Diversity and inclusion (D&I) are more than policies, programs, or headcounts. Equitable employers outpace their competitors by respecting the unique needs, perspectives, and potential of all their team members. As a result, diverse and inclusive workplaces earn deeper trust and more commitment from their employees.

Diversity and inclusion are two interconnected concepts—but they are far from interchangeable. Diversity is about the representation or the make-up of an entity. Inclusion is about how well the contributions, presence, and perspectives of different groups of people are valued and integrated into an environment.

An environment where many different genders, races, nationalities, and sexual orientations and identities are present but only the perspectives of certain groups are valued or carry any authority or influence, may be diverse, but it is not inclusive.

A diverse and inclusive workplace is one that makes everyone, regardless of who they are or what they do for the business, feel equally involved in and supported in all areas of the workplace. The “all areas” part is important.

Research has shown many benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace:

• Higher revenue growth
• Greater readiness to innovate
• Increased ability to recruit a diverse talent pool
• 5.4 times higher employee retention

Inclusion in the workplace is one of the most important keys to retention. When employees trust that they, and their colleagues, will be treated fairly regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or age, they are.

• 9.8 times more likely to look forward to going to work
• 6.3 times more likely to have pride in their work
• 5.4 times more likely to want to stay a long time at their company

Having an inclusive workplace culture will not only help you attract a diverse set of talent but also help you retain the diverse talent you attracted in the first place.

Why should you take this Assessment?

The Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Matrix allows an organization to:
•Get insights into the Culture of Inclusion
•Benchmark with organizations in their Industry
•Design effective training programs
•Assess and identify gaps in people policies

Who can take this Assessment?

For high-performing companies that prioritize building environments that help their employees thrive, Ascend is a diagnostic tool to identify their Stage of the Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Matrix. This follows into designing a solution for them to enhance the D&I Maturity Matrix, thereby making D&I an integral part of Strategy instead of a “program” based approach. 

The Report

The survey measures the employee's agreement or disagreement with statements about their own workplace, experiences as well as attitudes and beliefs regarding inclusion. These statements are based on our scientific framework and rely on the latest research on inclusion. The report is a statistical analysis of the survey to provide detailed insights into the Organisation's Maturity Matrix.

Key Assessment Areas- ASCEND

A Strategy: executive committee focused on diversity/ diversity council
Culture: attitudes, behavior, and inclusive mindset,
Educate and developmental Programs: training/coaching/ sponsorship/ mentoring/ women's network
Nurturing equality: flexible work/ extended maternity and leave policy/back-to-work programs
Deliverable: metrics and tracking of key performance indicators KPI and objectives linked to diversity