Diversity and Inclusion Roadmap

Stap 1: Commitment

Diversity is about all the visible and invisible characteristics in which people differ from each other. Inclusion is the extent to which people feel valued, accepted, and acknowledged.D&I goes beyond just attracting diverse talent. Retaining talent is also an important theme, as is equality: striving for equal rights, opportunities and treatment, regardless of one's background, characteristics or identity. With the aim that everyone can participate.

Still not convinced? Or do you want to convince someone else to work on the D&I policy? Read more about reasons for a D&I policy

Do you have any questions? Send an e-mail to cao@verzekeraars.nl.

Step 1: Commitment

Commitment from influential groups within the organisation is indispensable for an effective and sustainable D&I policy.

Board of Directors

The top must support and actively propagate D&I in order to change the culture within the organisation. The first step isto put the subject of D&I on the agenda of the Board of Directors, for example through a meeting. To get a commitment from that Board, or the management, to get started with D&I. In addition, the Council must be prepared to show in attitude and behaviour that it considers this issue to be important.

Works councils

You can also exchange ideas with the Works Council at this stage to ensure more support within the entire organisation.

Points

• Put the proposal for setting up a D&I policy on the agenda of the Board of Directors and the Works Council . Do you need arguments? We have collected them here for you.
• Explicitly ask for their commitment and involvement. This means, for example, that the top does not only support employees and diversity networks in words . But that she is also visibly present and contributes to events.
• Also discuss the possible negative reactions from the organisation. Working on D&I can create countervailing forces, prepare for this together with management!

Industry Examples

Athora Commitment from senior management
a.s.r.  Podcast with the Ceo Jos Baeten
Achmea Podcast with CEO Bianca Tetteroo

Step 2: Research and analysis

You need insight into the current state of affairs to determine what you can improve. In other words, a baseline measurement. You can do this, for example, with a quantitative study (such as the male/female ratio). Or with qualitative research: how do employees experience the current corporate culture when it comes to D&I?

Diversity factors

Diversity is a broad concept. For D&I policies, you generally look at:

• Work capacity: people with an occupational disability or chronic illness
• Ethnic-cultural background: Is there a mixed ethnic and cultural background in the workforce?
• Gender/sex: male-female X ratio in the workforce
• Age
• Sexual orientation (LGBTI+): lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer identification, among others

Other examples of diversity factors are socio-cultural background, physical characteristics, social status, financial situation, education, health, language and literacy, labour participation, religion and ideology.

Workforce analysis

Do you want to get a good picture of the composition of the workforce? Then it can be useful to have access to personal data of employees. In practice, it is likely that not all of this data is in the personnel administration. GDPR objections can play a role in this. For example, certain personal data may only be processed on a voluntary basis and with the explicit consent of the employee. You can find more information about this on the SER website . But of course you can start with what has already been recorded.

Do a baseline measurement and analyse the results

Based on the workforce, you can then link data obtained from this to variables. You can think of, for example, business unit, salary scale, length of job stay and number of years of service. GDPR legislation also plays a role in linking data to variables. It is therefore always good to have a legal check done when in doubt.

By linking the obtained data to variables, you can map out where things stand out in your organisation. Ask yourself these questions:

• What is the current situation and what are the bottlenecks in the field of diversity and inclusion in the workplace?
• Which departments are stakeholders in D&I policy? What do they think is important?
• Inflow, advancement and outflow: what is the challenge for you? When recruiting or retaining?

Examples

Athora Diversity and Integrity Policy
Achmea Cultural diversity Achmea, December 2023 (cbs.nl)
a.s.r.  Equal Pay Survey
Univé Strategic Workforce Planning

Step 3: Focus

You can't make the world a better place in one go. It is also not realistic to want to make the entire organisation completely diverse in all areas. Therefore, bring focus.

Making choices

The baseline measurement (step 1) and the analysis (step 2) have made it clearer which D&I challenges your organisation faces. To get off to a successful start with D&I policy, we recommend that you focus on one or two specific themes to gain experience with. Later, you can broaden the approach. The target groups are mentioned in step 2 – research and analysis.

Increasing awareness of D&I among current employees can also be a good focal point.

Low-hanging fruit or are you tackling the biggest challenge?

The most important consideration is: do you choose the themes where the baseline measurement shows the greatest challenge? Or do you choose themes where you expect to be able to achieve results in the short term? Of course, this does not have to be mutually exclusive.

Example

Univé Focus

Step 4: Strategy

Every organisation is unique, so the strategy is tailor-made. A strategy needs to be consistent and purposeful to contribute to an inclusive culture. Steps 4 to 7 deal with the implementation of the strategy on D&I policy.

