Diversity and Inclusion Survey Questions: Tenure

Exploring the Impact of Tenure on Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, Bias, Belonging, and Representation

3 October 2024 by Mark Holt

In today’s fast-evolving corporate landscape, fostering diversity, inclusion, equity, bias awareness, and belonging (DEIB) is critical to creating workplaces that are not only fair and representative but also innovative and productive. While most HR professionals and DEI experts are familiar with common demographic metrics like race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, Divrsity has identified another super-interesting factor for analysis: tenure—how long an employee has been with their organisation.

Incorporating tenure as a metric in Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity surveys may seem less obvious compared to other data points. However, asking employees how long they’ve been with the company provides critical insights into employee experiences, uncovering patterns that can be missed when focusing exclusively on broader diversity categories. In this blog, we will explore why tenure is essential to Divrsity's surveys and how it can influence findings around DEIB and representation in UK organisations.

N.B. In Divrsity, Tenure is what we call a Lens. Our built-in analytics can cut the diversity data by tenure, providing insight into the evolution of organisational diversity over time

Real World Example

We worked with a very ancient organisation, founded in the 1400's ! Their overall diversity was poor: largely old white men. However, when we cut the data by tenure, we discovered that they had attracted a super-diverse group of members in the previous 5 years. A really positive data-point that the organisation could celebrate.

Why Include Tenure in DEI Surveys?

1. Understanding Historical Dynamics and Legacy Challenges

Organisational culture is not static—it evolves over time. Employees who have been with a company for ten or more years might have experienced the workplace in an entirely different context than those who joined more recently. By analysing responses through the lens of tenure, HR leaders can better understand how historical company policies, cultural shifts, or management changes have shaped the experiences of long-standing employees.

For example, employees who joined before a major DEI initiative may have experienced a less inclusive workplace and may harbour different views on organisational progress than newer employees. Examining tenure can help identify if these long-term employees feel left out of current initiatives or if they believe that historical biases have not been sufficiently addressed.

In the UK context, where changes to employment law and societal attitudes towards equality have shifted significantly in the past decade (such as the Equality Act 2010), tenure data allows organisations to track how well they have adapted over time to these changes.

2. Spotting Trends in Inclusion and Belonging Over Time

When measuring inclusion and belonging, it’s crucial to understand how these factors play out over an employee’s lifecycle. Employees who have been with a company for a longer period may feel a deeper sense of belonging due to their length of service and familiarity with colleagues. Conversely, these employees may also feel excluded from new initiatives that cater more to recent hires or emerging diversity trends.

By incorporating tenure, Divrsity's platform allows companies to explore whether a person’s length of service correlates with their feelings of inclusion and belonging. For instance, do newer employees—those under three years with the company—feel less connected or supported? Or are long-tenured employees being neglected in modernised diversity efforts? These insights can guide strategies to improve engagement across the employee spectrum.

3. Evaluating Career Progression and Representation

Tenure plays a significant role in understanding equity in career progression. A common finding in DEI analyses is that employees from underrepresented groups often face barriers to career advancement. Analysing survey data by tenure can uncover if certain demographics are disproportionately represented in lower-tenure bands, which may indicate systemic issues related to career progression or retention.

In the UK, the Fawcett Society and other think tanks have highlighted that ethnic minorities and women still face barriers to leadership positions, despite the progress made in workplace representation. By looking at both tenure and other demographic factors, Divrsity’s platform can help identify whether these groups are reaching senior roles at the same rate as their peers, or whether they’re stagnating after a certain period of service.

4. Identifying Potential Biases and Inequities

Tenure analysis also helps identify areas where bias—both conscious and unconscious—might impact employee experiences. Consider that employees with a longer tenure may have relationships with managers or decision-makers that have developed over time, possibly leading to favouritism or preferential treatment. Conversely, those who are newer may be disadvantaged, with their skills or perspectives undervalued due to lack of tenure or established rapport within the company.

Bias can also manifest in recruitment and onboarding processes, where newer employees from underrepresented backgrounds may face microaggressions or exclusion, leading to lower satisfaction and higher turnover rates. By examining how tenure intersects with diversity and inclusion, organisations can unearth hidden biases that affect different employee groups at various stages of their journey.

