Most people want to do the right thing when it comes to diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI), but often they need a prompt or reminder to bring DEI to mind at the right time. HR managers and companies can achieve this by increasing the focus on DEI when making important decisions.

A study by Chang et al. (2023) indicates that implicit or unconscious biases can lead to unfair decisions. Instead of addressing their own biases, many people focus on other concerns and fail to recognize how these unconscious biases influence their decisions.

To counteract this, HR management should emphasize DEI more directly and explicitly when it comes to hiring, promotions, and performance appraisals. Research shows that DEI must be highlighted particularly in critical decision-making moments to achieve meaningful progress. Chang et al. (2023) have developed three strategies to fulfill this purpose:

1. Hire for multiple positions simultaneously
   Diversity is a characteristic of groups, not individuals. If only one person is hired, the decision-maker's focus shifts to other characteristics and diversity is not taken into account. In contrast, when people make collective hiring decisions - hiring multiple people simultaneously - they make more diverse decisions. By comparing candidates within the applicant pool, decision-makers can focus on individual characteristics that contribute to organizational diversity. For instance, companies could consolidate hiring processes quarterly instead of filling positions monthly. This approach maintains the overall number of hires while fostering diversity. It may also be beneficial if one person supervises the decision-making process within the department and pays attention to the exchange of information among each other.
2. Place greater emphasis on diversity in the promotion process
   This recommendation originates from the Inclusion Lab conducted by MoreThanNow, a collaboration between academics and consultants. Leaders were tasked with nominating employees for promotion, with one group specifically instructed to consider DEI in their decisions.Although the sample size of this study was admittedly small, it found that emphasizing diversity increased the number of employees from ethnic minorities who were promoted.
   
   
3. As a hiring manager or HR professional, watch a short diversity training video shortly before making a formal hiring decision
   In many companies, annual training sessions are held to reduce unconscious bias, often in the form of video training. Videos grab attention and can fundamentally stimulate reflection. Conducting such training sessions immediately before a hiring decision appears to have a particularly positive effect. At this moment, there is a much higher likelihood that DEI will be considered in the specific decision, encouraging managers to make fairer choices. An experiment conducted by the Inclusion Labs in collaboration with Ericsson suggests that choosing the right timing of such training pays off.