Sharpening Your Focus: How to Set Powerful DEI Survey Goals

By Danielle Little

Building a thriving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program starts with understanding your employees' experiences. A well-crafted DEI survey provides invaluable insights, but only if you set clear goals from the outset. This post dives deep into the world of DEI survey goal setting, helping you target the right areas for impactful change.

Why Goals Matter

Imagine conducting a DEI survey without a roadmap. You might gather a mountain of data, but what does it all mean? Setting goals provides direction, ensuring your survey gathers information that directly informs actionable steps.

Goal Setting Essentials

Let's delve into the key ingredients for crafting powerful DEI survey goals:

• Start with Existing Challenges: What is your hypothesis about your key DEI challenges? Use these existing challenges as a springboard for determining the goals of your survey.

• Focus on Actionable Outcomes: Don't just aim to "learn more" about diversity. Instead, focus on how the survey data will be used to create positive change. If an employee is taking the time to fill out a survey, they will want to have some visibility to the survey results and subsequent action plans.

• Leadership Team Alignment: Discuss capacity and commitment to addressing potential issues raised in the survey before launching the survey. In other words, running a DEIB survey should be the beginning of something rather than a stand-alone task.

DEI Survey Goal Examples to Spark Inspiration

• Inform Retention and Recruitment: Is employee turnover high among certain demographics in their first year? A goal could be to "use survey findings to identify and address any roadblocks faced by employees of color in the hiring and onboarding process."

• Review Performance Management Practices: Are there concerns about fairness in promotions? A goal could be to "review promotion data alongside survey results to identify any potential biases and develop strategies to ensure equitable advancement opportunities."

• Revamp Manager Training: Do employees feel supported by their managers? A goal could be to "use survey data to identify areas where manager training can be most impactful."

• Update Company Policies: Survey findings can inform changes to policies like parental leave or flexible work arrangements.

Remember

• Transparency is Key: Employees who invest time in your survey deserve to see the results and subsequent action plans based on the goals you set.

• Consider Consulting Expertise: Partnering with a DEI consulting firm like Peoplism can help refine your goals and ensure your survey is designed to achieve them.

By setting focused and actionable DEI survey goals that align with your organization's specific needs, you unlock the true potential of this powerful tool. With the right goals in place, you're well on your way to building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace for all.