Lattice’s recent global survey found that only 15% of respondents rank DEIB as a key priority.
HR teams can find it difficult to demonstrate a return on their DEIB investment, leading to insufficient funding and attention for these efforts. Additionally, other urgent short-term priorities tend to take precedence in the increasingly fast-paced business environment.
Read more: What’s driving DEI pushback, and how can we get it right?
Yet, organisations that embrace diversity outperform their peers. The data is compelling; McKinsey’s Diversity Matters Even More report revealed that teams in the top quartile of gender and ethnic representation are 39% more likely to outperform financially. And it’s clear from Lattice's State of People Strategy findings that organisations have deprioritised their DEIB initiatives.
So, what needs to happen in 2025 for DEIB to have a lasting impact?
In essence, it must be embedded across every aspect of HR and people strategy. This means integrating DEIB principles into core processes such as recruitment, performance management and employee engagement. Rather than relying on quotas or unconscious bias training alone, HR teams must take a holistic approach that aligns DEIB with business outcomes.
HR can get DEIB back on the agenda by:
1. Defining metrics across people and talent that highlight meaningful advancements on DEIB – like compensation equity and progression rates of marginalised employees — rather than focusing solely on north star metrics like workforce composition and pipeline diversity. Analysing potential differences in employee experience (through onboarding, engagement and exit surveys) can also be more informative of true equity and inclusion than representation figures alone.
Read more: DEI backlash: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater
2. Increasing DEIB dataflow between core HR platforms and tools, and mapping processes or areas where the organisation lacks adequate data.
First and foremost, it’s critical to comply with local laws and regulations on how employee demographic data can be collected and stored. Within those guidelines, it is powerful to have demographic data integrated with other people data across the employee lifecycle, from recruiting to onboarding, performance management, compensation, promotion, engagement and retention. When you have tools that facilitate this connection, it is much easier to demonstrate equity – or identify patterns of inequity – that would otherwise be missed.
3. Standardising HR processes to improve equity, including hiring manager interview training, performance reviews and promotion processes.
Building education into training across the employee lifecycle is vital. This means offering specific training on bias or diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, but also incorporating a DEIB lens into all training. For example, companies could hold specific training sessions focused on recognising and interrupting bias, but also integrate these key concepts and actions into employee onboarding, manager enablement training and leadership development.
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Fusing DEIB training with other educational sessions accomplishes several goals. Firstly, employees will better learn strategies with more exposure and practice. Secondly, employees will begin to see DEIB as an integrated part of the holistic workplace, rather than as an isolated issue. The same practices that promote diversity and inclusion also enhance the validity of assessments and processes.
Just like meaningful change doesn’t happen on its own, DEIB doesn’t become a lasting priority without continued attention, investment and buy-in.
By embedding DEIB in the form of structured processes at every level of a company and throughout all stages of the employee lifecycle, organisations weave diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging into the fabric of their business and culture. When this happens, DEIB can no longer be deprioritised, because it’s no longer a separate entity, but a pillar of the organisation as a whole.
By Sophie Hurcombe, VP of people at Lattice