Co-Created and Aligned DEI Strategy with Organizational Strategy
BACKGROUND/OPPORTUNITY
Guided DEI task force to better understand their organization’s culture and develop a robust diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy and implementation of a road map.
In early 2021 Snohomish County Public Works initiated a new DEI Task Force. The objective of the task force was to assist Public Works leadership with the development of a 3-Year DEI plan and conduct related work such as advising on DEI plan content, helping to draft elements of the plan, providing feedback on drafts, gathering and reviewing DEI related data on the work and resources, brainstorming training/education ideas, and conducting employee focus groups.
SOLUTION
Data2insight provided:
Engagement launch
Mini-organizational culture evaluation
DEI strategic plan and implementation roadmap development
Nine (9) months of project management and assistance
OUTCOME
Data2insight co-leads facilitated DEI task force grounding sessions to provide norms for courageous conversations and the creation of a learning community, which grew the capacity of these leaders to sponsor this work.
The data2insight team conducted 10 focus groups with representatives from each of the six divisions, a group of employees who are people of color, human resources leaders, and a purposeful sample of field employees. This information, along with a review of documents and practices, was used to identify where Public Works was on the Multicultural Organization Development (MCOD) continuum.
The evaluation findings informed the identification of DEI strategic plan goals. Data2insight led the DEI strategic plan content and graphic design iteration. The DEI strategic plan was adopted by the DEI Task Force in August 2021 and the Public Works Executive Director is currently using this plan to guide DEI implementation.
“Our department director and I had regular meetings with data2insight throughout the entire process of developing our first department DEI Plan. I looked forward to every meeting and interaction with data2insight for the knowledge, experience, and guidance they brought to the project. They helped us address difficult and complex organizational issues, wide-ranging individual perspectives, and cultural competencies. They challenged us as we needed to be challenged to step it up. The result was a DEI Plan that can be implemented with clear actionable steps to achieve meaningful goals.”