5. Improving Retention and Reducing Turnover

Understanding the link between tenure and diversity also offers an opportunity to improve retention strategies. High turnover among underrepresented groups is a critical issue in many UK organisations, often driven by a lack of inclusion or career development opportunities. Surveying employees with shorter tenure can reveal patterns around why they leave, while also shedding light on whether newer hires feel welcomed and supported by existing company structures.

Retention data based on tenure can lead to more targeted interventions. For instance, if employees with a tenure of less than three years report significantly lower satisfaction or inclusion scores than those with a tenure of 5+ years, it suggests that onboarding processes, mentoring programmes, or cultural integration efforts need strengthening. Divrsity’s automated analysis helps identify these trends and pinpoints areas where action can be taken to improve retention rates across diverse employee groups.

6. Understanding Generational Diversity

Tenure also provides a proxy for understanding generational differences in the workforce. Employees who have been with the company for 20+ years may belong to Generation X or even the tail-end of the Baby Boomer generation, while newer employees are more likely to be Millennials or Gen Z. Each generation brings unique perspectives on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, shaped by the societal and technological landscape in which they grew up.

By comparing survey responses across tenure brackets, Divrsity allows HR teams to uncover whether generational differences are influencing views on DEI. For example, Millennials and Gen Z employees often prioritise workplace diversity and mental health support more than previous generations, potentially pushing for greater transparency and inclusion efforts. Understanding these generational shifts can be crucial for developing DEI strategies that meet the evolving needs of the workforce.

Actioning Tenure-Based Insights to Drive DEI Progress

Divrsity’s AI-driven analysis combines tenure with other demographic factors to generate a holistic view of DEI within an organisation. Once the data is gathered, Divrsity’s platform generates a data-driven Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan tailored to the specific needs of the company.

Here’s how HR professionals can action tenure-based insights:

Tailored Onboarding and Mentoring: For newer employees, create onboarding and mentoring programmes that build a sense of belonging from day one, with a focus on fostering inclusion for underrepresented groups.
Review of Career Progression Pathways: Use tenure data to investigate if certain groups are facing glass ceilings or stagnating in their roles after a certain period. Addressing this may involve revamping promotion practices, unconscious bias training for managers, or introducing targeted career development schemes.
Retrospective DEI Strategy Assessment: Compare the experiences of long-tenured employees with newer hires to understand the effectiveness of past DEI initiatives and identify areas where progress may have stalled or regressed.
Generational Training and Development: Ensure that your DEI strategy caters to the expectations of different generations in the workforce. Use tenure as a lens through which to view generational attitudes towards diversity and belonging, and adjust policies accordingly.

Conclusion

Including tenure in DEI surveys is more than just an extra data point; it’s a vital factor that helps organisations understand the evolution of their workplace culture and its impact on diversity, inclusion, equity, bias, and belonging. Through the insights derived from tenure-based analysis, companies can address historical biases, improve retention, ensure equitable career progression, and create a workplace where everyone, regardless of how long they’ve been there, feels valued and included.

In the UK, where DEI remains a strategic priority for many companies, the ability to analyse how tenure influences diversity and inclusion efforts is increasingly important. Divrsity’s platform empowers organisations to go beyond surface-level diversity metrics and develop a nuanced, data-driven action plan that fosters true equity and representation across all employee groups. By understanding how long an employee has been with the company, HR professionals can drive more targeted, impactful DEI strategies—ultimately creating a more inclusive and fair workplace for all.

References

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). (2021). Equality Act 2010: Guidance for Employers.
Fawcett Society. (2022). Ethnic Minorities and the Gender Pay Gap: Intersectionality in UK Workplaces.
CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). (2021). Diversity Management That Works: An Evidence-Based View. https://
Business in the Community (BITC). (2020). Race at Work 2020: The Scorecard Report.
McGregor-Smith Review. (2017). Race in the Workplace: The McGregor-Smith Review. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Skuad.io: what is employee tenure
Diversity UK. (2021). Retention and Progression of BAME Employees in UK Workplaces.
Hofstra, B. et al. (2020). The Diversity-Innovation Paradox in Science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(17), 9284-9291. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1915378117
The Sutton Trust. (2020). Class, Ethnicity, and Tenure: How Social Background Shapes Career Progression in the UK.