Making DEI Efforts a Part of Your Ongoing Fiscal Planning
At the end of each year, companies spend time fiscally planning their initiatives for the upcoming year. Just as other projects require budgeting, so do your intended Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. You can only meet your DEI goals if you set aside dedicated funds. It is, therefore, essential to link DEI efforts directly to the budgeting process. As you plan your budget for 2023, include a portion for DEI after assessing your desired outcomes. Consider your company’s size, DEI efforts and initiatives, and overall goals when making decisions about what your allocation should be.
How to Make DEI Budget Planning a Priority Within Your Organization
DEI budget planning should be part of the overall organizational fiscal discussions, ensuring your business institutionalizes the allocation as part of the company’s current and future budgetary planning. If your business has a DEI leader, it is highly encouraged to collaborate with that person and with other department heads at your organization. If you do not have a dedicated DEI lead, each department should consider the integration of DEI as part of their budget plans.
Identify Your Organization’s DEI Goals and Objectives
Your organization’s DEI budget will depend on your goals and objectives. What are you hoping to get out of your DEI initiatives? DEI can help with increasing the diversity of your recruiting efforts and training programs to create a more inclusive culture.
You can target the distribution of the budget to areas across functions, either by department or by business activity, such as training, marketing, recruitment, philanthropy, and others. Here are more suggestions for how your organization could facilitate DEI development:
- training workshops
- holiday and culture celebrations
- exploring new markets to benefit a core diverse customer segment
- improving communications related to diversity
- improving supplier diversity and sourcing from minority-owned businesses
- charitable giving
Catalyst, a global nonprofit that helps to build workplaces that work for women, states that 82% of its member companies have a specific budget for diversity programs and activities. These budgets range broadly from $10,000 to $216 million, with a median budget of $1.2 million. Almost half of the respondents reported allocating the most significant percentage of their overall diversity budget to diversity and inclusion training programs.
Key Takeaways for DEI Budgeting
- Make DEI an intrinsic value for the entire organization by embedding it in the budget process.
- Promote widespread institutional change by making DEI programs a priority and a permanent line item in all budgets.
- Encourage managers to consult with DEI leads and engage in innovative, long-term planning by creating a permanent, reliable funding source.
- Ensure all of your organization’s leaders are actively taking part in and contributing to the strategic plan for enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Aubrey Blanche, the Global Head of Diversity and Belonging at Atlassian, reinforces the idea of raising standards, stating that “a lack of diversity is the first indication that a company isn’t a meritocracy”. Blanche believes that before you spend enormous sums of money on DEI workshops and training, it’s crucial to understand the why behind the training.
Your first step will be complete once you can look inwards, recognize the areas for improvement in your organization, create goals, and infuse them into your company’s mission. Only then can you generate the right path for your company to follow.
DEI Should Be Part of Your Organization’s Core Values
As you begin or finalize your budget process, PrestigePEO encourages you to take DEI initiatives into consideration. Establish solid DEI goals and be patient, persistent, and practical. Continue to focus on building awareness and support for diversity, equity, and inclusion principles as core values at your organization. If you need help bringing DEI to your company, PrestigePEO is here to help. Learn more about our diversity committee and contact us today to hear what a partnership with a PEO can offer.
