30+ DEI Tips to Elevate Employee Experiences

Looking for fresh ways to encourage belonging and inclusion? It’s not always the grand gestures or flagship programs that produce the best results. Instead, small, incremental changes can be instrumental in laying a solid foundation for employee satisfaction and success. 

By incorporating DEI tips into existing programs, your company can boost inclusion for better employee engagement. Tailoring these tips to every department helps organically improve the employee experience and creates a strong sense of belonging within all workspaces. 

DEI Tips for Leaders

Inclusive leadership practices profoundly affect inclusivity and belonging within the larger organization.

1. Be Your Company’s Inclusivity Champion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs work best when companies take a top-down approach. Be the change by promoting DEI initiatives and serving as an ambassador for belonging and inclusivity practices throughout your organization. 

2. Offer Regular DEI Training on Inclusive Topics

Education is the cornerstone of building more inclusive practices. Invest in DEI training that covers general interest topics and those specific to your DEI goals. 

Paradigm provides a blended training approach, offering both online and in-person interactive training programs on a range of inclusive topics.

3. Promote Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups that give underrepresented employees greater visibility and agency. ERGs can create a sense of community and belonging while providing valuable insights into improving DEI efforts.

4. Practice Open Communication

Maintain open communication regarding inclusion and belonging goals, initiatives, and progress. Transparency and consistency across the mission statement, brand values, marketing, and internal communications give customers, employees, and stakeholders a clear picture of the company’s commitment to equity and inclusion.

5. Use Continuous Improvement Practices

Continuous improvement (CI) is a process-building approach that focuses on ongoing effort and incremental improvements, acknowledging that most progress is iterative. Using CI methods to build a more inclusive workplace culture can help teams achieve better outcomes without time-intensive training methods.

DEI Tips for Meetings and Daily Office Life

One of the most important components of an effective DEI strategy is giving voice to how employees feel in daily workplace experiences. 

6. Integrate Discussion Into Daily Practices

Informal communication is essential to transparency and workplace diversity. Incorporating discussion into daily routines, such as starting meetings with a check-in, allows everyone to share their perspectives or feelings and ensures even new employees have space to be heard.

7. Build Secure Feedback Channels

While open conversations are great for discussing diversity, team members may feel more confident delivering concerns through secure channels. Create and promote an anonymous system where employees can share confidential thoughts related to inclusivity.

8. Diversify Company Celebrations

There are many causes for celebration in a diverse workplace, and promoting inclusion also means embracing a wide range of cultural holidays and observances. Finding opportunities to highlight these events fosters awareness and improves the employee experience.

9. Audit Materials for Inclusivity

All company communications offer a chance to elevate belonging. Regularly auditing your literature, website, and internal communications for inclusive language and diverse imagery helps ensure your message is consistent and clear. 

10. Create a Culture of Learning

Inclusivity is a journey, and understanding that everyone encounters challenges while building a positive environment using DEI training topics creates a safe space for learning and growth. Eliminating blame and encouraging ongoing improvement can help people feel comfortable discussing vulnerable topics. 

11. Share the “Office Housework” and Updates

Ensure information is accessible to everyone in advance. Practices like sharing meeting agendas and materials beforehand help keep everyone informed. Rather than relegating “housekeeping” items like note-taking or virtual room setup to one employee, spread these efforts among participants to prevent them from becoming anyone’s unofficial job requirement. 

DEI Tips for Performance and Development

Advancement is a significant component of overall job satisfaction and longevity. Inclusive performance management and retention practices can encourage top talent to stay and flourish. 

12. Develop Clear Goals and Expectations

Setting clear and consistent performance goals ensures employees understand expectations and can complete work purposefully. Aligning individual efforts with organizational objectives enhances productivity and creates equal footing for fair evaluation processes.

13. Customize Development Opportunities

While career mapping and skills progression are important techniques for supporting workers, it’s smart to broaden paths based on employees’ diverse backgrounds and needs. Consider tailoring career development to fit individual contributors rather than adopting a universal approach.

14. Diversify Feedback for Performance Reviews

Including additional viewpoints from various coworkers and cross-team collaborators minimizes unconscious bias and promotes a well-rounded understanding of an employee’s contributions. Multi-faceted assessments support personal and professional growth and offer a more holistic view of an individual’s impact.

15. Use Inclusive Language in Feedback

Ensure language used in evaluations is free from gendered or biased terms. Consider how cultural differences may impact the recipient’s understanding while focusing on clear, objective criteria and accomplishments. 

16. Promote Diversity in Leadership Positions

For senior leaders and executive roles, make a concerted effort to develop internal candidates who show competency, especially those from underrepresented groups. Seeing diversity at all levels can inspire employees and promote retention.

17. Be Transparent About Career Pathways

Most employees can meet or exceed expectations if they understand the path ahead. Clearly outline opportunities for career advancement, including requirements to achieve more responsibility and secure new opportunities.

18. Establish Mentorship

Promoting learning across demographics and life stages can create a more holistic and inclusive knowledge base. Pair individuals from different backgrounds and skill sets by implementing sponsorship programs such as mentoring, internal networking groups, or other cross-demographic learning experiences.

