Employee Inclusion Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

Sarah Simon

17 min Read Time | September 14th 2022

Key Takeaways

1

Inclusion and diversity can be measured through representation at the workplace and company policies.

2

Empowerment signifies allowing people who are outside the decision-making process into it. Degradation is the opposite of empowerment.

3

Ensure that your analysis is not anecdotal by highlighting the broader issue at hand and describing and quantifying the social impact.

Provide enough quantitative information to determine the impact value and severity.

Visuals b9ws EM40 Cv0 unsplash 1 2021 01 26 094307

What is it?

Reduced inequalities and inclusion call for a "just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met."

To preserve identities and combat social exclusion, representation in a workplace is an important measure.

Empowerment can be defined in different ways; however, when talking about minorities’ empowerment, it means accepting and allowing all people (women and children of ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, refugees, disabled persons, indigenous people, or others) who are on the outside of the decision-making process into it. Empowerment is the process that creates power in individuals over their own lives, society, and their communities. It includes raising the status of people through education, raising awareness, literacy, and training. It is all about equipping and allowing people to make life-determining decisions.

The opposite of empowerment is degradation, “the act of lowering something or someone to a less respected state.”

Sources
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21453SDG_10_EGM_2019_concept_note_30Jan_consolidated.pdf
https://politicalyouthnetwork.org/why-are-minority-rights-important-2/
https://www.unhcr.org/minorities-and-indigenous-peoples.html

E WEB Goal 10

SDG Choice

Impact Category: Processes

ILG: Well-being

Data Points & Units

Values we are looking for are:

  • Total number of employees (along with geographical distribution)

  • % of minorities in the total workforce

  • % of minorities in leadership (preferably, if available, distinguished between management, the executive level, and on the board)

  • Background information and statistics on who the minorities are in that particular society/country

  • A comparison with the industry average/country threshold, depending on the information available

  • Pay gap between minorities and non-minorities, if available

  • Minorities’ turnover rate

  • In your analysis, you should emphasise the overall impact determined by using various metrics (i.e., defining whether there is a glass ceiling (the decrease in the % of minorities moving towards higher decision-making roles), minorities’ representation compared to the industry/country average data, etc.

  • % of minorities among newly hired employees

  • Any initiatives to increase the inclusion of minority groups in the workforce, along with tangible outcomes, if available

  • Reviews from Glassdoor, Comparably, etc. on workplace experiences and diversity & inclusion

  • Any other data related to the inclusion of minorities that showcases whether minorities are empowered in the workplace or not


Some definitions:

  • % of minorities in upper management: Extract the % of minorities at any leadership level (other than BOD/directors for which we have another designated column) in this order of preference (based on hierarchy):

Executive level, senior management, upper management, management, leadership, VP

  • Minorities’ pay gap:

-> When both mean and median pay gaps are given, please report the “mean”

-> If the pay gap is in favor of minorities, it should be reported with a negative sign. Example: X company’s minorities earn 108% of their non-minority counterparts -> minorities’ pay gap should be extracted as -8

Some Definitions:

  • Disclosed: When the data is disclosed and we do not use any assumptions/proxies to estimate it

  • Estimated: When we have estimated the figure

  • Complete: When the data represents 100% of the company’s operations

  • Partial: When the data is given for only a portion of its operations (not 100%) or for some countries where it operates

Impact assessment

The topic addresses the practice and policy of a company providing equal access to opportunities and resources in its workforce for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those with physical or mental disabilities and members of minority groups.

Representation is important because it empowers those who have been marginalized historically. For instance, if minorities are overrepresented in lower-paying jobs and have little to no leadership positions, this shows inequality.

It is also important to evaluate inclusion in a broader sense rather than just representation within different levels of an organisation.

Using the Logical Model, try to analyse the impact of the company's practices, initiatives, and/or solutions to achieve true inclusion. What has the company done to empower or degrade minorities? Where and since when? Try to measure their practices and initiatives' effectiveness in their life: is it improving their financial situation, access to resources, health, etc.? Is it providing benefits and protection, etc.?

