Let’s start with the acronyms in the title!
D&I = Diversity and Inclusion
The terms are often used interchangeably, however there is a difference between the two. Diversity means making an effort at all levels of the organization by including employees from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds e.g. men vs. women, people from different ethnic backgrounds, and members of the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, people over 60, people with different religious backgrounds. While diversity focuses on the different identities within your organization, inclusion focuses on organizational culture, especially creating a culture where all your employees feel welcome, valued, accepted, respected and encouraged to fully participate in the organization. And about the relation of the two, without inclusion, diversity efforts will be ineffective.
DEI = DI + E –>Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Equity is ensuring that everybody has access to the same opportunities and that they are treated fairly.
We have discussed diversity, equity and inclusion. Let’s see what happens when we add belonging to the formula!
DEIB = DEI + B –> Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
Belonging means feeling accepted to a group as well valued and linked to the company. It is what employees feel and results from the organization’s inclusion efforts.
ONA = Organizational Network Analysis
Organizational network analysis is a digital organizational diagnostic tool that can be used on processes within a team or company that go beyond the formal hierarchy, and therefore usually remain hidden and cannot be analyzed. It is a tool that supports science based, data driven organizational decisions.
ONA is an organizational diagnostic tool for future leaders, which can be widely used in the following areas:
- reducing turnover
- minimize information loss
- improving innovation and knowledge management
- opinion leaders and opinion communities mapping
- identifying talent, key experts and mentors
- identifying isolated and isolated employees
- benchmarking leadership and expertise potential
- assessing the risk of burnout, inefficiency and attrition
- optimizing communication channels
- examining informal networks
- facilitating onboarding processes
- supporting real-time decisions
Besides the HUMAN factor, why are the above mentioned important?
- Research shows that diverse companies tend to be more innovative.
- According to McKinsey, companies with a diverse workforce are 35% more likely to achieve better financial results and according to Harvard Business Review have up to 32.2% higher IPO/acquisition success rates.
- A Glassdoor survey shows that 67% of job seekers said a diverse workforce is important when considering job offers.
- Companies with greater diversity in the workplace have lower turnover rates.
- When employees feel included, they are more engaged. If they are more engaged they are more likely to attract new talent to the company, thus supporting employer branding activities.
- Researchers found that decision making in diverse teams significantly outperformed individual decision-makers and the same goes for speed of problem-solving.
To sum it up: DEIB initiatives make workplaces smarter and more successful, while also resulting in increased job satisfaction and employee engagement, employee retention, and financial results.
The connection between ONA and DEIB?
The visual outcome of organizational network analysis shows how inclusion actually plays out in your organization. It shows among many other important things how diverse your company really is by analyzing employees’ connections but the important thing is what you make of the results.
Feeling that you belong to an organization is fostered by shared mission, goals and feeling connected. With ONA you can easily analyze if you have people in your organization who share the same values, and this will positively impact their sense of belonging.
- In fostering and developing a sense of belonging, it is important to explore the interconnectedness of the employees. ONA can identify who is closely connected, what can increase the cohesion among people, and what values to look for when recruiting new employees.
- ONA can be used to identify colleagues who act as a link between organizational units and between informal communities. Often, a representative or liaison person can help to reduce differences of opinion between employees. Just think of the mediation.
- Creating an environment where everyone is welcome, supported and valued can trigger a shared acceptance and inclusion. ONA tools support finding and involving opinion leaders, who can effectively reach a significant number of people in the organization, and share messages supporting DEIB programs.
- In a broader sense, equity is the amplification and validation of ‘unheard voices’. In order to get to the opinion and issues of the ‘minority’, it is essential to map all members of the organization. By finding those furthest from the opinion leaders, ONA can also be used to find out who can connect them into the network. It is possible that the isolated colleagues may in fact form a separate community, they may simply not have reached each other. Here, too, hiring people with similar values to ‘minority’ groups can be applied. Make sure to avoid simply ignoring people who are not connected.
- For DEIB measures to be implemented, and for all employees to be able to be creative and expressive in their work, belonging and acceptance must be embedded in the culture. It may require completely different steps for smaller or larger companies, for different target markets. The only way to make an organization more inclusive and diverse is to look for the preferred values and ideas among employee groups, where ONA’s different communities module can be of help.
