Diversity in Tech 2021 Report > Expert take: Diversio 

    Expert take

    Gathering employee feedback and measuring inclusion by Diversio

    One of our Signatories with specialist knowledge in this area has shared their advice with us for creating a focused listening experience. Diversio is a people intelligence platform which provides companies with a standard with which to measure inclusion and implement solutions to meet organisational D&I goals.

    ‘An inclusive workplace is one where every employee is empowered to do their best work and get recognized for it. Diversio’s mission is to provide the tools to help companies create a best-in-class culture.’

    - Laura McGee, CEO, Diversio

    Why measure inclusion?

    Inclusion is about creating the right environment for diverse employees to thrive. So, organisational success actually occurs at the intersection of diversity and inclusion. However, corporate leaders struggle to understand how to quantify this. There has been a widespread misconception that inclusion is ‘fluffy’ and hard to define.

    Diversio uses an internal dataset and public data from over 20,000 companies worldwide — analysing feedback from over 50,000 employees and 30 countries. They identified six defining characteristics of a highly inclusive workplace and distilled these into six inclusion metrics and their sub-components. This allowed them to formulate simple questions which employees can answer to measure an organisation’s performance on each factor. Diversio then uses their AI-powered matching algorithm to recommend targeted solutions based on the employee feedback.

    Six characteristics Diversio uses to measure inclusion

    Inclusive culture refers to the openness of team environments to diverse opinions and perspectives. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: collaborative teamwork, employee engagement, adequate resourcing, respect and compassion, and inclusive leadership (“tone from the top”).
    Fair management refers to an employee feedback and review system that is fair, objective, and free from unconscious bias. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: absence of nepotism and favouritism, clear communication, employee recognition, pay equity, transparency of expectations, and unbiased management.
    This term refers to a culture of mentorship and sponsorship that is open to all employees. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: mentorship, career development, adequate training, and networking opportunities.
    This term refers to a workplace that does not inadvertently exclude diverse employees through rigid protocols. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: remote work, parental leave, flexible time off, and mental health support.
    This term refers to a workplace free from mental, physical, and sexual harassment. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: discrimination, toxic leadership, harassment, recourse, and retaliation.
    This term refers to building a diverse recruiting pipeline that is reflective of the communities that it operates within. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: transparency and communication of open positions, celebrating organisational diversity, engaging with external networks and community groups, and removing bias from the hiring process.

    1. Inclusive culture

    Inclusive culture refers to the openness of team environments to diverse opinions and perspectives. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: collaborative teamwork, employee engagement, adequate resourcing, respect and compassion, and inclusive leadership (“tone from the top”).

    2. Fair management

    Fair management refers to an employee feedback and review system that is fair, objective, and free from unconscious bias. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: absence of nepotism and favouritism, clear communication, employee recognition, pay equity, transparency of expectations, and unbiased management.

    3. Career development

    This term refers to a culture of mentorship and sponsorship that is open to all employees. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: mentorship, career development, adequate training, and networking opportunities.

    4. Workplace flexibility

    This term refers to a workplace that does not inadvertently exclude diverse employees through rigid protocols. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: remote work, parental leave, flexible time off, and mental health support.

    5. Workplace safety

    This term refers to a workplace free from mental, physical, and sexual harassment. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: discrimination, toxic leadership, harassment, recourse, and retaliation.

    6. Recruitment and hiring

    This term refers to building a diverse recruiting pipeline that is reflective of the communities that it operates within. Sub factors used to measure the metric include: transparency and communication of open positions, celebrating organisational diversity, engaging with external networks and community groups, and removing bias from the hiring process.

    Diversio recommends that if you are looking to measure inclusion, take these three key steps into account in order to drive up response rates:

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    Ensuring employees trust the data collection process, and their responses should be completely anonymous. Working with a third-party provider like us can help build employee trust, particularly in smaller organizations.

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    Minimizing the number of surveys sent out and keeping the survey succinct in order to avoid survey fatigue.

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    Providing an opportunity for employees to provide free text responses to an open question about their experience. This is a key source of insight into Inclusion Metrics sub-factors and how acutely they are experienced by different groups.

    Here are six starting questions you can ask employees to begin measuring inclusion under their framework:

    To measure Inclusive Culture, ask employees whether their opinion is sought and valued by their teams.
    To measure Fair Management, ask whether employees have experienced bias in manager feedback or reviews.
    To measure Career Development, ask whether employees have a senior leader who is invested in their success.
    To measure Workplace Flexibility, ask employees if they feel they have the flexibility needed to balance work and home obligations.
    To measure Workplace Safety, ask employees whether they have experienced any form of harassment in the workplace.
    To obtain additional and more granular insights, include one or two Free Text Questions that ask employees what their company does well to support inclusion and belonging at work and what they could do better.

    1. Inclusive culture

    To measure Inclusive Culture, ask employees whether their opinion is sought and valued by their teams.

    2. Fair management

    To measure Fair Management, ask whether employees have experienced bias in manager feedback or reviews.

    3. Career development

    To measure Career Development, ask whether employees have a senior leader who is invested in their success.

    4. Workplace flexibility

    To measure Workplace Flexibility, ask employees if they feel they have the flexibility needed to balance work and home obligations.

    5. Workplace safety

    To measure Workplace Safety, ask employees whether they have experienced any form of harassment in the workplace.

    6. Recruitment and hiring

    To obtain additional and more granular insights, include one or two Free Text Questions that ask employees what their company does well to support inclusion and belonging at work and what they could do better.
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