Three more reminders to keep the momentum going on your DEI journey

We've explored previously how shifting culture, systems, and behaviours doesn’t happen overnight, but that doesn't mean you should feel disheartened or dissuaded. Instead, focus on these three things to stay on track.

1. Leadership Matters

DEI doesn't work without leadership support. You can have the best intentions and the most engaged employees, but without leaders who are on board, progress stalls.

Leadership buy-in isn’t just about signing off on a strategy or offering a standalone leadership training session. It’s about making the connection between DEI and your organisation’s priorities, and about understanding that every leader has their own reasons for caring about inclusion, whether personal, professional, or both. They need to be presented with DEI that is useful in delivering their business and people priorities, whilst creating social value, and they need to be empowered to use those tools with their teams.

2. Think in Terms of the Employee Lifecycle

Momentum is built with consistency, not intensity. What is your DEI action plan aiming towards? To create consistency, reflect on how your organisation can gradually embed DEI into every stage of the employee experience:

• Attraction: How are your job descriptions written? What language are you using? Are you clear about the skills you value and how you’ll support people to succeed?

• Onboarding: Are your processes welcoming and accessible? Do new hires feel like they belong from day one?

• Development and retention: Are performance criteria transparent? Are managers equipped to assess fairly, especially for employees who work flexibly or have different needs?

• Promotion: Are opportunities for advancement clear and equitable?

• Offboarding: Even how people leave matters. Are you learning from their experiences?

Plan for actions that tackle each of these processes, amplifying opportunities for inclusion in your organisation over the next five years.

3. Little and Often, Not All at Once

Stop trying to do everything at once! Not least because you don’t need to, but also because trying to do so can lead to change fatigue, tokenism and resistance.

Instead, focus on steady, consistent action, letting the seemingly small steps snowball into sustainable, significant changes in the medium- and long-term. Through a detailed assessment, identify and strategically invest in quick wins. And remember: you’re not doing this alone.

Written by Maria Carolina Baggio