Minority groups are still less likely to have access to work than their majority-group counterparts. Many employers are hoping to do their part to change that, but improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace can be challenging. Workforce visualizations and org charting can help. Read on to see how these tools can empower you to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for every employee.

With research proving that diverse teams are 35% more productive than average, employers across the U.S. want to improve their DEI initiatives. This is often easier said than done. Attracting and retaining top talent from minority groups never comes down to a single initiative. Empowering all employees to thrive can require cultural shifts and moment-by-moment changes. Even organizations with the best intentions may struggle with the scope of this challenge. For all too many, DEI initiatives do not bring about the actual, substantive change that leadership and HR professionals want to see.

The good news is that there are tried-and-tested strategic approaches that can put you on the right path. One such method is combining org charting with workforce visualizations. A disjointed or piecemeal view of your workforce can keep you from working towards a larger goal and aligning on an overarching strategy. But when you can achieve a birds'-eye view of your entire workforce—with clear intuitive visualizations—DEI efforts become instantly easier to measure. And what gets measured gets managed.

Below, you can find four ways org charting software and visualizations improve workplace diversity.

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1) Consolidating Data From Across Your Organization Puts You In Charge

It’s hard to get a clear view of baseline DEI figures when your staffing data is scattered across your company. One area or team may be particularly inclusive, but this diversity may not necessarily be reflected across the business. For many HR professionals, getting a clear picture of DEI can feel like playing a game of catch-up. As soon as you've counted the figures in one department, another area experiences significant change.

The key is to have a consolidated view of all information that is automatically updated as your organization changes. When you have a global view of every bit of live workforce data from across departments, you’re on the front foot. You'll be ready for changes in legislation, strategic initiatives, or disruptive events.

With purpose-built org charting software, you can also see staff’s gender and minority statuses and sort data by job titles, benefits, pay bands, and reporting structures. This empowers you to spot patterns. Are some teams significantly less diverse than others? Or do certain job titles only seem to go to employees in majority groups? With a bird's-eye view of consolidated workforce data, you’ll be able to spot problem areas and see which teams need more support with inclusivity.

2) Visibility On Every Employee Helps You Offer Support

With 54% of Black Americans having experienced on-the-job discrimination and 56% of disabled people facing barriers at work, it's clear that many employers struggle to create inclusive environments.

A commitment to DEI shouldn't stop after hiring an employee from a minority group. Without the right workplace culture or accommodations, employees may be blocked from reaching their full career potential—and from working effectively to benefit the company.

Even the best managers cannot change workplace cultures on their own. This is why HR and leadership need visibility on where employees could do with support. When you use PeopleFluent’s org charting and workforce visualization tool, you can see every employee's minority status and gender—paired with insights into performance and retention risks.

Armed with this information, you can help managers have the right conversations with their reports. How do employees view their access to equitable professional development? Do they have enough mentorship and networking opportunities? Knowledge really is power—when you have a contextual understanding of every employee’s set of circumstances, you can ask the right questions and offer tailored support.

Crucially, workforce visualizations also help you understand issues of pay inequality at a glance—empowering you to improve access to performance reviews and opportunities for promotion.

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3) Scenario Modelling Improves Change Management and Succession Planning

From mergers and acquisitions to high-volume recruiting or layoffs, an organization is never static. Trying to stay ahead of change can feel like fighting back an ocean. The key to better planning decisions lies in visibility and fit-for-purpose technology. PeopleFluent’s org charting software gives you a bird's eye view of the workforce and empowers you with intuitive what-if planning tools. In a few clicks, you can see how promotions, lateral moves, or attrition could impact your organization’s DEI figures.

When scenario modeling is this straightforward, succession planning is instantly easier. Since you can see bench-strength information at a glance, you'll know whether your workforce will be prepared for an unexpected change. A global view on minority and gender figures also reveals if someone leaving the company would adversely affect your company's diversity, so you can plan for this eventuality well in advance.

Since strategic succession planning tends to ensure a pipeline of skilled leaders, getting ahead of change is as good for your organization’s bottom line as it is for your community.

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4) Simple, Compelling Visualizations Support Stakeholder Buy-In

Org charting visualizations aren’t of much use if they're not clear and intuitive enough for key decision-makers in your business to appreciate. It’s hard for staff across departments to collaborate on inclusivity efforts if they don’t know one another. Sharing too much information, however, won't necessarily help you work together to meet your DEI goals.

According to Forbes, “Data overload overwhelm[s] management instead of enabling more informed decision-making.” This is why presenting clean, user-friendly visualizations with easy-to-understand metrics is so important. Even when you’re committed to DEI efforts, it can be hard to stay motivated to work toward a goal if you can’t get a handle on your numbers or see the complete picture of your organization's progress. Or as Forbes puts it, “Streamlining the cacophony of numbers into simpler, actionable information unlocks the potential of data.”

Using purpose-built software is key. PeopleFluent OrgPublisher gathers input from multiple data sources and HRISs onto one simple platform. You can toggle through simplified views of your teams—filtering for different departments, work locations, and position types. When you need to have important conversations on DEI with leadership or other stakeholders, you can export these as charts or decks in different formats like PDF and PPT.