Achieving demonstrable results takes time. We recommend a strategy for three to five years. This gives the organisation enough time to set goals, implement initiatives, measure results, and make adjustments as needed. A shorter period of time may not be sufficient to bring about profound cultural changes. A longer period of time can lead to procrastination and lack of focus.

Be sure to answer these questions when you get started:

1. What is important to the organisation? And why? For example: A (more) diverse composition of employees, so that customers and potential new employees see that your company is a reflection of society.
2. What opportunities or value is your organisation missing out on if you don't work on D&I? And what benefits are there for the company if you do?
3. Then summarise in one sentence why it is so important for your organisation to get started with D&I?

Use the answers to the questions to draw up a vision and/or mission and a strategy with the top of the organisation. Also include which initiatives are important and/or which processes you want to tackle.

Examples

NN Statement on diversity and inclusion
Athora Strategy and Mission
a.s.r.  Diversity policy
Univé Mission, vision and challenge
Achmea Sustainable employment practices | Achmea
Achmea Supporting Why

Step 5: Objectives

The more concrete, the better! With the vision, strategy/mission that your organisation has drawn up in the previous step, you can determine what you want to achieve concretely.

To do this, it is necessary that you:

1. sets clear objectives for D&I, and
2. Establish measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor and evaluate progress.

You can choose to formulate objectives and KPIs for the entire organisation. Or for specific components such as business units, departments, function groups or scales. Or both.

Come up with objectives for each chosen target group and formulate them as concretely as possible. Make a logical order in the objectives: start with awareness, only then move on to KPIs.

Formulate objectives based on questions

What (measurable) goals does the organisation want to achieve with D&I?

• By target group
• By organisational unit

For example: Reducing bias in recruitment, selection and promotion processes so that everyone is valued for his or her abilities and contribution (KPI: diversity in recruitment, selection, advancement).

KPIs

You then formulate one or more measurable KPIs for each objective, so that you can properly measure progress.

Industry Examples

NN KPI 40% women in senior roles
Achmea What gets measured gets done

Step 6: Action

With which actions will we achieve the goals from the previous step? And at what time? Don't forget internal communication: how do you get colleagues on board? Formulate actions for:

Recruitment and selection

Increasing diversity in the application process. For example:

• Learn how to write neutral job advertisements.
• Train recruiters in objective selection and awareness of bias.
• Implementing objective selection criteria. For example, by determining in advance what the actual criteria for the position are.
• Ensure diversity in the selection team.

Culture and awareness

Create an inclusive company culture. For example:

• Start the conversation about what an inclusive company culture is for the organisation. What does that look like?
• Inclusion is also about safety in teams. Make sure that leaders can deal with diversity to prevent unwanted outflow (the mopping-with-the-tap-open effect).
• Organize training and awareness sessions.
• Set up diversity networks: a platform for employees who unite on the basis of a specific common characteristic.

Career Opportunities & Development

Promoting equal opportunities for career advancement. For example:

• Make use of onboarding tools such as questionnaires with questions for all candidates.
• Make sure you have a diverse selection committee.
• Offer mentoring programs and coaching.

Policy development and implementation

• Establish and implement a diversity and inclusion policy.
• Integrate diversity and inclusion into existing HR processes. Make D&I a permanent part of the internal training program.

Resources and budget

• Identify needed resources, such as budget, staff, and technology.
• Set a budget and set priorities.

Examples of insurers

Athora D&I officer
a.s.r.  Opportunities for people with a distance to the labour market
Univé How are we going to do this?
NN types of leave You Matter leave and equal leave for every family
Achmea Diversity Networks

Step 7: Monitor, secure and evaluate

Monitor and account for progress and results. For example:

• Conduct regular evaluation interviews with, for example, the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board, the Works Council and individual employees. Don't just focus on hard numbers (numbers), but also on 'softer' targets (appreciation and feeling).
• Be open! Share the results within, but especially outside the organisation.
• Use the results of the evaluation for the further development of the policy.
• Ensure that D&I remains an integral part of the organisation's strategy.
• Every year, the organisation evaluates progress towards the objectives included in the action plan.
• In the annual employee satisfaction survey, you ask questions about inclusion and perceived social safety.
• The organisation integrates diversity and inclusion into its long-term strategy.
• The organisation creates a sustainable policy framework that ensures that diversity and inclusion remain an integral part of the company's culture and HR processes.

Industry Example

Univé Monitoring and reporting