How was the Deep Diversity® Leaders\' Snapshot developed and why does it focus on these these particular measurement areas?

The Deep Diversity® Leaders' Snapshot is based off Anima Leadership’s trademarked Deep Diversity® Inclusive Workplace Continuum, an assessment tool based on best practices research and adapted for all institutional contexts. The questions cover the following topic areas most relevant to equity, diversity and inclusion: Leadership and EDI Accountability, Human Resources (HR), EDI Policies and Procedures, Inclusive Recruitment and Selection, Inclusive Retention and Advancement, EDI Training and Development, EDI Communications and Community, Organizational Climate, Culture & Representation, Supplier Diversity and Return on Investment/Business Case.

What will this assessment do for our organization?

Any organization will have EDI strengths and gaps. Collecting data and conducting a survey can help identify what is going well and where to target efforts for improvement. The measurement categories of the Deep Diversity® Leaders' Snapshot have been selected based on best practices research and Anima Leadership’s extensive experience in the field across sectors and geographic regions. This survey will give you a snapshot of your senior leadership team’s perception of where your organization is on its EDI journey, allowing you to have more useful and strategic conversations about next steps. An inclusive organization is a productive, innovative and successful one, and in tomorrow’s increasingly diverse climates institutions have no choice but to build equity in to all organizational areas.

Is this an assessment for all types of organizations?

The Deep Diversity® Leaders' Snapshot is broad enough to be useful for all types of organizations including for-profit corporations, not-for-profit and public sector agencies. The themes and questions of this audit are designed to apply in multiple types of institutions.

How do I know if it’s the right time for this assessment, and communicate the purpose of this assessment to others?

Some organizations are quite far along their EDI goals and others are just beginning, but every organization can benefit from an EDI audit at any stage of their inclusion journey. Depending on the fluency and institutional commitment to advancing EDI within your organization, the pathway will vary. Data collection helps at all stages of the process. Survey completion rates always increase when people feel included in the process and they have a stake in the outcome. You will ultimately want to communicate what the Deep Diversity® Leaders' Snapshot is, why it is important to participate, the time frame for assessment and what will happen once people have responded. We have provided some sample communication templates that can found in the Instructions tab. These can serve as a starting point. We recommending planning on two weeks for survey completion.

How does the Anima Leaders\' Snapshot differ from the Solo Snapshot and the Organizational Survey?

The Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot is a ten question measurement tool to be completed by senior leadership within an organization. Each participant rates their perception of their organization's EDI efforts in ten categories, then results are compiled into an automated report offering insights, progress tracking and recommendations around key EDI factors. The Deep Diversity® Solo Snapshot is designed to be completed by one person who uses their own experience to assess their organization’s EDI practices. The Solo Snapshot focuses on an organization's EDI efforts in seven categories. The Anima Organizational Survey is a more comprehensive assessment tool designed to be to be completed by staff across the organization and to offer a 360 perspective on EDI perspectives within your organization. The assessment covers more areas of EDI measurement with more questions per area, and the results can be cross-tabbed by position, race and gender. The data collected will be used to create a detailed report and customized planning package that can help shape your organization's EDI strategy for years to come.

How does the Deep Diversity® Leaders\' Snapshot differ from a third-party audit?

This Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot is self-administered, and based on senior leaders assessing the EDI efforts of their organization. A third-party audit is one where independent, external assessors review the policies and practices of an organization against statistically relevant EDI benchmarks. Anima Leadership also offers independent Deep Diversity® Third-Party Audits starting at $100K including items such as: A variety of data-collection methodologies including anonymous surveys, focus groups, one-on-one and team interviews and more; The ability to include an unlimited number of stakeholder responses; A complete communications strategy to ensure stakeholder buy-in and engagement; Comprehensive breakdowns of data according to participant demographics such as staff position, race, gender and more; A fully detailed final report outlining recommendations based on overall organization results and sectoral best practices; and more.

How many people can complete the Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot?

We suggest limiting Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot surveys to senior organizational leaders, ideally twenty-five or fewer. If you are looking for a more complete set of data, we recommend the Anima Leaders’ Organizational Survey which compiles a more comprehensive collection of perspectives and can be sent to an unlimited number of employees.

When and how do we see results?

Survey reports are generated after at least three people have completed the Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot. You can access the completed report at any time via the link in the View Results tab.

Can I leave the Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot open as long as I like?

