UNBIAS

CHAPTER 6Diversity Is in the Data

Now that we've discussed why your company should tackle its diversity and inclusion issues, as well as the importance of open and honest communication from the top down, it's time to touch base with your employees to collect some hard data. If you're hoping to cultivate a change in earnest, you have to listen to the experiences of the people who interface with your work culture every day. It has been said that you can't fix what you won't face, and this kind of data will help you face what needs fixing.

When it comes to collecting data from your employees, a number of tools are available. It may help to start by considering feedback channels your employees are already familiar with. What have you done in the past to measure things like employee engagement, job satisfaction, or brand awareness? How effective were the tools you used?

Maybe your company has never attempted to collect feedback from its employees. If this is true for you, know that you're not alone. Leaders of companies large and small have shied away from the feedback loop for various reasons.

Some avoid using surveys because they believe that conducting one will stir up issues and cause problems that could have been left alone. They wonder why people can't just let sleeping dogs lie. The thing about sleeping dogs is that eventually they wake up. Conducting the survey doesn't cause issues, but not conducting a survey allows issues to remain undetected until one day they are uncovered ...