For many organizations, DEI initiatives tend to focus predominantly on the experiences of corporate employees, leaving out a large and significant part of the consumer industry working force—frontline employees. These employees often work directly with customers daily and are often the first and most impactful experience that a customer has with the organization. Improving their sense of belonging and purpose at the organization is also key to ensuring long-term operational success and lower overall attrition.

Actions for organizations to address DEI in their workforce:

• Expanding conversations around equity by including on-the-ground employees to create working environments that welcome and include varying lifestyle needs, from physical accessibility to neurodiversity
• Making DEI a core element of performance assessment and reviews of business performance at all levels
• Evaluating existing processes and practices for potential bias or exclusionary behavior
• Innovating to hire diverse talent by recruiting from ‘non-traditional’ sources such as local organizations working with underrepresented groups and communities

By emphasizing DEI on all levels of the organization and increasing the opportunities available to frontline workers, organizations stand to gain loyalty from both their workforce and customers.

A comprehensive evaluation of DEI within consumer organizations spans much beyond the workforce, but across the entire supply chain. A supply chain is considered “diverse” when the manufacturer, supplier, and/or distributor is at least 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a traditionally unrepresented group. These could include small-business enterprises (SBEs), minority-owned enterprises (MBEs), women-owned enterprises (WBEs), or enterprises owned by disabled veterans or the LGBTQA community. Ensuring diverse representation in marketing and advertising helps consumer organizations demonstrate that they understand and respond to the needs of their increasingly diverse customer base.

Initiatives to increase DEI across the ecosystem:

• Making supplier diversity a strategic priority, regardless of where an organization is on their journey toward a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture
• Adopting a data-driven approach and setting meaningful goals by embedding executive targets, setting KPIs, and conducting audits of diversity spend and the economic impact of programs
• Measuring and reporting success to track the effectiveness of an organization’s efforts

DEI extends beyond the four walls of an organization as consumers indicate their willingness to purchase from a brand that they view as inclusive or diverse. Deloitte’s State of the Consumer Tracker has highlighted the rise of the conscious shopper—consumers who increasingly make shopping decisions informed by the social responsibility and impact that they (and the organizations they support) make. Consumers are looking at the social conscience or purpose of the brands they interact with and rewarding those who meet their expectations with a visible commitment to DEI.

Key initiatives to address systemic challenges facing the communities that organizations operate in:

• Establishing a community advisory council by engaging with local communities to understand local needs and thereby providing support where possible
• Facilitating a two-way dialogue with customers to understand their concerns and how their experience can be improved
• Monitoring the risk involved in not navigating the business through a DEI lens
• Prioritizing diversity training for front-line employees and equipping them with the tools to address bias and customer concerns and thereby proactively improve the retail experience
• Adopting and communicating a shared-values approach that integrates social priorities at the core of the organization’s business model