NCA DEI Blueprint

This blueprint is a tool for club leaders (both management and board members) to evaluate our clubs’ policies and procedures to create programs and guidelines to hire the best staff and offer opportunities for advancement, to ensure a vibrant membership group, find vendors who follow best diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, and promote positive relations with your local community. Based on IIICONIC Blueprint created by DEI expert Heather Kim Degenhardt-Stifanic.

Every club has its own unique culture made up of traditions and history. With that in mind, this blueprint is for your use. The National Club Association (NCA) DEI Committee hopes that you will find in conducting the exercise of the blueprint, it will help you form a DEI program that best suits your club.

Diversity + Inclusion = Equity

Diversity

Diversity is the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin and political beliefs.

Inclusion

Inclusion is involvement and empowerment, where the inherent worth and dignity of all people are recognized. An inclusive club promotes and sustains a sense of belonging; it values and practices respect for the talents, beliefs, backgrounds and ways of living of its members and staff.

Equity

Equity provides the means and prospects for proportional representation in our critical four categories of staff, members, vendors and community. For example: opportunities to level the playing field. It further ensures that all stakeholders (internal and external) feel valued, respected and welcomed in their ability to participate and contribute to the club.

The following DEI Blueprints follow similar outlines that can be applied which can be applied to other areas that have not been included in this list.

DEI Blueprint—Staff

1. Clarify the purpose
   1. What is our motivation to have a more diverse team?
   2. What outcomes and benefits will we see?
   3. Agree on a shared understanding of what diversity, equity and inclusion means to us and our club.
   4. Obtain buy-in from all stakeholders on our purpose.
2. Review the culture
   1. Guiding principles. Mission, Vision, Values.
   2. Ask current staff to define the workplace culture they experience.
   3. Understand the characteristics of our current culture before trying to implement a diversity plan.
3. Audit the people and processes in place
   1. Understand the process for reporting workplace harassment and discrimination, the investigation process and progressive discipline steps to resolve employee matters.
   2. Implementing exit interviews will help gain valuable insight about the employee work experience.
   3. Ensure human resources practices, policies and procedures are void of biases before implementing a diversity plan.
4. Conduct baseline assessments.
   1. Collect diversity statistics and demographics at all levels, including ethnicity, age, gender, veteran and disability status.
   2. Utilize lifecycle data to create a human capital index that captures: employee function, seniority, staff reporting to female managers, staff reporting to minority managers, promotions, raises, bonuses, board of directors, committees, candidate pools, voluntary and involuntary attrition rates, complaints and complaint resolutions by age, race and gender.
5. Collect feedback and experiences.
   1. Conduct in-depth research via surveys, diversity assessments, focus groups, one–on-ones and town halls. Create feedback channels at every level to encourage a continuous flow of information from employees and members.
   2. Determine the levels of transparency for sharing this data so better and broader solutions can be generated.
6. Evaluate learning and development.
   1. Does the current training plan include DEI learning?
   2. Recommended training: unconscious or implicit bias training (gatekeepers or hiring), cultural awareness (all management), annual anti-harassment policy review (all staff) and inclusive mindset (executives). 
   3. Review training allocation to ensure equity and access for available professional development opportunities.
7. Align diversity process with the strategic business goals.
   1. Prioritize. Determine what issues of DEI we want our club to focus on, list the desired outcomes.
   2. Create DEI statement and integrate into all business and operational plans.
   3. Set specific action plans and assign ownership for each goal.
8. Encourage collaboration with cultural teams.
   1. Create opportunities for staff to better connect in the workplace.
   2. Intentionally allocate time to bring different teams together to share work experiences, ideas and collaborate to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
   3. Invite diverse guest speakers from different industries to offer fresh perspectives to inspire the team.
9. Invite diverse talent to the recruitment process.
   1. Diversify sources for hiring.
   2. Align a diversity commitment statement and inclusion values with brand messaging and recruitment practices.
   3. Follow EEOC hiring guidelines.
   4. Post the club’s non-discrimination and DEI commitment statement in all recruitment and onboarding communications.
   5. Conduct post-interviews with diverse candidates to gain honest insight Into the interviewing process.
10. Expand access. Create an accessibility statement.
    1. Educate staff on accessibility and how to better assist employees and members with accommodation requests.
    2. Update the use of the word handicapped to accessible in all print and signage. Create an accessibility statement to elevate club services offered to all people. Reach out to diverse associations and advocates for the preferred language and the best practices for accommodations and accessibility.
11. Seek out opportunities to celebrate diversity.
    1. Acknowledge different holidays and observances. Recognize federally designated diverse holidays, months and days. Utilize employee workforce demographics to identify cultural events and observances that are personal to your staff.
    2. Consider floating benefit days to empower employees to select the diverse holidays that are most meaningful to them.
12. Prioritize Metrics to measure and reward impact.
    1. Design simple measures. Monitor metrics that reflect the most impact. Scorecard metrics to monitor: Applicant sourcing, hiring, promotions, training allocation, retention, internal mobility, and succession planning.
    2. Consistently seek feedback from employees to measure the inclusion climate and DEI progress.
    3. Include DEI metrics as part of the annual performance review and rewards process. Diversity, equity and inclusion goals exceeded should be rewarded like any other business metric.
13. Celebrate and and reward success.
    1. Share inclusion success stories of employee engagement, hiring and promotions, and mentoring. 
    2. A member of the marketing team should be included in all diversity councils, they are instrumental to ensure the full amplification of your DEI success.

