Blog

September 29, 2022 – There was a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) were buzzwords. Most organizations, with few exceptions, gave little to no attention to DEI. It was a checkbox on a form. Those days are over. New generations entering the workforce are more diverse than ever and DEI should be on top of every organization’s priority list. To help organizations achieve their DEI goal, participants in this month’s Breakfast for Champions learned to use a tool called the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmarks (GDEIB). The GDEIB sets benchmarking goals in more than 200 categories to address sustainable DEI growth and development.

However, as Riikka Salonen, an expert GDEIB panelist said, you can’t take it all in at once. It takes gradual progression to get your organization through them all. The GDEIB can be categorized into five levels of progress: inactive, reactive, proactive, progressive and best practice. During the workshop, participants worked in groups to discuss the actions their organizations need to take to move from inactive or reactive toward progressive.

Donna Tyner, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead for the Greenbrier Companies, showed attendees how Greenbrier Companies is doing just that. Why did they choose GDEIB? Donna said it was because the tool is flexible, scalable, easy to understand and apply, and can be used as a guide to construct their DEI program. By focusing on two of the five levels of progress, Greenbrier Companies developed policies and practices that impact the organization most and be sustainable.

To learn more about the GDEIB and how to put them into action, members can access the recording of this session by visiting the Resource Page.