Nearly 80% of workers want to work for a company that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, according to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey. While many employees and companies work to prioritize DEIB, it’s vital to understand each aspect of the term and how these tenets impact the workplace. Uncover the meaning behind the “E” in DEIB.
Equity: Equity is fair, equitable, and impartial treatment, advancement, and access for all. Equity differs from equality, as demonstrated in the illustration below.
The National Study of Workplace Equity found that 88% of U.S. workers believe fairness is extremely important or very important. Organizations can improve equity by fostering inclusion during the recruiting, hiring, and onboarding process, and ensuring fair access to information throughout their employment systems. Ten employment systems were featured in the study, including job structures, compensation and benefits, supervision and mentoring, training and career development, and promotion.
“Equity in the workplace is a good thing because it widens the pool of employees with diverse skills, experiences, and talents. Creating an equitable workplace can lead to an increase in employee retention, employee engagement, and a sense of belonging because people feel like their leaders value them and care about their success. Every single person deserves to feel like they belong at work because of who they are,” said Angela Russell, Organizational Development and DEI(B) Manager at Express Employment International.
Gallup offers three ways to prioritize equity in your workplace:
- Embrace equity in your company’s culture and values.
This principle should be engrained in how the company operates and at the forefront of decision making. From new policies to daily interactions between leaders and employees, equity should be practiced as a value.
- Conduct an equity audit.
An equity audit can provide insight into how equitable your company’s processes and policies are, according to Forbes. The four-fifths rule in hiring, which says the selection rate of a protected group should be at least 80% of the selection rate of a non-protected group, is a baseline for equitable hiring. Other considerations include examining if promotions are awarded fairly among different groups and ensuring that policies and processes are free of bias.
- Understand policies may play out differently than they’re written on paper.
The enforcement of policies in real life may vary from how the policies were intended to be used when written. Leaders should understand how policies are actually playing out, and be willing to inspect guidelines to ensure equity.
Express’ DEIB Commitment
At Express, people are valued as our greatest asset. We honor the unique backgrounds, characteristics, and perspectives of our employees, Franchisees, internal teams, clients, associates, and those in the communities where we live and work. Learn more about DEIB initiatives at Express on ExpressPros.com.
Express Employment International supports the Express Employment Professionals franchise and affiliated brands, including Specialized Recruiting Group and Express Healthcare Staffing. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
