Best Practices in Capturing and Using Employee Identity Information
How can workplaces collect data on employee identity in an effective and transparent way? And how can this information be put to use to identify representation and workplace experience issues?
Aubrey Blanche, a leading thinker on equity design who holds roles at CultureAmp and runs The Mathpath, was recently interviewed by Gender IDEAL’s Founder & CEO Flory Wilson about how workplaces should approach collecting and using identity information about its employees.
Flory Wilson: Aubrey, there are many examples of how demographic data can help employers understand the workplace experience through the lens of different groups of employee identity. But there are challenges in doing this - namely, that data must be collected voluntarily and in a thoughtful, inclusive way. What advice would you give an organization that is beginning the process of systematically asking for this type of data from employees?
Aubrey Blanche: That data collection is absolutely your best first step. Without it, you won’t know *what* is happening in your organization, and so you’ll likely implement some “best practices” that may or may not speak to your organization’s needs. Culture Amp’s 2022 Workplace DEI Report showed that collecting DEI data and using it to make decisions was one of the greatest predictors (along with having a strategic DEI plan and supportive policies) of making progress. While the report didn’t point to the specific data collection practices that drive the needle, in my experience focusing on and prioritizing the collection of race and disability data, followed by gender, caregiver, and LGBTQ* information can help organizations make the greatest progress.
And collecting that data absolutely takes intentionality and sensitivity. It requires being transparent about your intentions, how you’ll handle and use the data, who will have access to it, and what controls each individual has over their own data. Being thoughtful about each of those issues, though, is what can build trust so that people want to give you their data…because they believe that it will be used to improve their experience.
Flory: Let’s get into specifics. How should an employer go about collecting the data? What are the best practices to follow and pitfalls to avoid?
Aubrey: Ideally, organizations have a thoughtful approach to data storage (minimal collection, minimal access to individuated data, full consent / optionality in providing it). As they prepare to collect this data, the company should tie it to their broader commitment to building an equitable and inclusive workplace, and be sure to cover:
What data is being collected
That providing the data is entirely optional
For what purposes the data will be used
Who will have access to the data
How the employee can add or remove their data
This can help drive overall engagement with the project, and result in higher quality data (including less missing data). Then, it’s absolutely crucial that organizations make an action plan to respond to what they find when they use demographic data to study the employee experience (through surveys) and processes (through performance, promotion, and pay equity audits) from a DEI lens. Then, they have to commit the resources to implement the plan. It’s a straightforward set of steps, but fewer companies than you think are really investing in a way that’s likely to be effective. Culture Amp’s 2022 Workplace DEI Report showed that only 34% of DEI and HR professionals felt they had enough resources to fulfill their DEI mandate.
Flory: In the Gender IDEAL Assessment, we ask if organizations are tracking this data to use for measuring representation at all levels of the organization and through promotion and turn-over rates. We also encourage disaggregating workplace climate survey results by other identity characteristics. Can you share how organizations should use the data once collected and again, best practices for using data and pitfalls to avoid?
Aubrey: I think the first point you made is critical. Where possible, companies should look at their data not only by group, but from an intersectional lens. Basically, use 2 or more “filters” to understand someone’s more specific experience. Ask questions like “Are women of color having an equitable experience compared to White women?” or “Are queer disabled employees having a different experience than their straight, non-disabled peers?”.
Companies should use the data, first and foremost, to audit the equity of their processes. This is the most crucial part of building an equitable business: holding your business processes to account for producing equitable outcomes. This could look like reviewing progress against goals with your leadership team on a monthly basis, or even sharing updates on that progress with the whole company on a monthly basis (like we do at Culture Amp). Then, you need to make sure that you are surveying your employees on their experience, and using demographics data to understand the identity- and organization-based nuances in those experiences.
The biggest pitfall I’d tell people to avoid is not taking action based on data once you’ve collected it. Not taking action, especially when people have provided data as sensitive as demographics has the potential to significantly break down trust, something crucial to support the organizational change that’s likely necessary for your culture to be truly inclusive and equitable.
Additional resources:
2022 Workplace DEI Report. CultureAmp.
Achieving Gender Balance at all Levels of Your Company, Harvard Business Review.
Self-Identification of LGBTQ+ Employees. The Human Rights Campaign.
Employee Demographics Don’t Have to be at Odds with Employees’ Identities. Harvard Business Review.