Competitive Advantage: Actionable Steps to Foster DE&I and Impact Your Bottom Line

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) are increasingly mentioned in discussions, news, conferences and professional development. However, it’s important to move beyond just talk and integrate them into your business strategy.

That’s where the challenge comes in, as many people think that DE&I is too abstract to really understand—purely academic, or a political stance or affiliation. Recognize that DE&I isn’t just for the books, theoretical politics, or a feel-good thing to do; it directly influences your agency’s bottom line. It is part of your agency operations and every business process. As demographics, values, and expectations evolve, agencies must adapt their growth strategies and align their brands and plans accordingly.

When developing inclusive growth strategies, draw insights from the Big “I” Diversity Council’s Inclusive Agency Training Series. This series links DE&I strategy with three critical business areas affecting an agency’s bottom line: customers, workforce composition and workplace culture.

By evaluating your policies, practices, and procedures in each area, you can gauge how inclusivity impacts your business.

Customers

Your marketplace is made up of your customers. Many agency owners notice their changing and growing communities. As demographics continue to shift in our communities, you might have wondered how to authentically connect with your new community members. You will need to get out there and learn more about your new community and their needs.

Think about your marketplace and how to balance the needs of your current customers with those of prospective customers. You cannot reach new and different people from different backgrounds, experiences, cultures, expectations and values with the same approaches you used to reach the old markets.

When considering how to reach new customers, communication is key. Language builds trust and communication is integral to developing any relationship. What is your website and your access points—or lack thereof—communicating to future clients? If you’re open and available to reach new markets, how are you communicating with these markets and how are you expanding from your old ways of communicating?

Workforce Composition

Consider your workforce and how retirements and other life transitions can impact your need to cast a wide net for new talent at your agency. If you’ve consistently hired individuals with similar backgrounds, experiences, personalities, and thinking and learning styles, it’s time to envision a more inclusive workplace that embraces diverse ways of processing information and varied educational and work experiences.

Keep in mind that your employees may come from diverse educational backgrounds and possess varied work experiences. Consider reviewing your job descriptions and avoiding vague adjectives that might discourage candidates from applying. Instead, focus on job descriptions with specific tasks and responsibilities that the prospective employee will perform on the job.

Then create a scoring guide based on the job description that you can use for each applicant during the interview. Before you review the resumes, have someone remove information that has shown to contribute to bias, like names. It’s steps like these that help you consider great talent that you might have overlooked.

Workplace Culture

Finally, when considering your workplace, understand that all your practices, procedures and policies, as well as expectations—whether said or not said—all impact your agency’s organizational culture. No matter how wide of a net you cast to bring in the best, brightest and most loyal employees, they will not reach their true productivity potential in a toxic workplace culture, nor will they stick around for very long.

Inclusion starts with you. Whether you’re the agency owner or an agent in the workplace, each of us has an opportunity to model what it means to listen to learn, approach differences with curiosity, and challenge stereotypes and assumptions. Working across differences and being actively inclusive is a growth strategy that will help your agency obtain and maintain a competitive advantage.

Next Steps

Are you ready to take concrete steps toward creating a more inclusive workplace, growing to include new markets and adding to your agency’s bottom line? Sign up for the Inclusive Agency Training Series today and gain access to practical strategies and insights tailored to your business’s needs.

Equip yourself and your agency with the practical tools and knowledge to implement DE&I in every aspect of your agency’s operations. Register now and start your journey toward cultivating your competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Author

Anitra Rivera

Diversity & Inclusion Program Director, Big "I"