How do you use engagement surveys to address diversity and inclusion?

1 Define your D&I goals and metrics

Before you design and launch your engagement survey, you need to have a clear vision of what D&I means for your organization, and how you will measure it. D&I goals and metrics should align with your overall mission, values, and strategy, and reflect the needs and expectations of your employees, customers, and stakeholders. Some common D&I metrics include representation, retention, promotion, pay equity, belonging, and satisfaction. You should also consider how you will segment and analyze your data by different dimensions of diversity, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, and more.

2 Design your survey questions and format

Once you have your D&I goals and metrics, you can start crafting your survey questions and format. Your survey questions should be relevant, specific, and actionable, and cover different aspects of D&I, such as awareness, education, policies, practices, behaviors, outcomes, and impacts. You should also use a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions, such as ratings, rankings, multiple choice, open-ended, and matrix questions, to capture both the objective and subjective aspects of D&I. Additionally, you should choose a survey format that is accessible, inclusive, and user-friendly, such as online, mobile, or paper-based, and provide options for language, anonymity, and confidentiality.

3 Communicate and administer your survey

The success of your engagement survey depends largely on how well you communicate and administer it to your employees. You should communicate the purpose, goals, and benefits of the survey to your employees, and explain how their feedback will be used to improve D&I in your organization. You should also provide clear and consistent instructions on how to complete and submit the survey, and offer incentives or recognition for participation. Moreover, you should administer the survey in a timely and efficient manner, and ensure that you have a representative sample of your employee population.

4 Analyze and report your survey results

After you collect your survey responses, you need to analyze and report your results in a meaningful and actionable way. You should use appropriate statistical methods and tools to summarize, visualize, and interpret your data, and identify the key findings, trends, patterns, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. You should also compare your results with your D&I goals and metrics, and benchmark them against industry standards or best practices. Furthermore, you should report your results to your employees, managers, and leaders, and highlight the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and recommendations for D&I in your organization.

6 Repeat and refine your survey process

Using engagement surveys to address D&I is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement and adaptation. You should repeat and refine your survey process regularly, and adjust your D&I goals, metrics, questions, format, communication, administration, analysis, reporting, and action based on the changing needs and expectations of your organization and your employees. You should also seek feedback and suggestions from your employees, managers, and leaders on how to improve your survey process and your D&I culture. By doing so, you will ensure that your engagement surveys are always relevant, effective, and impactful for D&I in your organization.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?