Why collecting diversity data is essential, barriers to measurement, how to get started and what to look out for.

Achieving progress in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requires ongoing systemic change to address historic inequity and exclusion.

“As important as good intentions are, deep-level change will not be made unless there is a proactive and sustained effort driven by a strategic vision – in this way, DEI is no different to any other workplace imperative,” says Diversity Works New Zealand Head of Research and Development Pete Mercer.

The only sure way organisations will understand whether they are making progress in implementing change is to collect data across a range of different indicators, including both qualitative and quantitative measures, to form a more well-rounded evaluation of their DEI mahi,’ Mercer says.

“Ultimately what gets measured gets done. Collecting pertinent information and tracking your organisation’s progress over time not only provides the evidence base that you need to further your work, it also serves as a form of accountability, whereby the organisation can be more transparent about its progress with its people and any other stakeholders.

“Measuring your work helps you to better understand trends across your organisation, but it also demonstrates your commitment to DEI as an organisation and helps you to stay focused on your journey.”

Given the strategic importance of collecting data, it’s concerning that almost half of workplaces in New Zealand don’t formally measure and evaluate the effectiveness of diversity initiatives, Mercer says.

This finding came from the 2022 New Zealand Workplace Diversity Survey – another 26 per cent of respondents indicated they were not aware of any measuring process in place, with only 28 per cent reporting their organisation formally measure and evaluate initiatives.

Failing to collect data and evaluate it can result in progress stalling or a situation where inclusion initiatives are seen as tokenistic rather than something that requires sustained effort and the achievement of tangible outcomes, Mercer says.

“Your people insights risk being informed by assumptions, rather than accurate information, and there is potential for your leadership team to become out of touch with the lived experience of employees, hampering their ability to support an inclusive working environment.”

In the worst-case scenario, the organisation’s values or what it says it stands for becomes very far removed from the day-to-day reality of staff.

“Without focused measures of success, we also see organisations expending lots of time, money and energy on a wide range of DEI initiatives in an attempt to ‘do the right thing’.

“While this usually doesn’t hurt, and we would never discourage organisations that are investing in DEI work, throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks is rarely beneficial in the long-term, because it lacks clarity of purpose and often results in fatigue.”

Reluctance to measure

Mercer says there are several reasons organisations may be disinclined to collect data on their diversity mahi.

Sometimes it comes down to a lack of understanding of the need for a strategic approach.

There can also be an unwillingness to distil meaningful experiences into quantifiable metrics or to give the impression of simply “ticking a box”.

“This is an entirely understandable perspective because it’s important that this work is meaningful and authentic. Rather than negating the need for measures of success, however, it highlights that metrics should reflect the real needs and experiences of your people and for there to be a good balance between output and impact measurement. It also calls for a transparent leadership approach that is honest about limitations and shortfalls exposed by the data, while remaining aspirational and optimistic in vision.”

Another barrier for organisations is a lack of data or even the mechanisms needed to acquire the right data. In this case, it’s important for workplaces to start with what they do know, use this information to create initial targets, then set out a plan to expand their data collection and analysis.

Smaller organisations can find it more challenging to collect data due to available resources. The solution is not to try to emulate the approach of larger organisations, but to find different means of collecting data and information and using different kinds of metrics to measure success – ones that don’t rely on large data sets, Mercer says.

“Quite often though, in general organisations don’t measure their DEI work simply because they don’t know where to start.”

Getting started

The first step is for organisations to have a clear sense of what they want to achieve, by developing their vision and rationale for DEI, Mercer says.

This means having conversations with colleagues about what ‘good’ could look like for their organisation.

“Working backwards from there, organisations can translate this wider vision into a coherent strategy, identifying the key objectives that should be met for the vision to become reality, then building in realistic and pragmatic measures of success to define when those objectives have been met.”

Undertaking any data collection has potential pitfalls, Mercer says.

When collecting demographic data, organisations need to take into consideration:

• Personal demographic information is sensitive and for some it’s private information that they wouldn’t normally disclose so there must always be a ‘prefer not to say’ option to respect this, and demographic data returns should always be voluntary, not mandatory (unless it’s required for an organisation to fulfil its statutory obligations). If disclosure rates are low, despite best efforts to encourage returns, or if a considerable number of team members are selecting the ‘prefer not to say’ option, this is telling. It usually means that more must be done to create an environment in which people are comfortable to disclose their identities and characteristics.
• With any data collection that involves the collection of demographics, you must be clear about your intentions (i.e. if you are going to collect any form of data, you need to be able to articulate why you need that data and how it will aid the organisation and its employees) and explicitly state that the data will be used for this purpose.
• Privacy considerations - information must always be stored confidentially and securely. This means that access should be restricted to personnel with the designated responsibility for handling demographic data, and it also means that the way any data is reported must not allow for the identification of any individuals.
• The importance of transparency - when you have the data, be clear about what action will be taken as a result of any findings. If people return their demographic data but fail to see any outcomes or communication following the collection exercise, they may become distrustful, or perceive it as a wasted effort.
  
  

With general metrics or performance measurements remember:

• It’s important to be realistic regarding outcomes and timeframes. If you set yourself goals that are too lofty, then people may become despondent, or make ill-judged decisions to artificially meet objectives or targets. Change will be incremental, not overnight, so the intention and commitment of the organisation should be emphasised.
• Celebrating small wins over time is important because this is a marathon not a sprint – it can take a long time to achieve substantial progress, so people need encouragement along the way.
• Emotional resilience is key – the very act of discovering hard truths may be a trigger for individuals, especially those from marginalised communities or those experiencing exclusion, inequities or under-representation. It’s important to create safe spaces for people to be able to discuss and deal with anything that emerges for them personally.
  
  

Our Diversity Data resource series has more information on best practices for data collection. You will find it in the Member Resource area of the Diversity Infrastructure resource page.

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