Caution

An absolute impact assessment must be made rather than conducting relative impact assessments (representation as a percentage or only compared to the industry). Although industry and/or competitor comparisons are valuable to include, the main focus should be on how the company empowers or degrades minorities in absolute terms.

Introduction

The introduction should examine the importance of inclusion and provide industry statistics.

  • Explain how underrepresentation negatively impacts people's standing in society/why it is an issue for certain minority groups to be underrepresented in the workplace. What would be the impact of increasing their representation?
    • Be careful not to include any information about how representation affects business. This is a small but important distinction.
  • Background information and statistics on who the marginalized groups are in that particular society.
  • Explain why inclusion is important, provide the context of inequalities for the company's industry, and the adverse social externalities of being marginalised.

Core Analysis

You must address the following points:

  • The total number of people working at the specific company, where the HQ is, and the geographical breakdown of employees. If unavailable, include where the company has (most of) its offices.

  • The % and the absolute number of minorities for the most recent year reported on (no later than 2 years ago).

  • A comparison with the minority groups in society/country, threshold/industry, and average/competitor depends on the type of minority group(s) and the available information.

    • It is important to look at the country in which it is. Ethnic minority groups differ per region. The analysis should provide essential background information and statistics on whom the marginalized groups are in that particular society.

  • Define whether there is a glass ceiling effect or not.


Include the following points to the best of your abilities:

  • Ethnic pay gap (if any) - including cash incentives, bonuses, transparency in raises, etc.

  • Initiatives that the company has started to increase inclusivity.

  • Minority turnover rate.

  • If minorities are concentrated in part-time and lower-paying jobs.

  • The percentage and the absolute number of minorities in all company divisions, the general workforce, leadership roles, and directors. Ideally, this is included, but it is not always available.

  • Reviews and ratings from Glassdoor, Comparably, etc. on diversity and inclusion


Note (!):

  • Age discrimination is good to include as a secondary point, but it is not sufficient alone.

  • We accept analyses that only consider the representation of disabled employees, as long as it is benchmarked against the country's legislation. As this is the bare minimum, the number of employees considered should be at least 50% of the total workforce.

  • External sources (such as Zippia) can be used only if the discrepancy between the number of employees mentioned in the external source and reported by the company itself is below 20% for the most recent data.

    • Keep in mind that Zippia considers the US workforce. This should be made clear in your analysis.

  • Always use company reports over external sources.

  • Make the analysis as robust as possible and include as much data as is available.

  • Representation based on visual outlook, i.e., visible minorities, is not accepted.

  • Remain nuanced in wording.

Measuring the impact:

  • Have the initiatives reduced turnover rates?

  • Is there a high tenure for employees belonging to minority groups compared to dominant ones?

  • Is there equal recruitment for open positions? Equal promotions?

  • Are there equal financial and non-financial rewards earned?


Comparing the results to the industry averages will help show how the company ranks within its industry.

If the company is global, it is important to benchmark it to a close competitor and include a score given by third parties, i.e., Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

Do not assess whether the company has increased or decreased the share of minorities by a small margin or if they did or did not meet the goals they have set themselves, as it is trivial.

Conclusion

The conclusion should recap the main point without adding new elements.

Decide how well the company is empowering or degrading minorities in the workforce. No new information is needed here; tie your conclusion to the introduction.

After considering the broader issue and the company's actions, what is the company's net impact on the issue at hand? Is it positive or negative? Is the impact significant when compared to the data illustrating the broader issue?

Is the company close to achieving true diversity and inclusion, regardless of the industry norms?


Sidenote

When coming across company reports that include aggregated (or consolidated) and non-aggregated data, you can still treat this topic. Please keep in mind that when the gender breakdown is only available for the non-aggregated number of employees, it would be important also to provide the aggregated number of employees to allow the reader to make a more informed judgment when it comes time to rate both the value and severity of the company's impact.

