INSTRUCTIONS – The SUGGESTED GENERAL ASSIGNMENT SECTIONS are outlined below. Both the Executive Summary ( 1 page) and the DEI Plan ( 4-6 pages) should be presented in Memorandum Format and should have an appropriate Subject/Re. Address both to a senior decision maker in the organization you select to do the project on.
Executive summary – appears first in the document but written last (see more resources on Executive summaries on the Grading Rubric). Must effective summarize the main points of the DEI Plan.
Background of organization (choose an organization you know, work for or aspire to work for )
– Organization name, mission, who the organization serves, what is its employee demographic, etc
– Why does this organization need a dei roadmap (in your estimation)
Rationale
-Using the background information you presented above, describe the rationale for wriing a DEI Plan for this organization. What were some key considerations – e.g. is it the clients the organization serves? is it workers? it is new regulations that require this? etc (note)?
Approach
-What approach did you use to prepare to do this Plan? Note – did you do research? what type of research? Did you do interviews? Interview organizational leaders? You might have used a combination of approaches to prepare to write this assignment. Note any assumptions made.
-Why did you use this approach?
Present the roadmap (sections are below): Critically assess and present the 5 core elements of a DEI roadmap for the organization you choose to work on:
1. Describe DEI Goals
DEI goals are the aspirational outcomes that the organization has defined. Having a clear definition of goals is the make or break of a successful roadmap. Identifying them will help in the definition of the major steps and milestones that follow. When creating DEI goals consider that they need to be achievable, measurable and transparent to the whole team.
2. Data
The very first step of a roadmap is determining the goals. But in order to reach an educated decision of what are the most relevant areas to focus on, make sure there is organizational data that will help in determining the priorities. This is also crucial when setting measurable and relevant KPIs. Before embarking on the creation of the DEI roadmap, gather the relevant data and if it doesn’t exist consider first running a D&I survey.
Present a short analysis of the data found above.
3. What are the KPIs (see more resources on the grading rubric )? Explain each.
KPIs stand for key performance indicators; they serve as a quantifiable measure of performance. Having KPIs for a roadmap is crucial to convert the DEI goals into strategic organizational outcomes. Defining adequate metrics that will determine the success of your roadmap. The most successful KPIs are SMART: Specific, Measurable Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
4. Resources and responsibilities
Outline resouce needs for each KPI and describe whose responsibility it is (i.e each KPI).
It is imperative to allocate the sufficient resources both in terms of financial investment but also in terms of team members and time. If there aren’t clear allocated responsibilities, there’s no accountability and the roadmap is prone to fail.
5. Present the Timeline that the plan should be executed in
The timeline serves three strategic purposes. It communicates the planned strategic order of actions to ensure the organizational goals can be met. It communicates critical deadlines for when the activities need to be completed. This helps the people in charge of the required activities to plan their time accordingly. Lastly, it keeps the team accountable for DEI progress.
6. Wrap Up: Make some recommendations based on what you presented.
Drop in conclusion – must be an effective summary of the document.
