Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Assessment
Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Assessment
Before launching a program, training managers, or rolling out awareness campaigns, you need to know exactly where you stand. The D&I assessment is that first step—and it makes all the difference in the effectiveness of what comes next.
Accordia has been conducting diversity and inclusion assessments for 16 years. These are not compliance audits, but organizational analyses that result in a practical action plan.
What is the purpose of a D&I assessment?
- Mapping the actual gaps between stated policy and lived reality
- Identify HR processes that are prone to bias (recruitment, performance evaluation, promotion)
- Prioritize high-impact actions over symbolic ones
- Establish a baseline for tracking progress over time
- Present the issue objectively to skeptical internal stakeholders (executive committee, funders)
What the Accordia assessment covers
Quantitative analysis
- Existing HR data: gender breakdown, job levels, compensation, promotions, turnover by profile
- Gender Equality Index: Analysis and Identification of Areas for Improvement
- Analysis of Existing Reporting Systems
Qualitative analysis
- One-on-one interviews with a representative sample of employees (staff members, managers, HR directors, executives)
- Focus groups by demographic group
- Observation of dynamics during key meetings (if applicable)
Deliverables
- Summary Diagnostic Report (Current Status, Risk Factors, Priority Areas)
- Prioritized operational recommendations
- 12- to 36-Month D&I Roadmap
- Executive Committee or CSEE Presentation
Why an external diagnosis is better than an internal one
An internal assessment suffers from a structural bias: the people conducting the analysis are part of the system they are analyzing. Blind spots remain blind spots.
An outside perspective—especially one provided by consultants who have worked with dozens of similar organizations—yields insights that an internal team, no matter how competent and well-intentioned, cannot provide.
It also serves as a tool for internal legitimacy: an external recommendation carries more weight with the executive committee than a report produced by the D&I department itself.
This initiative is also aimed at HR departments that handle these tasks in-house
You’ve decided to build internal expertise in D&I. That’s a good decision—and Accordia can help you do so in ways other than through recruitment. An assessment is the first step: it gives your internal teams a clear picture of the landscape they’ll be working in.
Accordia also trains internal D&I leaders to conduct certain types of analyses on their own. We can be your partner in building capacity—not your internal competitor.
