Sunrise used the EqualVoice Factor to measure the representation of women in their press statements and on LinkedIn. They found that just 6.66% of their press releases contained female voices, partly because their CEO is male. They are seeking to increase the representation of female experts in the media. For LinkedIn, they had a score of just 5.6% for female voices in 2021 and managed to increase this to 30% in 2022 by paying deliberate attention to the balance of representation of men and women in their posts.
While the above example only considers gender, it shows the progress that organizations can make if they start to pay more attention to their language and imagery.
Create demographic checklists and inclusive image libraries
When it comes to making your organizational imagery more inclusive, it is important to look for images that represent diversity. However, one pitfall is that people often select images containing diverse groups of people. True inclusion means that people from underrepresented groups should be depicted with agency in an actively working role and as the focus of the image.
As one female C-suite member wrote in our scoping study, âEnsure the images have diverse people in many aspects and that the images do not strengthen stereotypes, i.e., representing women always smiling, or representing people of color not doing anything in the picture while white men are busy and active âwith something importantâ.â
To help employees look beyond the âdefaultâ when choosing an image, ask them to try to include various identities from the following checklist:
- Abilities
- Ages
- Body types, including sizes and heights
- Genders, including transgender and non-binary
- Races, ethnicities, and religions
Even if a diverse group of people is present in an image, ask yourself whether certain individuals are prioritized. Does the composition reflect equity? Is anyone being tokenized? And would you want to be represented this way?
Image libraries of photos, videos, icons, and illustrations, such as INVIQA, TONL, and Nappy, exist that specialize in portraying people from all walks of life. However, even an approved library needs to be used with discernment as the context in which an image is used must be taken into account.
Organizations can also create their own approved image libraries that fit with their brand standards to support their work on inclusive communication. One example is the logistics company Swiss Post, which promotes inclusivity by featuring real people with diverse and natural characteristics encountered in everyday life. Their guidelines emphasize showcasing a mix of rural and urban settings, various age groups, and ethnicities. They actively include diversity in terms of LGBTQ+ representation, visible tattoos, bald individuals, and people with disabilities in their images.
Lastly, organizations need to strike a balance between aspiration (i.e., depicting the diversity you would like to have) and reality (what your workforce actually looks like). Donât try to overcompensate. If most of your workforce and leadership team are white and male, putting a Black woman in every photo may give the illusion of diversity but risks being seen as a tokenistic response and could backfire.
Ideally, an honest approach to images is used â one that is backed up by sound and thorough policies and practices that aim to foster an inclusive culture where people from all walks of life can thrive â to avoid giving a wrong impression of the DE&I culture in your organization. One organization in our scoping survey aims to limit âover-representationâ by using no more than 10% of underrepresented groups or ethnicities in an image above the real distribution in the workforce.