4 tips to prevent your diversity, equity and inclusion committee from stagnating

Forming a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee is probably one of the most important steps in making your company more inclusive, but it’s important that this project lasts over time!

For many managers, this initiative could be as simple as gathering a few people around a table to generate debate on diversity issues. That’s a good starting point, but if you think of it as it is, chances are that after two months, you won’t have much to say to each other, or you’ll wonder what the committee’s objective is. By the way, when the project is launched, employees‧es, as well as management, whether for personal or professional motivation, are always excited‧es at the idea of shaking things up, but is that enough?

Unfortunately, over time, this enthusiasm fades, other professional projects take over and those linked to the DEI committee become secondary. There’s a certain logic to this: if the mission isn’t clear (i.e., the famous “why”), then why put this project ahead of the others? A certain lassitude sets in: the more dossiers pile up, the less employees‧es want to devote time to them.

How can you keep your committee motivated? Here are 4 essential tips for forming your DEI committee.

1- Assess your company’s current situation

Generally, companies wishing to form an DEI committee are already aware that they can improve in terms of equity, diversity and inclusion. However, it would be wise to survey employees‧es in order to better understand their issues, as well as their experiences, be able to identify the blockers to more inclusion, but also understand what levers to use. In short, we need to take stock of the situation.

This step will not only help define the general objectives of an DEI approach, but also guide the committee in its future role. This is one of the first actions to be taken.

2- Recruit committee members

The second step (and one of the most important) is to announce to employees‧es your desire to create a committee.

For a DEI committee to be ethical and effective, it’s important that its members represent a wide variety of people. The more different their realities, the more fruitful the initiatives and enriching the debates. We’re talking here about different levels of the hierarchy, company departments, dimensions of diversity, seniority, and so on.

Once the group has been formed, its members appoint a leader to take on the role of DEI committee chairman.

To ensure that members devote energy and time to this project, despite their different commitments, it’s important for the committee chair to distribute roles to each person and decide on time slots for meetings. Remember, being part of a DEI committee is work, so meetings must take place during it.

3- Setting objectives

Setting objectives is a key step for an DEI committee. These objectives must be quantifiable and achievable. Ideally, they should be a mix of short-term and medium- to long-term objectives. Setting up a clear action plan will help guide the actions of committee members, as well as motivate them. Indeed, by having precise objectives, these people will be animated by a common goal, which will keep them committed.

Management members will also need to collaborate with those on the committee (ideally, we want them to be part of it) to clarify the fields of intervention and the vision of DEI for the company.

4- Providing committee members with the right tools

To encourage committee members and promote their initiatives, management must allocate them a budget and provide them with the tools they need to achieve their objectives, whether in terms of people, participation in meetings, venues, etc. It is also essential to encourage them by highlighting their efforts and the importance of having such a committee, for the common good and for the organization.

It’s also vital to encourage them by highlighting their efforts, the importance of having such a committee, for the common good and for the organization. And why not encourage other employees‧es to join the initiative!

Obviously, the list of tips for creating an effective DEI committee is much longer than this article. We’ll tell you more another time. In the meantime, do you feel ready to take action? We hope this article has given you some insight into how to keep your DEI committee motivated. Keep in mind that the process varies from company to company, depending on size and industry.

URelles can advise you on how to adapt this process to your reality. Find out more about our equity, diversity and inclusion solutions.