major HR trends of 2023 will be HR upping its game in creating more inclusive HR practices.
At this point, diversity initiatives focus primarily on recruiting. However, HR organizations are increasingly analyzing their entire employee lifecycle through the DEIB lens. What initiatives can we implement to promote DEIB at all stages of the employee lifecycle? There are many opportunities in onboarding, developing, promoting and other people practices to create a more inclusive workplace where people feel they belong.
DEIB also provides an opportunity to align the organization’s objectives with diverse initiatives. It makes business sense – but it’s also the right thing to do.
We also see an increasing focus on training HR staff to build HR practices from a diversity perspective.
Despite the growing interest in diversity, research shows that employees are at least 60% more likely to disclose a disability to their direct supervisor than to human resources. A white male with a disability earns 90.7 cents for every $1 earned by a white, able-bodied male. Creating a safe environment for employees to disclose their disability is a good first step toward building trust and implementing policies that support people with disabilities.
Other examples of initiatives we’ll see more of in 2023 include:
=>> Addressing racial disparities in health care and employer roles.
=>> Implementing relevant long-term diversity programs to increase representation among managers.
=>> Tying executive compensation to DEI metrics.
Consulting firm Mercer estimates that about 15-20% of S&P 500 companies develop DEI metrics as part of their executive compensation. Only 5-10% of these companies set objective, quantitative DEI metrics. We expect HR to play an active role in identifying and tracking relevant DEI metrics.