How to hold your organization accountable to inclusion goals

Leaders, employees, and customers are demanding it, but creating real culture change within an organization can be hard. All the commitment and money in the world are not enough if organizations and teams don’t create accountability mechanisms to ensure that root causes of inequity are uncovered and addressed in a robust, honest, and quantifiable way. At the same time, some traditional accountability mechanisms may be facing scrutiny or otherwise challenged across certain contexts—forcing leaders to think creatively about their approaches.

Many organizations are holding firm or even increasing their efforts to build more inclusive work environments where all employees can thrive. Accountability is especially important to get from commitment and resource input to measurable results. 

To make true progress, inclusion practitioners should leverage the following tactics for holding the organization and its leaders accountable for progress. Use the table at the end of this tool to write down actions to which you can hold yourself or your organization accountable. And remember, this work is nonlinear and iterative; engage in multiple areas at the same time to make change most effectively.