DEI Blueprint—Membership

1. Clarify the purpose
   1. What is our motivation to have a more diverse membership?
   2. Market analysis. Who are we unintentionally. excluding and what are we leaving on the table experientially and financially?
   3. How will our club grow culturally and fiscally with a focus on diversity?
   4. Agree on a shared understanding of what DEI means to the club and obtain buy-in from all stakeholders.
2. Conduct baseline assessments
   1. Collect diversity statistics and demographics at all levels including ethnicity, age, gender, veteran and disability status.
   2. If we don’t capture this information from the membership office, consider a voluntary inclusion survey for new members to increase diverse member representation.
3. Collect feedback and experiences
   1. Understand the member experience before implementing changes to promote a DEI plan.
   2. Conduct in-depth research via surveys, diversity assessments, focus groups, one-on-ones and town halls.
4. Align diversity process with the strategic business goals
   1. Prioritize. Determine what issues of DEI we want the club to focus on, list the desired outcomes.
   2. Create DEI statement and integrate into all business and operational plans.
   3. Set specific action plans and assign ownership for each goal.
5. Invite diverse talent to the recruitment process
   1. Diversify your membership marketing sources. Utilize gender neutral words in recruiting documents, avoid prohibitive and exclusionary language.
   2. Instill diversity into the membership recruitment process.
   3. Ensure the board and membership committee charters include the club’s diversity statement along with a standard for ensuring the makeup of the Board, committees, and recruitment teams remain diverse.
6. Expand access. Create an accessibility statement
   1. Educate staff on accessibility and how to better assist members wiith accommodation requests. Consider offering assistive technology, website, screen readers, open or closed caption, larger print and text options.
   2. Update the use of the word “handicapped” to “accessible” in all print and signage.
   3. Create an accessibility statement to elevate club services offered to all people.
   4. Pre board new members by offering a dedicated communication channel to request accommodation needs to best experience the club.
7. Elevate the club’s marketing strategy to be more inclusive
   1. Align the diversity commitment statement and inclusion values with brand messaging and recruitment practices.
8. Prioritize metrics to measure and reward impact
   1. Measure attrition rates by gender and race.
   2. Measure the number of diverse events offered.
   3. Measure diverse representation on committees and boards.
   4. Share the DEI scorecard with internal and external stakeholders.
   • Consistently seek feedback from members and employees to measure the inclusion climate and DEI progress.
9. Celebrate and reward success
   1. Share inclusion success stories of board and committee appointments and diverse partnerships.

DEI Blueprint—Vendors

1. Clarify our purpose
   1. What do our vendors think about us and why should that matter?
   2. What is the impact on the club if our vendors perceive us negatively?
2. Align diversity process with the strategic business goals
   1. List the desired outcomes, then prioritize. Expand the vision to articulate what the club aspires to achieve. Create a diversity, equity and inclusion commitment statement. Set specific action plans and assign ownership for each goal. The DEI vendor scorecard should be anchored to these established goals.
3. Diversify the supply chain
   1. Get to know the supply chain. Understand who makes the purchasing decisions and why certain vendors are being used. Invite other departments to the procurement process to expand sourcing ideas.
   2. Survey current suppliers and inquire about ways to embed diversity into their procurement practices.
   3. Update your purchasing department’s current bidding policy to require a diverse slate of vendors to be considered.
   4. Connect the local and state certified MWBE (Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise) directories to expand your sourcing program.
   5. Support your local and national supplier diversity councils—they offer great resources and networks for diversification of your supply chain.
4. Elevate the club’s marketing strategy to be more inclusive
   1. Align the club’s diversity commitment statement and inclusion values with brand messaging.
5. Celebrate and reward success
   1. Share inclusion success stories of diverse partnerships, broadened philanthropy and community outreach.

DEI Blueprint—Community

1. Clarify our purpose
   1. What does our community think about us and why should that matter?
   2. What is the impact on staffing and membership if our community perceives us negatively?
   3. What are we leaving on the table experientially and financially when many people in our club markets will not consider club membership because of the perception of our club not focusing on DEI?
2. Conduct baseline assessments
   1. Collect community demographics and measure it against the club’s membership demographics. How far away is the club from being as diverse as the community around it that can otherwise afford a membership?
   2. Search the internet for articles and online reviews of the club.
3. Align diversity process with the strategic business goals
   1. Set actionable goals for changing the community perception.
4. Diversify points of contact with the community
   1. Survey the club’s participation with community groups.
   2. Consider existing charitable policies, etc.
   3. Consult MWBE (Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise) directories.
5. Elevate the club’s marketing strategy to be more inclusive
   1. Redefine how the club represents different generations and multicultural people in marketing, events, promotional, human resources and training materials.
   2. Align the diversity commitment statement and inclusion values with brand messaging.
   3. Invite other departments and diverse members to share their insight to help create a diversity style guide for authentic brand representation.
6. Celebrate and reward success
   1. Share inclusion success stories of diverse partnerships, broadened philanthropy and community outreach.

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