QuakeLab Inclusion Maturity Model
Even before the whirlwind that has been 2020, a number of companies across North America and Europe have been embarking on their own diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) journey.
Industry leaders like McKinsey and the World Economic Forum have shared the business case for diversity. They’ve shown us that companies with above-average diversity had nearly 20% more average revenue created from innovation. They’ve also been quick to remind us time and again that teams composed of diverse members have the advantage of richer perspectives, and a greater number of approaches to solving problems than a team composed of the same type of people.
All this is wonderful, however, it leads to an inclusion maturity model that hinges on focusing solely on diversity and recruitment.
What this would have you believe, is that the most efficient and effective way to measure your organization’s DEI maturity level can be broken down into 3 - 5 levels:
Level 1: Industry and/or government compliance
Level 2: Recruiting a diverse team
Level 3: Creating a welcoming environment and culture
Level 4: Addressing systemic barriers
Level 5: Marketing integration (ie. focus externally)
The challenge with that traditional inclusion maturity level, is that the bulk of focus is on recruitment, or bringing folks in. Most organizations comfortably remain at that stage. Even when organizations progress through the recommended stages, they are encouraged to focus on low bearing fruit and minimum effort and resources.
Most alarming, is that action is placed very far in the model rather than early on in an organization’s journey.
We’d like to propose the QuakeLab Inclusion Maturity Model.
First, let's start from the beginning, what is an inclusion maturity model? A maturity model is often defined as a tool that measures the inclusiveness of an individual, a team, and an organization.
The QuakeLab Inclusion Maturity Model
QuakeLab’s model hinges on one central idea: you and your organization want to do things differently. We feel confident that if you’re reading this, you understand that the bare minimum - one that latches on diversity only, is not enough. If you have made it this far, we are assuming that you believe rigorous investigation into historical systems of oppression is necessary.
The QuakeLab Maturity Model consists of 4 levels that include the following
Level 1: Internal assessment and action
This level requires you to complete deep, consistent assessments of your organization. At this level, you are collecting primary and secondary data and using it to inform how you respond to the needs raised in your assessments. At Level 1, you are responding to challenges with traditional but effective methods including completely redesigning your recruitment processes, building a transparent pay system, building DEI considerations into risk assessments, product and project design, and communications.
Level 2: Embedding action and looking externally
At this level, your organization has built a robust DEI department or function that collects data, responds to patterns, and seeks external support to test the innovative ways of working your design. These steps have now been codified and are a part of organizational strategy and process. At this stage, your organization does not only use traditional methods to respond to inclusion challenges, but seeks external support from the people and organizations who work in transformative societal change like activists, community organizers, and advocates.
Level 3: Innovative inclusion
In level 3, your organization is actively and consistently Introducing, testing, and iterating these innovative, new methods of work steeped in anti-racism, feminism, anti-oppressive, anti-capitalist, and pro-Indigenous ways of knowing and working.
Level 4: Dismantle and redesign the systems
Level 4 demands that your organization integrates community consultation as a key aspect of strategic planning. This means that whether you are a for-profit, non-profit, government body etc. you are actively seeking the collaboration and consultation of your community and equity deserving folks. This consultation will not be for ‘clear’ DEI work, but for every aspect of your organization, including its mission, strategic goals, profit management, etc. Level 4 also requires that all your processes, procedures, and ways of working are transparent and added to a community of knowledge and practice.
The reality is, most of us are not quite at Level 1, these levels and the actions that will bring us through each level are unattainable. They are, however, radical.
If you want to learn more about working on Level 1, contact us and let's have a chat!