DEI Tips for Hiring and Recruiting

Finding qualified applicants and crafting conditions for their success starts well before candidates read a job description, sign an offer letter, or arrive for onboarding. 

19. Widen the Talent Search

Using social media, online job postings, and global networking sites allows employers to access candidates from various backgrounds and locations, breaking down geographic and demographic barriers. 

20. Standardize the Interview Process

Creating a uniform interview process involves using a single set of specific, job-related questions for all candidates. This structured approach promotes equal opportunity by evaluating each applicant against the same criteria, making comparisons fairer and reducing personal bias. 

21. Offer Career Education Opportunities

Consider the value of options like internships, apprenticeships, and mentorships as well as tuition reimbursement for relevant courses and access to professional development workshops. Offering these initiatives increases accessibility for underrepresented groups and opens employers to new talent.

22. Diversify Your Hiring Team

Build a hiring team that includes diverse employees and perspectives. Widening the pool of interviewers brings fresh opinions and values to decision-making for better outcomes.

23. Track DEI-Related Hiring Metrics

Use diversity-focused recruiting metrics to track progress toward achieving a more diverse workforce and adjust strategies as necessary.

24. Create Parity in Benefits

Ensure pay equity, employee benefits, policies, and company culture are attractive to a diverse range of candidates by actively seeking feedback and making continuous improvements.

DEI Tips for Accessibility and Accommodation

Your employee pool is diverse, and their needs are individual. Supporting the whole person through strong accessibility and work accommodations should be a priority for every DEI program. 

25. Conduct an Accessibility Audit

Audit your workplace and digital platforms for compliance with ADA standards to identify and rectify barriers preventing individuals with disabilities from fully participating, including:

• Website navigation and content accessibility
• Physical office accessibility 
• Employee workstations and equipment
• Signage and visual aids
• Communication tools and software
• Emergency procedures and safety information
• Common area accessibility
• Diversity training materials and programs

26. Encourage Reasonable Accommodations

Over a quarter of adults in the US have some type of disability, and many are “invisible” disabilities that don’t have obvious outward characteristics. Promote reasonable accommodations, such as inclusive remote work opportunities, ergonomic workstations, and assistive technology. Offer a straightforward and ADA-compliant process for requesting appropriate work arrangements.

27. Provide Information on ADA Topics

The more employees know about inclusivity, the more prepared they are to support accommodation efforts in the workplace. Provide training that educates teams on creating an inclusive work environment and supporting colleagues needing accommodation.

28. Enhance Digital Accessibility

Ensure your company’s websites, tech tools, and digital content are accessible by building them according to standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Be sure accessibility considers internal communications, customer-facing digital platforms, and physical assets.

29. Design Inclusive Physical Spaces

While the ADA sets minimum standards for physical accessibility in offices, restrooms, emergency exits, and gathering places, go beyond compliance to consider ways to improve temperature, light, sound, and air quality.

Tips to Measure DEI at Work

Measuring workplace DEI metrics provides insights to help foster a more inclusive culture. It enables organizations to identify areas for improvement, ensuring employees feel valued and included. 

30. Tap Employee Surveys and Feedback

Solicit inclusivity and diversity feedback and use the data to identify areas of strength and opportunity. Ensuring confidential communication boosts employee candor in responses.

31. Evaluate Current Representation Metrics

Analyze existing workforce demographics to ensure representation across all levels. Consider gender identity, ethnicity, disability, and age, looking for gaps in representation and aligning demographic KPIs with diversity and inclusion goals.

32. Track Retention and Turnover Rates

Monitor retention and turnover rates among different demographic groups, as disparities in these rates can indicate areas where the workplace environment may not be inclusive or equitable.

33. Look at Promotion and Advancement Trends

Track promotion trends across different groups to ensure equitable access to advancement. This includes examining how mentorship programs are administered and who can access career development resources.

Why Prioritizing DEI Is So Good for Business

Prioritizing inclusivity and a sense of belonging is more than a culture win—it can be a strategic advantage.

• Diverse teams bring diverse perspectives, leading to more creative solutions and innovations. This can significantly enhance problem-solving capabilities and set companies apart. 

• Celebrating diversity may make it easier to find qualified talent, as it signals that your organization values employees and supports their individuality. 
• Inclusive workplaces have higher employee retention. When employees find a job that makes them feel appreciated and supported, they’re more likely to stay, develop their skills, and contribute to the organization’s success. 

• An inclusive culture promotes higher employee engagement, reducing turnover and the costs of training new staff. Customers also seek inclusive behaviors, leading to increased brand loyalty and a positive company reputation.

Build a Foundation for an Inclusive Culture With Paradigm

Education and measurement are keys to successful culture building. Paradigm offers forward-thinking organizations a full suite of tools and programs to create more inclusive environments for their employees and build better business outcomes through the power of diversity. 

To learn more about Paradigm’s comprehensive training and data analysis tools, reach out to our experts. 

January 14, 2025

To learn more DEI tips, contact us today!