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A Message to EDI Practitioners from an EDI Leader of 20 Years

Written By Kevin Scott

On January 29, 2025

A Message to EDI Practitioners from an EDI Leader of 20 Years

Over the last seven years, I have been away from the EDI Conference circuit, working globally on what inclusive culture means worldwide. During this time, I have been dedicated to teaching and researching for our master’s program aimed at D&I professionals, successfully guiding seven cohorts of EDI practitioners into the practical application of global best practice.

Simultaneously, I have been refining a software-based tool, building on the success of our manual ROI audit which has consistently delivered lasting positive outcomes for organisations both financially and for their employees for nearly a decade. Upon returning, I was excited to catch up with old colleagues and friends to take in the progress that has been made.

For fear (or not) of being controversial - It was eye-opening to see that after seven years away, whilst the conferences are beautifully orchestrated, with some fabulous content, excellent speakers and initiatives being described, and undoubtedly rooms full of passionate people – I still have not heard in four conferences anyone describe how to turn data and evidence into measurable impact and return on investment. Voicing this to other delegates, this was a consensus shared by others in attendance who said they don’t hear of these elements being mentioned.

This blog isn't meant as a criticism of my friends and colleagues running conferences or fabulous initiatives in their respective businesses, but more a plea to the whole sector of EDI professionals – of which I consider myself to be one of the OGs, bringing EDI from the US into the UK over twenty years ago. If things don't change in terms of language, focus, and impact, the sector will sink into oblivion within the next 10 years.

As professionals who care deeply about this space, we need to decipher how we go forward. I love EDI and believe everyone in this line of work cares deeply about people and enacting positive change. Therefore, it must become imperative that we embed initiatives which have been guided by data and research. Diversity statistics aren’t enough. Inclusion at all levels needs to be measured to enact an environment where diversity can thrive. If we don’t, the work becomes a guessing game, a shot in the dark where we never achieve the results we set out for.

For too long we have been focused on blanket EDI initiatives which appear meaningful at the surface but lack the planning and measured frameworks to sustain impact. Like any sector of work, informed decision-making should be based on a foundation of quantifiable evidence so that the most prominent issues can be understood before effective initiatives are set. With this approach, we can feel confident that when we walk into that important boardroom meeting with shareholders, investors and company leaders, we can demonstrate the impact of all our hard work.

My passion for this sector guided my thinking regarding this topic several years ago when I decided that software needed to be designed to allow organisations to easily self-audit inclusion. Following research with academics, EDI professionals, data scientists and AI experts, the development of a digital version of our manual ROI audit was created - Metimur. For 9 years, this tool has been specifically designed to diagnose the main context-specific issues facing companies, before generating pathways they can take to advance inclusion for their people and long-term financial success.

Therefore, if you are an EDI practitioner reading this, look at the below questions and see if you can confidently answer them.

  1. How do you measure inclusion within your organisation and, do you use this data to outline the focus areas which need to be prioritised?
  2. Although your organisation has become increasingly diverse, what evidence and data do you collect to ensure that your organisation is achieving an inclusive environment where your diverse workforce can thrive?
  3. How do you measure the social impact of your inclusion initiatives?
  4. How do you measure the financial impact of your inclusion initiatives?
  5. Do you regularly audit your organisation for inclusion to sustain progress?

 

These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. If you’re struggling, is it time to renavigate your approach?

The Article

Let's be honest about what happens in most inclusion strategy meetings. Someone presents a slide about engagement scores. Someone else mentions that the values poster needs updating. A third person says, with commendable optimism, that they're 'making progress.' Then the CFO asks: 'What's this actually costing us, and what are we getting back?' Silence.

This is where Return on Inclusion® comes in. And it's why your finance director is going to love it almost as much as your Head of DEI.

So, What Is Return on Inclusion®?

Return on Inclusion® (RoI®) is the world's first methodology that measures the commercial and cultural impact of inclusion investment with genuine financial precision. It was created by Dawn Hurst, Co-Founder of EA Group, over 20 years of research and practice — and it won the PwC Innovation Award. It's not a survey. It's not a maturity framework. It's an audit that speaks the language of business.

The methodology assesses 150 data points across 20 organisational domains — covering everything from pay equity and leadership representation to staff retention, procurement diversity, and innovation metrics. The result is a monetised ROI figure: how much value your inclusion investment is generating, and how much it could generate if you got serious about it.

"The Global Mentoring Programme was by far one of the best growth journeys I've taken in my entire career."

— Gianfranco Bianco, Global Web Business Analyst, Sandvik Coromant

The Numbers That Make CFOs Pay Attention

Across clients including SSE, thyssenkrupp, Royal BAM Group, HSBC, and MUFG, the Return on Inclusion® methodology has delivered:

  • An average 19x return on every pound invested in inclusion
  • Current trajectory clients averaging £8-10 return per £1 spent
  • Clients on a focused strategy reaching £19+ per £1
  • Validated results across 35 countries and 4,000+ organisations

SSE discovered they had already returned £4.52 for every £1 invested — and that with a more strategic approach, they could reach £15 per £1. That's not sentiment. That's the language boards speak.

 

 

"The work points out explicitly that SSE has returned £4.52 for every £1 invested in inclusion initiatives. But we also learnt that by implementing a more strategic approach, we can aspire to returning £15 for every £1 invested. This is very compelling evidence for a value-focused organisation."

— John Stewart, Director of Human Resources, SSE plc

How Is Return on Inclusion® Different From Standard DEI Metrics?

Standard DEI metrics tell you what your workforce looks like. Return on Inclusion® tells you what it's worth. The difference matters because:

  • Headcount diversity metrics don't reveal whether your inclusion investment is generating commercial value
  • Engagement scores don't tell you whether inclusion is reducing attrition or increasing innovation
  • Maturity frameworks don't give you a monetised ROI to defend at board level

Return on Inclusion® does all three. It connects inclusion data to business performance, so you're not arguing from principle — you're arguing from evidence.

The Metimur Platform: Self-Service Return on Inclusion®

Historically, a Return on Inclusion® audit required EA Group's consultants and budgets starting at £50,000. Metimur changes that. The platform puts the same PwC award-winning methodology in your hands as a self-service audit tool. You run it yourself. You get the same rigorous 150-point assessment. You receive a board-ready report with your monetised ROI across three scenarios — starting from £5,000 per year.

"Return on Inclusion® gave us the clarity we needed to make meaningful change across all four of our divisional businesses and increase staff retention and colleague engagement."

— Shelley Caton, Director of Inclusion and Diversity, BAM UK & Ireland

Who Needs to Read This

  • CHROs and HR Directors who need board-level justification for inclusion spend
  • CFOs and Finance Directors being asked to sign off DEI budgets
  • Heads of DEI who are tired of being asked to prove their value in engagement score terms
  • CEOs navigating ESG reporting requirements that increasingly demand inclusion data

If any of those sound like you, you're in the right place. And if you want to see the numbers for your organisation specifically, the Metimur platform can produce them in days — not months.

Related Reading

  • How to Measure DEI ROI: A Step-by-Step Guide for HR Leaders [Article 02]
  • DEI Data for the Board: What Directors Actually Want to See [Article 04]
  • DEI ROI Statistics 2026: The Data Every Inclusion Leader Needs [Article 06]