Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Maturity Model

Hello there!

I'm so excited to bring you this four-part series on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It's a very important element that is on people's minds and their hearts. Today, we're specifically looking at the diversity, equity, and inclusion maturity model that I developed.

I believe this is so important because a lot of organizations, a lot of top powerful leaders are confused regarding how to approach diversity, equity, and inclusion and they're a bit overwhelmed by the ocean. Even though individuals are powerful, are skilled, and are smart, it does not mean that they know everything specifically about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many of us are still learning in the industry so it's important for people to not be ashamed, but to be open to learning how to leverage D, E, and I to better their organizations, to better their business, to better their teams, and their people.

So, we're going to dive into this model so that you can see a real look, a real evolution of how your organization can grow. Take that journey in maturing through D, E, and I.

So first and foremost, I want to talk about these five levels that you see. Basic, Awareness, Appreciate, Integrate, and Sustain. This is very important because what it suggests, what it implies, and what it directly says is that you have to make an evolution journey in order to optimally manifest D, E, and I in an optimal way within your organization. I'm not going to read everything, but I do expect you to

read all of this in order to absorb it all. But the essence that differentiates these levels is going

from an organization that is more reactive, more based upon what they have to do to actually being D, E, and I. It's from an organization that is reactive to passive, to active, to proactive, and then to sustain. These all look very different. That intention of your organization, of the effort, of the investment by your leaders, by the body, is what gets you migrating, what gets you evolving and upgrading through that journey. What is important to understand is that the basic level is one of compliance. We all know that the traditional 80’s organization, that does what it has to do in order to not get sued quite frankly, in order to decrease liabilities so they're going to dot their i's regarding what those government regulations are but that's where the buck stops because that is all they are interested in and that's what they see the requirement as being.

Then the next phase is Awareness. We see this diversity, equity, and inclusion. We understand it, and we know what it may be. It may be a positive thing, and that awareness goes more into a phase of, we appreciate it. We appreciate what diversity, equity, and inclusion are. And not only do we appreciate it, but then that graduates to, we want to be engaged, we want to do something to manifest a great thing that is good for our bottom line, good for our business, good for our people, and then ultimately that inspiring level is sustaining. And that is when your organization's culture represents D, E, and I. It’s going from an external focus. From one that's reactive, one is that is about compliance to one that is more and more increasingly growing toward sustaining.

Another component of that maturity is about investment. How much investment of energy, intention, and resources is toward an organization being diversified, equitable, and inclusive as the intention grows as those investments grow, as those resources grow, then that maturity should grow along with it, assuming that it's the right obvious methodology and the right transformational efforts that are made. But at the end of the day, it is an approach that is, from an external perspective, reactive to one that may include bringing in external professionals and consultants, then to one graduating to internal resources, and then ultimately one that is diverse, one that is equitable, to one that is inclusive, and that if you were to change that, you would change the organizational culture itself.

Now, I will say most organizations are not at the sustained level, not even 3% within our country are at that level. But you absolutely should aspire from that, because that's how you get there. Just like any other business goal that we have, we have to aspire to it. We have to develop the plan, and then we have to apply our plan, our resources in order to get there.

I hope that helps. I hope that it gives more information. If you find that it may be beneficial to anyone else, please share, and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions that you may have.

Love discussing this. Love helping organizations to do their best in the D, E, and I. And I wish you all the best on your diversity, equity, and inclusion journey.

Have a great day!

Dr. Lepora