There is no cap on the length of time the survey can be open. Our suggested time frame is to leave the survey open for two weeks . This time line may vary depending on the number of senior leaders in your organization or the number of responses you are hoping collect. You may wish to start with a two week deadline and then extend another week if you are looking for some additional responses. Based on Anima Leadership's experience, we find a reminder is the most effective way to increase responses so be sure to send out the reminder emails suggested in the Instructions tab within the initial two week window.

How anonymous are participants\' survey results?

The Deep Diversity® Leaders’ Snapshot is completely anonymous and is intended to identify general trends. The questions do not ask for identifying information such as name and cannot be tracked back to any specific employees.

How is the data stored? Should I be concerned about organizational privacy?

The raw data from all of our EDI Audits will be stored in a secure, confidential database accessible only by authorized staff of Anima Leadership. Survey administrators will only have access to the aggregate reports, not individual profiles.

Is this an assessment for all types of organizations?

This assessment is broad enough to be useful for all types of organizations including for profit corporations, not-for-profit and public sector agencies. The themes and questions are designed to apply institutional contexts.

What will this organizational assessment do for our organization?

Any organization will have EDI strengths and gaps. The categories we have selected for measurement are based on best practices research and Anima Leadership’s extensive experience in the field across sectors and geographic regions. This survey will give you a snapshot of your employee’s perception of where the organization is at on its EDI journey, allowing you to have more useful and strategic conversations about next steps. An inclusive organization is a productive, innovative and successful one and in tomorrow's increasingly diverse climate, institutions have no choice but to build equity across all organizational areas.

How do I know if it’s the right time and communicate the purpose to others?

Survey completion rates always increase when people feel included in the process and they have a stake in the outcome. You will ultimately want to communicate what the assessment is, the importance of participating, the time frame and what will happen once people have responded. Every organization can benefit from an assessment of EDI at any stage of the journey. Depending on the fluency and institutional commitment to advancing EDI, the pathway will vary. Some organizations are quite far along in meeting their EDI goals and others are just beginning. Data collection helps at all stages of the process. We have provided some sample communication templates that can be found in the “ Communications template ” tab. These can serve as a starting point. Please see the recommended timeline under the “ instructions ” tab to get an idea of when each communication should be sent out.

How was this organizational assessment developed and why these particular measurement areas?

The assessments are based off Anima Leadership’s trademarked Deep Diversity® Inclusive Workplace Continuum, an assessment tool based on EDI best practices research and adapted for all institutional contexts. The questions cover the following topic areas most relevant to EDI: Leadership and Accountability Human Resources (recruitment, selection, retention, career advancement) EDI Policies and Procedures Organizational Climate and Culture Data Collection and Representation Employee Experience & Psychological Safety In our experience these areas cover the essential components of any organization.

How does this differ from the Deep Diversity® Solo Snapshot and Leaders’ Snapshot?

The Anima Organizational Survey is a longer survey to be completed by staff across the organization to offer a 360 perspective on EDI. It has more areas of measurement as well as more questions per area, and the results can be cross-tabbed according to position, race and gender (upon special request). The Solo Snapshot is designed to be completed by one person who assesses their organization’s EDI practices in a number of basic categories. The Leaders’ Snapshot is a 10 question survey to be completed by the senior leadership team within an organization. Each respondent rates EDI efforts in 10 categories. This can be a good starting point for leaders to have a conversation about EDI.

What makes this different from a third-party audit?

This Anima Organizational Survey is self-administered and based on employees assessing the EDI efforts of their organization. In contrast, a third-party audit is one where independent external assessors review the policies and practices of the organization against statistically relevant EDI benchmarks. We offer independent third-party audits as well with a minimum price point of $100K including items such as: EDI leadership training to develop literacy in understanding the role of unconscious bias, emotions, identity and power in organizational decision making; An analysis of policies and practices across critical organizational areas; A survey tailored specifically for the organization with statistically relevant results and cross-tabbed for pre- identified demographic groups; Focus groups and solo interviews with key organizational leaders/ teams; A comprehensive list of strategic recommendations within each organizational area; A glossy final report which can be circulated for discussion among staff and community stakeholders to choose and identify key next steps toward becoming an organizational inclusion leader.

When do we see results and how anonymous is this?

Survey reports are generated after at least three people have completed the survey. You can access the report using the report tab once the survey is closed. The survey is fully anonymous, and is intended to identify general trends. The questions do not ask for identifying information, such as name or contact information, and cannot be tracked back to any specific employees. Employees may also skip any questions they do not wish to answer.

Can I leave this assessment open for as long as I like?

