Why we choose to use "equity & inclusion" over "DEI"

At Culture Amp, our mission is to build a better world of work. And we’ve always believed that that better world is something that should be available to everyone, no matter their background. That core purpose has been foundational to our commitment in our own operations, and how we’ve looked to support our customers in building cultures where everyone is treated fairly and where each employee feels their unique perspective is valued and included.

In corporate settings, this approach has often been called “DEI”. While we recognize that there has been a shift in the tone of discussion about these issues, research has repeatedly shown that the majority of companies are continuing to invest in these areas, and they remain of crucial importance to employees. Through our research and discussions with our customers, we’ve found that using the shorthand “DEI” is getting in the way of having productive, constructive engagement.

We also recognize that the term “DEI” doesn’t reflect our internal ways of working. Within Culture Amp, we’ve long used the longform term “equity & inclusion”. We’ve adopted this language because we know that our work must focus the system’s inputs to achieve diversity as an outcome. This is a part of the theory of change we call “equitable design”, which leverages our products to take a structural and equity-centered approach to prioritizing fairness, valuing diversity, and achieving inclusion.

The core components are:

• Implementing structured and transparent processes for performance, pay, and advancement
• Regularly measuring the experience of our employees, including analyzing differences between demographic groups
• Identifying the particular challenges and barriers faced by the most marginalized groups
• Developing broad-based policies, programs, and processes that address these barriers in ways that benefit all employees

Going forward, we’ll be aligning our external communications with the internal language that we’ve found to be most effective in driving positive change. While we’ll now speak about “equity & inclusion” rather than “DEI”, our customers can still expect to receive the same support we’ve always provided to help ensure their cultures are ones where all of their employees can thrive. This change will also allow us to speak with more specificity about the tangible ways our products support building engaging, high-performing cultures: by creating structure within and developing unique insights about the employee experience.