Summary
In the New Year, new changes come, and companies are faced with new opportunities to grow. In our latest blog we share five DEI tips to keep on hand for your DEI program in the new year and all the time.
In the New Year, new changes come, and companies are faced with new opportunities to grow.
Similarly, SPECTRAFORCE’s DEI Committee has taken this time of fresh beginnings to recommit to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by revamping our DEI Committee Mission Statement (now live on our company website!). It reads as follows:
“The Diversity and Inclusion Committee is committed to furthering the company’s efforts in building a workplace and offering services that promote equity, respect, and empathy with a strong sense of belonging. Our Committee highlights and educates others on the importance of inclusion, diversity benefits, and fostering a unique and fulfilling environment for our employees and extended community.”
Here are five DEI tips to keep on hand for your DEI program in the new year and all the time.
Tip #1: To keep DEI top of mind, leaders should review their company’s DEI Mission Statement to ensure it captures the overarching vision and continues to align with broader company goals.
Our old mission statement gave us a good foundation for the vision of DEI here at SPECTRAFORCE. To continue to help our DEI Committee and employees understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our organization, we added specific pillars and goals to support DEI’s continued journey and growth.
Tip #2: Communicate goals externally and internally.
True to our DEI Committee Mission Statement, we work to actively communicate our pillars and goals (both internally and externally!) to help hold us accountable to our DEI pledge. By doing so, we can continue to track, report on, and showcase our steps within our commitment.
Tip #3: Be realistic about goals and timelines.
Since many DEI positions can be voluntary, be realistic about goals and timelines. The foundation of our goals are our pillars: education, community, and DEI engagement. From the three pillars, we created goals that would be attainable but impactful for all employees:
- Promote and celebrate diversity, inclusion, and belonging by hosting an event bi-monthly
- Offer all employees a supportive space to discuss and be curious about issues and topics related to diversity and identity
- Measure success every quarter through data points to ensure the DEI events and resources resonate with employees (ex., participation rate, discussion participants, feedback)
Tip #4: Ensure guidelines but also emphasize creative freedom.
Though the goals should be specific, allow your different volunteers (in our case, our DEI Committee members) to be creative when it comes to how to accomplish the goals.
Tip #5: Set clear expectations early.
This goes back to ALL who support DEI – top management, employees, and volunteers. All those within the company should understand the DEI expectations and how they align with the business. For our DEI Committee, within our pillars, the expectation is that those serving on the DEI Committee will support the employee population by uplifting the voices of our employees and by bringing awareness to areas of opportunity for DEI learning within SPECTRAFORCE.
Please continue to follow along to see how our new 2023 DEI Committee creates change where they are rooted. We will write about our DEI Committee, events, and strategy throughout 2023.
For any questions about our DEI program or DEI collaboration with SPECTRAFORCE, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our DEI Manager – Isabel Eugenio at isabel.eugenio@spectraforce.com.
