DEI in the workplace has been in the spotlight as of late. But its importance extends beyond a mere trend. There is, of course, the fact that diversity efforts are critical for progress from a societal standpoint. But they also benefit individual organizations. Multiple studies have found that increasing diversity leads to greater innovation, problem-solving, creativity, employee satisfaction, and even profit margins.
DEI, of course, takes time and effort. And it’s impossible for anyone leader to do it alone. As organizations make strides to improve their organizations and the diversity within them, they can always benefit from tech tools. Fortunately, innovators have risen to the challenge of aiding them by creating software to mitigate challenges and help businesses progress and become more inclusive.
3 Examples of Software that Augments DEI Efforts
There are many tools to augment DEI efforts in development. Here are just 3 of the technologies that are aiding organizations in their work.
1. Data Analytics Software
Today, organizations are generating a huge amount of data. In order to manage this overwhelming amount of information available, many of them turn to Big Data management software to help them make sense of the numbers, giving them meaningful insights they can use to improve.
That might mean using real-time analytics dashboards on content management systems (CMS) or customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. Whatever the tool, the goal of Big Data analytics platforms is to process huge amounts of information and give people or businesses digestible, accessible, and actionable information.
These tools can also help organizations with their DEI efforts. Once they implement strategies with the goal of increasing diversity, they can use Big Data tools to track how these changes are affecting various aspects of their businesses, including employee satisfaction, productivity, and profit increases. By backing their efforts with real data, they will be able to see and point to the meaningful progress they have made.
2. Feedback Tools
Another strategy is to go straight to the source — your employees. In order to create a truly diverse company, one that values the opinions and leverages the ideas coming from people with different perspectives and different backgrounds, you must work with these employees to understand their needs.
There are plenty of tools available to solicit feedback and measure the performance of your initiatives. You can see how they are affecting your employees in terms of morale, collaboration, and overall performance. Plus, you can learn how they really feel about the diversity within and other aspects of the work culture. Moreover, you can receive and use suggestions on how to improve and support your efforts.
One example is Engagedly. This tool touts itself as a “People enablement platform” for performance management, engagement, and development. In terms of DEI, you can use it to solicit feedback to find out how your efforts are paying off and see the influence your strategies have on the overall culture.
3. Recruitment Platforms
One of the first steps to building a more diverse workplace is overhauling the recruitment and hiring process. And human resources teams and recruiters have plenty of tools at their disposal to assist them with making their recruitment strategies more DEI-conscious. For example, there’s software that eliminates unconscious bias that often seeps into hiring decisions. Instead, these platforms use AI to identify and screen candidates.
These tools can also assist with writing job descriptions that are more inclusive, appealing to people of all backgrounds — something that is often difficult to do. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are one example of tools that are used to both screen applicants and advertise listings, reducing the bias that so often affects recruitment.
Testing for and Eliminating Bias
Of course, fancy new software can’t do all the work for you. In order to see how your strategies and tools are paying off, you need to start by taking stock of your current situation. That includes examining your current tools and considering how they might be introducing bias or detrimentally affecting diversity at your organization.
For example, your current hiring and evaluation systems might be introducing bias into these respective processes without you even knowing it. You can find out whether your software is problematic through methods like feedback.
Additionally, make sure you do your homework before you attempt to introduce new software to mitigate these problems. Thoroughly vet your options and take a look at how other businesses have incorporated these technologies into their workplaces.
Employing Diverse Providers
In order to address the particular DEI needs of an organization, many businesses choose to work with custom software developers, which can improve existing commercial platforms or build new ones from scratch. One strategy for ensuring that your prospective provider will assist you with creating a platform that truly prioritizes diversity and inclusion? Finding a provider that prioritizes it themselves.
Like all businesses, software development firms benefit from a diversity of thought and perspective. From the engineers to the UX designers to the QA analysts, the many backgrounds they bring to your projects will help your tools and your DEI efforts.
You know that diversity, equity, and inclusion are important for your organization. But do you know just how the cultural differences and variability in backgrounds and perspectives will help your organization thrive and achieve its goals?
The creativity and innovation you bring to your organization through improving your DEI efforts will make it thrive. And the tools you use will introduce a layer of conscious thought into many of your critical processes, from hiring to employee engagement. Ultimately, they will allow you to better serve your customers, too.
