Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in

the Workplace — Trends for 2021

1. Redefining leadership

With more employees working from home

(WFH), business leaders will need to build
on their emotional intelligence and other
soft skills. As WFH continues, the most
successful business leaders will continue
pivoting to help employees navigate any
challenging new circumstances that may be
affecting their daily work
 2. Rehumanizing work

Best-in-class organizations do so by having

open and honest conversations with their
employees about societal issues that may be
affecting them. These discussions can create
space for employees to process what's going
on and express what it means to them,
which can give everyone a chance to connect
with each other and their leaders on a
human level.
 3. Diversity among teams

Diversity in business can bring

underrepresented thoughts and experiences
to the table, inspiring increased creativity
and innovation within teams
 4. Closing gaps

Organizations must look to close any

inequity gaps present in their business,
whether they are based on gender, ethnicity
or any other factor.
 5. An expanding and evolving remote
workforce
From a business perspective, moving toward a

“distributed” model can make a lot of

sense; less business travel, lower risk of
outbreaks that might disrupt
operations, and far less overhead
without the need for a brick and mortar
workspace.
7. Artificial intelligence and automation in
the hiring process
In 2021, it will be incumbent on HR
professionals and recruiters to find ways
to build highly efficient, highly
personalized candidate experiences. To
do so at scale, however, so that recruiters
aren’t spending hours per day on manual
processes, will require the assistance of
AI-powered software solutions.
 8. A Focus on the Multigenerational
Workforce
The workforce is aging—and changing considerably in
terms of generational makeup. With each generations
comes distinct employee expectations around topics
such as reskilling/upskilling in the age of automation,
holistic employee wellness programs (with a fine
point on mental wellness), connecting work to social
impact and purpose, flexible work arrangements,
leveraging social media within and outside the
workplace, crystallizing what it means to “bring your
full self to work”, and a myriad of other issues that
will impact future inclusion and diversity training.
9. The Impact of Unconscious Bias in the Workplace

Bringing together a workforce that has a

variety of perspectives, experiences, lived
experiences and is representative of the
communities that organizations serve is the
comparative advantage of diversity
 10. Supporting Gender Identity and Expression

As the movement to recognize and accept

transgendered and gender non-binary
employees continue, it’s likely we’ll see more
focus on updating diversity, equity, and
inclusion training along with a need to have
internal conversations and education
around gender-inclusivity.
 11. Shifting From Diversity and Inclusion
to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
.Inclusion, making space and
amplifying the voices of everyone in
the workplace, equally, is another.
Both of these concepts will remain
a top focus for organizations in
years to come.