Strategic Relationships Can Be Key To Successful DEI Initiatives

Lasting societal change is possible when organizations work together toward a common goal

When implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at your organization, it’s important to remember you don’t have to go it alone. Consider additional avenues that can help drive success, including collaborating with other like-minded organizations to help set and reach aspirational goals. Strategic relationships that include collective efforts, whether via financial support, volunteer efforts or shared branding are successful tools that can help drive change at scale and should not be overlooked.

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Recently, we worked with PwC to bring the strengths of both of our organizations together to work towards a common goal: increasing representation of Black business leaders in the global corporate marketplace. Through this collaboration, PwC invested $1M to support the development of NABA’s updated technology infrastructure and strategic plan, including:

The development of an industry leading technology infrastructure, supported by a pro bono team of IT and technology professionals.
Data analytics and insights to support us in serving over 6,300 professional and student members in the accounting, business and finance professions, as well as to support entrepreneurship.
Furthering our new business strategy, One NABA, designed to centralize program delivery, marketing and communications, volunteer recruitment, and improve how we measure impact across our 227 professional and college chapters.

"We are fortunate to have the support of PwC at this critical juncture in NABA's 52-year history,” said Guylaine Saint Juste, NABA Inc. President and CEO. "Building a technology infrastructure to support the evolution of our business model expands the organization's capacity to engage, empower, and educate Black business leaders and institutions. PwC's investment in NABA demonstrates genuine commitment and allyship in moving the financial needle for Black professionals.”

If you’re looking to see where to start, consider taking the following steps:

Select a Complementary DEI Strategic Collaborator

DEI isn’t a competitive issue, and in order to drive change at scale, we should work together with other organizations to make a greater impact on our workforce, society and the greater business community. Not only can successful strategic relationships benefit both parties, but they can also build trust with your employees and communities. Questions that can help evaluate whether a potential strategic collaborator will be a good complement include:

How do our values align?
Do we share a common mission or vision?
What can we accomplish together that would be more difficult to accomplish alone?

Answering these questions is only the beginning. Your organization should also conduct due diligence before entering any strategic relationship with another company or organization. When you find a DEI collaborator you believe is a good complement, make sure your agreement outlines each organization's goals, action plans, and evaluation methods. This upfront work is more likely to produce a relationship that remains vibrant and continues to yield the desired results.

Define Your DEI Goals

Outline your internal DEI goals along with strategies to achieve them. This might involve creating a diversity, equity and inclusion committee, council or starting employee resource groups that can help to cultivate an inclusive workplace. Your company's DEI goals should align with those of any third-party you may work with based on the outcome you’re trying to drive. Our efforts focused on educational and workplace initiatives to support the goal of closing the opportunity gap for college students, which can be supported by focusing efforts on:

Expanded campus outreach to provide mentorship, career exploration, and employment opportunities though connections to professional chapters and employers
New internship opportunities beyond accounting and finance, to expose students to business and related professions
Refined talent acquisition and retention efforts to help more students succeed on their pathway to the C-Suite

Be transparent about your offerings, how the programs are working and the intention of each with employees and key stakeholders, as this will help build trust.

Invest in DEI

As with any business priority, a financial commitment and alignment from leadership is necessary to achieve internal goals, and DEI goals are no different. Inclusive leadership training and additional resources to support DEI growth should be considered when discussing yearly budgets. If possible, also consider investing in nonprofits that are aligned to your company’s purpose and can help to amplify it.

Review DEI Metrics

Similar to any strategic initiative, a regular review of the data is necessary to determine the effectiveness of the strategies utilized to reach stated goals. It’s important to keep in mind that each company will need to measure the relevant metrics that are right for them and their goals specifically — it’s not a one size fits all approach. However, there are some DEI metrics you can consider tracking by DEI classes (e.g. race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, disability status, veteran status, etc.):

● Employee job satisfaction

○ Number/percentage who report satisfaction levels according to your company survey

○ Number/percentage who would recommend your organization as a place of employment

● Leadership representation

○ Number/percentage of entry level/mid-level/senior level employees and supervisors

○ Number/percentage of people supervised by someone who identifies as an area of focus for advancement (race, ethnicity, etc.)

● Hiring and retention

○ Number/percentage of hires, number of months/years retained, promotion rates, and retirement rates

All in all, collaboration and sharing leading practices can be key to drive action at scale. Be prepared to share your progress with third parties and strategic collaborators, and refine your efforts based on feedback so you can be as successful as you can be.

Read more about PwC’s and NABA’s work together.

About PwC

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 155 countries with over 327,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.