The difference between aggregated and non-aggregated data is that the latter only includes financial/other information on the parent company. In contrast, aggregated data includes data from the parent company and its subsidiaries.

Standards

a/ Age discrimination is good to include as a secondary point, but it is not sufficient alone to be considered publishable on the platform. Similarly, nationality alone is not enough for the note to be publishable.

b/ We accept analyses only considering the share of disabled employees, as long as it is benchmarked against the country's legislation. This is the bare minimum, so try to make the note as robust as possible by, for example, including reviews/ratings from Comparably, Glassdoor, etc. (We do not accept analyses if the % of disabled employees is given for the non-consolidated workforce, which represents less than 50% of the consolidated workforce)

c/ We can use external sources only if the discrepancy between the number of employees mentioned in the external source and reported by the company itself is below 20% for the most recent data (we do not want to take the company's team member count from previous years to have it matched with the employee count on the external source).

d/ We accept analyses that solely include ethnic minority statistics for the workforce and/or leadership levels.

e/ We always prefer company reports over external sources.

f/ Please make the note as comprehensive as possible by doing thorough research.

g/ Please provide the industry data (preferably) by considering the industry. If industry data is unavailable, then sector data can be used.

h/ If industry/sector data is unavailable, please use a competitor in the same industry.

i/ We do not accept representation based on visual outlook, i.e., visible minorities.

j/ With this topic, especially if limited data is available, it is essential that the wording is nuanced. We can't state that a company is doing "better than" its competition in terms of inclusion if all we know is the company's total number of disabled employees, for example. Nuance is essential, and we do return analyses if there is a lack thereof.

k/ Please be wary about nationalities and ethnicities (Chinese/non-Chinese, Dane/non-Dane, etc.). We can accept this if the company has explicitly used the word "ethnicity" while mentioning the %.

Helpful Sources

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index has 3 criteria for a model inclusive workplace: Workforce Protection, Inclusive Benefits, and Supporting an Inclusive Culture & Corporate Social Responsibility.

Best workplaces for minorities

Best employers for Diversity

Helpful sources for assessing income inequality:

Many US and UK companies normally disclose the ethnicity of their BODs in their Proxy Statement (under SEC filings): https://www.sec.gov/edgar/sear...

Many Canadian companies release a document named Information Circular or Management Circular

Many European countries like France, Spain, Germany and sothers release a Universal Registration Document

Other Sources you can use:

Refresh

1. Check if the assigned analysis has more recent data (we require the latest data available)

NO: do not refresh the analysis and please report it

YES: Move to step 2

2. Update the analysis following our Important Metrics & Standards 

3. Check if the initiatives mentioned are upto date

NO: fix them

YES: move to step 4

4. Check if there are any comparisons with competitors

YES: remove them

NO: move to step 5

5. Check the intro: Is it up to standard? Are sources working? Is data current and relevant?

YES: do not refresh the introduction

NO: move to step 6

6. Fix the Introduction

7. Fix the Headline

8. Fix the Conclusion, if needed

9. Update the data points as per the available data

Related
Articles

Based on the article you've just read, here are some more we think you'd be interested in.

4 Min read

30+ How-to Guides to treat Relevant Topics

30+ how-to guides to help you correctly analyse your impact topics.

17 Min read

Renewable Energy Solutions

Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

13 Min read

Employee Gender Diversity

Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

38 Min read

Affordability

Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

11 Min read

Promote or Hinder Gender Equality and/or Inclusion from Products and/or Services

17 Min read

Labour Practices

Learn how to correctly analyse this topic.

5 Min read

Golden Rule #1: Find the right level of granularity

How to find the right scope to cover a particular topic.

World Green Background Sustainability small

Let’s take action together

With the right investment companies having a positive impact on the planet are able to flourish. Our community forms part of that mission by measuring their impact.

Join Us