What your DIBs program might look like

- How do you throw the perfect party? You can come up with an endless list of things that you want to do or things you don't want to do, but it can be really difficult to make sense of that information without an easy way to organize it. The same thing is true with your DIBs program. There's so many things you can do that you don't know where to get started. To make it simple, I want to categorize these in a two by two matrix. First, you have things you want to avoid, versus things you want to promote. And second, you have structural issues like HR practices and cultural issues like how people are treated. On the HR side you have recruitment practices, selection systems, how promotions are determined, who has access to development, and what types of benefits are provided. In each of these the prevention side is that you want to avoid bias. You don't want people to be treated unfairly. And you don't want some HR practices to have a disproportionately negative impact on some groups. You could say that if everyone has a lack of childcare, then it's fair, because everyone's treated equally. But that lack of childcare actually has a greater impact on women and women of color than it does on men, because women still tend to be the primary caregivers. Then there's the promotion side. How can you promote practices that help to level the playing field for women or people of color? These could be recruiting practices that might bring in greater diversity, or mentoring and development programs targeted at underrepresented groups. Just promoting greater transparency can create a more diverse and equitable workplace. On the culture side you want to avoid practices that exclude or diminish certain people, like microaggressions, harassment or bullying. On the other hand, you want to promote programs that are inclusive so that everyone feels like they belong, and everyone believes they can be their unique selves. As you begin to consider where your needs and goals fit into this matrix, keep these question in mind. First, at what level are the major demographic gaps in your organization? Is it among entry-level employees or senior executives? Second, ask yourself what are your diversity imperatives? Is it to promote more women? Increase the number of people of color? Of course, your program might solve all of these needs, but you want to keep in mind what diversity means to you. Third, and maybe most importantly, what resources do you have to actually accomplish your goals? Some changes like development can be really expensive. While others, like increasing transparency, can be pretty cheap. Likewise, you need to consider at what level you have support. If HR supports you, but top management doesn't, you're probably not going to change the composition of the board of directors. For a start, why don't you try to think of one opportunity in each of the areas I covered. One cultural issue, one structural issue that you want to increase and decrease. And that will get you thinking about what your primary needs are for your DIBs program.