6 Crucial steps to create and activate your DEI roadmap

Creating an environment of inclusion and equity is essential to the success of any organisation. However, I often get the question, “but where do you start?”

In this article, I will share an overview of the steps to create and activate your DEI roadmap within the organisation.

Step 1: Facilitate management commitment

Before embarking on any significant change process in your organisation, it is crucial to know where your management team stands when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, you need to understand how likely they are to support the changes you want to make.

During this step of the DEI journey, it is important to answer this question:

What actions can you take to get your top management committed to working on and supporting DEI?

For example, leaders can support employee resource groups by being a sponsor for the ERG. Executive sponsors can use their leadership skills and business knowledge to ensure ERG goals are aligned with business objectives.

Step 2: Assess the current state of your organisation 

The first step in creating a DEI roadmap is to assess where your organisation stands now with respect to its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Ask yourself questions such as 

• Does the organisation have a policy plan or procedures that promote DEI? 
• Are there ongoing initiatives focused on DEI? 
• If you want to get started on DEI as an organisation, how can you determine how best to measure DEI? 

For example, by looking at pay gaps within your organisation, you can uncover potential challenges with your pay practices and identify solutions to address them. One of the most noticeable diversity challenges is equal pay for equal work. 

An honest assessment of the current situation provides an important foundation from which to build your roadmap. 

Step 3: Formulate your goals

Once you have identified where you stand now, you can lay an essential foundation for your roadmap. What are some realistic goals your organisation can aim for when it comes to DEI? 

Make sure these goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). They should also align with the organisation’s values and mission. Examples include increasing diversity within certain departments or hiring more talent from underrepresented groups. 

It is important to note that these goals should not be static but should evolve over time as necessary. 

Example DEI goals:

• % employees participating in a DEI benchmark survey
• X number of blog posts on organisational culture written by current employees
• X number of internal (DEI) events/training with a target number of participants
• X number of candidates with diverse backgrounds in the pipeline or interviewed for a position
• X number of job descriptions screened for inclusive language.

Step 4: Create actionable strategies

Now that you’ve identified your goals, it’s time to create strategies to achieve them. This may mean reviewing existing policies or creating new ones, introducing programmes or initiatives to promote inclusion and equity, or working with DEI coaches/consultants who specialise in advancing DEI goals. 

Each strategy must be tailored to the organisation’s needs and supported with tangible resources such as funding or staffing. This step requires careful research and planning for the strategies to be effective.

Example: Many organisations have seen the emergence of Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs. These are support groups created and led by and for employees.

Within ERGs, employees can build connections and find support and resources at their organisation that can help them take greater control of their careers.

Step 5. Implement the plan

After the plan is developed, it is time to implement it. This requires commitment and dedication from all stakeholders in the organisation, from the management team to individual employees. Everyone has an important responsibility to make the plan a success.

Keep in mind the points below: 

1: Talent recruitment. What steps will your organisation take to recruit talents in an inclusive manner?

2: Developing talents. What DEI initiatives will your organisation activate to develop talents? 

3: Creating inclusive culture. What steps will your organisation take to make the journey to inclusiveness visible? How will people be inspired to activate their inclusive journey? 

Try to answer the above questions during this step in the DEI roadmap.

Bonus Step 6: Evaluate the results

Once the plan has been implemented, it is essential to evaluate the results. 

• Did the organisation achieve its DEI goals? 
• If not, why not? 
• What could be done differently to achieve better results in the future? 

Evaluating the results of your DEI roadmap will help you continuously improve your efforts and ensure that your organisation is making progress toward its goals.

This article should give you some insight into how to create and activate your own DEI roadmap. 

If you need help getting started, please contact a DEI coach/consultant who can assess organisational gaps and support you in developing an action plan to strengthen DEI in the organisation.