There is no cap on the length of time the survey can be open. Our suggested time frame is to leave the survey open for two weeks . This may vary depending on the number of responses you are hoping for, or the number of people in your organization. You may wish to start with two weeks and then extend another week if you need to get some additional responses. *We find that there is always an increase in responses after reminders are sent so within the two week window it is important to send out the reminder emails. Please refer to our suggested timeline under the “ Instructions ” tab.

What is an acceptable response rate?

In general, we like to see a two-thirds response rate. This can vary depending on the size of the organization, but the ideal is to get as many people included in the process as possible (while ensuring it remains voluntary). Higher response rates are more important in smaller organizations. For example, an organization of 50 will only have 25 responses with a 50% response rate while an organization of 5000 will have 2500 responses with the same response rate. The lower response rate for the smaller organization means there is less data available and the results may not be fully representative of the employees.

Should the survey be mandatory?

Anima does not recommend making the survey mandatory. The communication templates and Frequently Asked Questions all highlight that the survey is voluntary and that employees can skip any question they want, as well as not participate at all.

How many people can fill in the assessment?

There is no cap on the number of responses for this assessment.

How should we interpret the results if there are a large number of “I don’t know/Prefer not to answer” responses.

While it is impossible to know exactly why an individual responded “I don’t know/Prefer not to answer” to a question, if there is a significant percentage of people responding this way, it can be a signal of a couple of potential issues. People may not feel equipped with the knowledge to respond to a question. In larger numbers, this can mean communication and education is required if it relates to EDI efforts within the organization. It can also signal a lack of psychological safety in offering a response. People may feel vulnerable answering questions about their identity and then scoring the organization despite the anonymity safeguards. It can also be a combination of the above reasons. It may be worth having an internal conversation in the organization about the particular topic area.

How is the score calculated?

Each question is calculated from 1-5. From this an overall score is generated. For each category there is also an average score. Overall, the scoring descriptions are as follows: Inclusion 1: Pre-Aware - Organization is unaware or uninterested in EDI issues generally, or the factor specifically. Inclusion 2: EDI factor is driven by external demands for compliance and/or to meet basic industry standards. Inclusion 3: Belief that EDI is the “right thing to do” but practices, knowledge or commitment are incongruent for this factor. Inclusion 4: Regular organizational commitment, resources and effort to align EDI beliefs with behaviours and choices for this factor. Inclusion 5: Input and feedback from stakeholders continually improves EDI process, outcomes and nurtures innovation.

How should the score be interpreted?

Since organizations have strengths and weaknesses, there will be higher scores on some factors than on others. Very few, if any, organizations in North America would find they achieve Inclusion 4 in many areas, especially during an initial assessment. We also find that people have a tendency to overestimate their progress in this field. As it is often said, EDI is a journey not a destination, with all institutions at different points in their development process. The assessment tools provide data about which factors are strengths for an organization and what are areas for improvement. Armed with this EDI knowledge, organizations are in a strong position to plan strategically to improve their organizational practices and culture.

Are the results statistically significant?

Statistical significance is important when comparing the differences between groups on an outcome. The standard report generated does not offer comparisons of any responses based on identity characteristics such as race, gender, or age. To conduct such an analysis would involve a custom calculation and only then could it be determined if the results were statistically significant.

How will the results be used?

Different organizations may be on different timelines. Organizational leadership will determine the action plan that best suits them. The report will give leadership enough information to begin conversations and assess how well they are doing with regard to EDI. We have several tools available to assist with the next steps including: Team Discussion Questions ( Report ) The Action plan template ( Planning Tools tab ) Measuring Progress template ( Planning Tools tab )

Will the results be shared with the employees?

Organizational leaders are encouraged to share the results across the organization. How this is done will depend on the specific communication practices and expectations set by the organization.

Will my organization’s data be compared to other data?

Currently the results will be compared against best practices. As more data is collected this will allow for comparisons to other organizations by Anima Leadership.

How is the data stored? Should I be concerned about organizational privacy?

The data will be stored in a secure, confidential database accessible only by authorized staff of Anima Leadership. All sites are physically hosted in Canada, on server clusters that meet all requirements for federal and provincial web data privacy.

What cyber security is in place to ensure that data is secure and to minimize breaches?

Anima Leadership’s website and security is handled by our hosting partner WPCloud who offer firewall protection on all servers. WP Cloud uses several layers of firewall protection on all servers, both hardware and software based, including a Web Application Firewall. WP Cloud also utilizes various processes and tools to prevent attack and breaches aligned with such industries as financial institutions.

EDI Audits Dashboard

Welcome to the Dashboard for the Anima Leadership EDI Audits. If you have purchased multiple audit tools please select the tab of the product you wish to use.

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EDI Audits Dashboard

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