How to Build an Inclusive Skills Framework to Support DEI

A skills framework helps an organization outline what they need for success. Employers and employees alike should be clear on what skills and competencies are required to complete tasks and responsibilities. While you’re focusing on soft and hard skills, consider how you can integrate DEI.

You want to ensure that you’re supporting diversity and inclusivity. This means making your skills framework inclusive. As an organization, you need to consider what personal, team, and organization-wide actions will best promote DEI. In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of inclusivity and diversity and how your skills framework can complement these efforts.

Why Are Inclusion and Diversity Important in the Workplace?

Everyone should feel like they belong in your company. Equitable opportunities for growth and skill development are vital. When it comes to diversity and inclusion, both play a major role in making your employees feel supported in the workplace.

Diversity is how well your team is represented. Inclusion is valuing individual perspectives and characteristics. DEI must flow into your recruiting practices, management, and skill-building opportunities. The benefits of doing so include:

• Higher revenue due to improved employee performance
• More diverse ideas and skills boosting innovation
• Increased retention rates and decreased turnover
• Attracting a wider talent pool
• Improved trust and transparency

What is a Skills Framework?

A skills framework defines the skills and competencies your organization requires for specific roles. Salary.com defines a skills framework as an organized method of grouping job roles with activities and abilities that relate to it. It’s a simple way to measure expertise using skills, competencies, and behavioral indicators.

Skills frameworks should include technical, interpersonal, intellectual, and adaptability skills. It can help you identify gaps where your employees require training. As Salary.com explains, “An effective skills framework can help you bridge the gap between knowledge, skills, and abilities required for current and future roles.”

What we need to consider is that gaps can exist due to a lapse in diversity and inclusion. Some employees may be feeling poorly represented. Others could feel excluded from the rest of the team. Let’s look at how you can ensure that your skills framework is inclusive and supports diversity in your workplace.

How Your Skills Framework Can Support DEI

A skills framework allows you to evaluate job performance, facilitate career planning, improve organizational performance, and help to develop employee competence and confidence. Done right, a skills framework can support DEI in the workplace.

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You can use the framework to identify performance gaps and implement appropriate training objectives. If you welcome two-way communication, employees will also offer feedback. This will shine a light on any disadvantages or biases that are stopping certain employees from developing their skills. The trust factor is also crucial for supporting DEI efforts.

As a skills framework helps to define objectives clearly, it’s much easier to measure employee progress. This is valuable for both employer and employee. Employers benefit from more driven workers with a sense of purpose. Employees see how their hard work is paying off and understand their career direction. Deloitte elaborates on this further, “…focusing on skills opens-up access to the full capabilities of the worker, not just those in the current role. This centralized, transparent, and granular view of skills unlocks the potential of the workforce as a whole…”

Creating an Inclusive Skills Framework

So, the big question remains – how do you achieve such an inclusive skills framework? When you’re creating it, start by considering your company culture and values. Understand the DEI efforts you’re willing to integrate into training and upskilling your employees. Train your managers and executives accordingly.

It’s important to define what skills, competencies, and behavioral indicators are required to create an inclusive and diverse workplace. This means that, aside from the skills required to carry out a certain role, there must be expectations around inclusivity and diversity. Define what company values would look like in the form of skills and competencies. These will be on personal, team, and organizational levels.

For example, employees must know how to communicate with colleagues in a kind, respectful manner. Everyone should be considerate of what is and isn’t socially acceptable. There are specific soft skills required if a team is to accommodate diversity and inclusivity. It’s particularly important to focus on the skills of managers and HR. They must know how to identify opportunities to improve inclusivity and diversity or identify and rectify issues.

Take Home Message

DEI is essential when managing a team. Every workplace should aim to create a diverse and inclusive working environment where each employee feels comfortable and welcome. An inclusive skills framework should be part of your overall DEI planning.

When developing a skills framework, consider how your company’s DEI values can be represented through skills and behavioral indicators. Train managers and HR to scan for diversity and inclusion gaps. Ensure skills development opportunities are equitable. DEI is essential for the success of an organization and an inclusive skills framework can help the process.