Why DEI is important for employee experience

Black History Month is coming to a close, but DEI-minded companies’ work to empower and support Black employees is far from finished.

“While Black History Month creates an opening to engage in important conversations, we advise our clients and partners to think about their Black employees’ experience all year round,” said Praxis’ Co-founder & CEO Elise Smith in a recent article with HR Today.

Praxis surveyed platform users to better understand the range of Black employee experiences and found that Black American respondents were twice as likely as any other demographic group to select race-based microaggressions as a top concern at their company.

The report also revealed the top areas Black employees find most important in the workplace.

• The chance for genuine career advancement (31%)
• Inclusive and transparent hiring processes (23%)
• Pay equity (15%)

“The data from learners on our platform reveals that Black Americans disproportionately experience race-based microaggressions in the workplace. Moreover, they believe race-based microaggressions pose barriers to their individual and their company’s success,” said Smith, about the results.

Translating data into action

Here are three actions we recommend business leaders take to support Black employees year-round:

Listen to your people

Regularly polling Black employees invites them to share their workplace concerns and flag areas where their experience could be improved. Open dialogue and active listening helps build empathetic, collaborative teams that spark innovation. We recommend business leaders leverage this data to better identify areas for improvement. Then, you can more strategically allocate company resources that speak to Black employees’ concerns and drive real impact.

Empower Black employees to reach their career goals

Concerned glass ceilings are preventing Black leaders from advancing to more senior roles in your organization? We recommend launching a mentorship program that encourages Black employees to network and learn from one another.

The “Black Googler Network” at Google has 35K members and collaborates with HR to set hiring targets and direct L&D investment, such as the launch of focused onboarding programs. Morgan Stanley, Uber, and others leverage similar programs to drive improvements for their Black employees’ experience at work.

Continue to invest in DEI programs

Investing in leadership to develop human skills that promote an equitable and inclusive workplace culture is proven to drive more sustainable business outcomes. Methods like immersive and experiential learning help build empathy and provide opportunities to practice new behaviors and interventions that could create more equity and inclusion — from how to give feedback to how to de-escalate a difficult conversation.

“From there, team members can apply their learning in the workplace, driving real behavior change at scale,” says Smith.

Unlocking potential

At Praxis, we believe that people success is business success. By encouraging open, honest conversations with your Black employees, and committing to actions that support them, you build on your DEI commitments and foster a workplace that supports everyone to reach their true performance potential.

Creating a meaningful employee experience is about supporting employees throughout the moments that matter most in their careers. Whether you’re overseeing the hiring process, onboarding, or promotion decisions, being empathetic and DEI-minded is key to securing their continued engagement.

Recent studies have shown how DEI training improves employee experience, leading to 2x engagement. According to a Changeboard report, they have been proven to work 12% harder, are 19% more likely to stay longer with the organization, and collaborate 57% more effectively with peers.

So how do you maximize this DEI upside? A DEI training strategy that elicits buy-in at all stages of an employee’s journey, not just the beginning.

Prioritizing DEI across the talent lifecycle

With the future of work changing, traditional one-and-done trainings are no longer effective. Insincere interactions with management drive employees to disengage. Employees are seeking companies that are actively and authentically committed to DEI topics.

Our research has found that DEI training improves employee experience when it is A) modern and sincere and B) integrated across the entire employee lifecycle, not just during onboarding.

Here are our recommendations for when and how to engage employees with DEI training:

Start with the interview process

A DEI-minded hiring experience makes new employees feel confident that the organization they’re entering shares their values. And this couldn’t be more important — according to a recent CNBC survey, 56% percent of people today won’t even consider working for a company that doesn’t share their values.

If a hiring manager mishandles an interview, a values-minded employee will not only refuse the offer — they will warn other applicants by posting on social media or popular review sites like Glassdoor.

If your applicant pool is diverse but your team is not, or you suspect bias in any part of your hiring process, consider removing names from resumes and standardizing your interview process. To keep hiring managers on the call, we recommend incorporating data-enabled technologies that consistently monitor and analyze progress. Training hiring managers on how to prioritize equity is critical to building an inclusive talent pipeline.

Create a welcoming onboarding experience

75% of organizations today incorporate some kind of DEI training into their onboarding process. But in 2023, just checking the box doesn’t earn employee buy-in. You can measure the ROI of your DEI training by regularly collecting data on your employees’ attitudes and human skills.

For example, suppose your program emphasizes perspective-taking by showcasing how individuals from diverse backgrounds perceive workplace scenarios. We recommend conducting a survey six months later to gauge the extent to which participants have retained the knowledge.

Some data-powered platforms even do this for you, functioning as “skills centers” where employees can access DEI training on-demand and receive continuous feedback over their talent cycle.

Build skills for career growth and advancement

In a constantly evolving workplace, the most effective DEI training teach employees about the significance of human skills, like inclusive leadership and empathy. These programs emphasize that cultivating these skills is crucial for unlocking individuals’ career ambitions.

And it’s true — as AI reshapes job descriptions, the “hard skills” required to perform certain roles will change, but human skills such as communication and collaboration will remain key. Additionally, they are transferable across industries, giving employees agility as market conditions fluctuate. Establishing an arena where employees can practice and hone these skills on-demand has a proven impact on building more engaged and resilient teams.

Create an experience that makes employees want to stay

Employee churn costs companies an average of $1 trillion per year. Forward-looking DEI training programs can keep talent engaged by working human skills into their performance incentive structure.

This shows employees that their contributions to an inclusive culture will help them reach the top. The improvement in human skills will mean more constructive performance reviews and more empathetic managers. Half of employees who quit do so because of bad managers, according to a recent survey.

Next steps? Future-forward DEI

The best DEI programs are mindful that the difference between a jaded employee and an engaged one is in the details.

Making a DEI program on-demand and tech-enabled gives workers the time to practice their human skills and see the real-time impact of the things that matter. By harnessing the perspective-taking power of immersive technologies, you can equip your team with the necessary resources to develop into empathetic and detail-oriented leaders.By embedding these trainings across the talent lifecycle, people leaders are sure to see how DEI training improves employee experience.

For more information on how to embed DEI training across the talent lifecycle, check out our recent guidebook:

Download the Guide