Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Aren’t Enough. Make room for Belonging and Accessibility. (Part 1)
A diverse team having fun in the office.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the workplace will never be sustainable without folding in the concepts of belonging and accessibility. I started saying DEIBA™ (I pronounce it “dee-buh”) in training sessions, talks, and workshops more than two years ago when I recognized that DEI wasn’t enough. Since then, I’ve spent my full-time and side-hustle engaging with the fear, confusion, and pushback that so often meets our DEI efforts. Employers may discount it, believe that they’ve done enough, or simply talk the talk without meaningful action. For many individuals, DEI is a fraught term reserved for the overly sensitive or virtue-signalers. There is no silver bullet for activating allies in our collective DEI efforts, but I believe that bringing belonging and accessibility to the forefront is our next crucial step.
Making Space for Belonging in Your DEI Efforts.
The concept of belonging, as it relates to DEI efforts, started gaining recognition only recently. In plain language, belonging is a feeling of psychological safety that enables someone to be their true self—and in the workplace, being able to contribute authentic thoughts and ideas without fear of backlash or retribution. I’ve heard some say that belonging is part of the concept of inclusion and many widely circulating definitions agree. Others recognize that inclusion, alongside diversity and equity, most often describes the mechanics we use to create belonging. Inclusion is the action while belonging is the desired outcome. Someone may be included but not belong. After all, being invited to the table doesn’t guarantee that you feel comfortable speaking, or that your ideas will be accepted for their value.
To put it another way, diversity, equity, and inclusion are the instruments while belonging is the symphony. You may ensure that the flutes, cellos, and drums are individually perfect, but it’s only when they work together that they can create art.
It’s true that belonging is a high bar to set. It’s harder to measure. It manifests differently from person to person. Crucially, it relies on both employer and employee to make it happen. An employer can prioritize everything “correctly” and give their best effort, only to find that an employee never quite feels like they belong. Conversely, an employer may fall short in many important categories, from the standards of diversity, equity, and inclusion, to factors like compensation which are outside the scope of this post, but an employee may still discover a sense of belonging despite those flaws. Belonging is elusive and complex, but that shouldn’t tempt us to write it off or not pursue it. Belonging isn’t mysterious: a person can tell you in a moment whether they feel like they belong or not.
It also takes only a moment for someone to think of a time they didn’t belong, when they were bullied, when they felt displaced, when they code-switched, when they ate their lunch alone, or when they didn’t feel comfortable engaging as their authentic self. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are, fundamentally, about producing fairness for everyone at the workplace, but that shouldn’t only mean the opportunities of wage, advancement, and respect. Belonging is something that many people, often cis, often white, often male, benefit from and take for granted in America’s corporate cultures. We must create environments of trust and safety that offer, if someone desires it, the opportunity to belong.
Discover how to Cultivate Workplace Belonging with an in-depth Lunch and Learn session with Mona Eshaiker. Give your organization the tools to succeed with The Rise Journey. Contact our team for more information.
Read part 2 of this post, What is Accessibility and Why Does it Fall Behind. Learn more about author and Rise Co-Founder Jes Osrow here.