DEI Policy Template
A DEI policy is the document people point at when a decision is disputed, which means a policy of good intentions is worse than no policy at all. This structure covers what the document has to say to hold up: who it applies to, what the organization is committing to, who is accountable for each commitment, and what happens when it is not followed.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to commit to, how to measure it, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ A purpose section that states what the policy is for in plain language
- ✓ A scope section naming everyone it covers, including contractors and board members
- ✓ Specific commitments written as actions rather than as values
- ✓ An accountability section naming the role responsible for each commitment
- ✓ A section on how concerns are raised, who receives them, and what protection the person raising them has
- ✓ A review date, because an undated policy is treated as out of date the first time it is challenged
How to use it
- Draft the commitments first. Everything else exists to make them enforceable.
- Delete any commitment nobody has been given the budget or authority to deliver.
- Name a role, not a person, against every commitment, so it survives someone changing jobs.
- Have your legal counsel read it before it is published, because a policy is quoted back to you in a dispute.
- Set the review date in the document and put it in a calendar the same day.
Why a policy carries more weight than a statement
A policy is the document an employee, a manager or an investigator reads when something has already gone wrong. Nobody consults it on a good day. That changes how it has to be written, because every sentence will eventually be read by someone looking for what the organization promised and whether it kept that promise.
The practical test for each line is whether a newly promoted manager could act on it without asking you what it means. "We value belonging" fails that test. "Every supervisory vacancy is advertised internally for ten working days before an external search begins" passes it, and an auditor could check it from records the organization already keeps.
Writing the scope and the commitments
Scope is where most drafts are quietly too narrow. List employees, contractors, agency workers, volunteers, interns and board members separately, and say whether the policy covers conduct at off-site events, on messaging platforms and in dealings with customers and suppliers. An omission here turns into an argument later about whether the policy applied at all.
Write the commitments as verbs attached to processes the organization already runs, such as recruitment, promotion, pay review, complaints handling and the accessibility of premises and systems. Four to eight commitments is usually the right number. Each should name the process it changes and what will be different, so progress can be reported without inventing a new measure.
Accountability and the route for raising concerns
Against each commitment, name the role that owns it and the role it reports to. The DEI lead is rarely the right owner. The head of talent acquisition owns a hiring commitment and the reward lead owns a pay commitment. Your job is to hold the register and report on it, which is a different job from delivering every line yourself.
The concerns section needs at least two routes, so nobody has to raise a concern with the person it is about. Say who receives a concern, what happens in the first week, and how the person raising it is protected from retaliation. Cross-reference the existing grievance and whistleblowing procedures rather than restating them, so the documents cannot drift apart.
Keeping the policy alive after launch
A review date only works if someone is booked to carry out the review. Twelve to twenty-four months is common, with an earlier review triggered by a change in employment law, a merger or acquisition, or a pattern in the concerns being raised. Record what changed at each review in a short version table at the end of the document.
Unit 2 of the course works through policy as part of embedding values in everyday practice, including costing a policy before somebody asks what it will cost. Unit 8, in the advanced course, covers the standard operating procedures underneath a policy, which is where a commitment becomes something a stranger could run.
A filled-in example
| Commitment | Every warehouse supervisor vacancy is advertised internally for ten working days before any external advert is placed. |
|---|---|
| Process it changes | Internal recruitment for first-line supervisory roles |
| Owner | Head of Talent Acquisition, reporting to the Chief People Officer |
| Evidence of delivery | Applicant tracking report of internal and external posting dates, reviewed each quarter |
| Who it covers | All employees, plus agency workers on assignments longer than twelve weeks |
| Routes for concerns | Line manager, the People team inbox, or the independent reporting line, at the employee's choice |
| Next review | March 2028, or sooner after any change to employment law where the company operates |
Mistakes to avoid
- Writing values instead of commitments. Words like respect and belonging cannot be breached, so they cannot be enforced. Rewrite each one as an action attached to a named process, and move the values themselves into the diversity statement, which is where they do their work.
- Making the DEI lead own everything. If every commitment is assigned to one role, the policy stalls the day that person leaves or loses budget. Assign each commitment to the leader who runs the process it changes, and keep the reporting role separate from the delivering role.
- Offering a single route for concerns. When the only route runs through a line manager, anyone whose concern is about that manager has nowhere to go. Give at least two routes, and say plainly that the person raising the concern chooses which one to use.
- Publishing before legal review. A policy is quoted back to the organization in disputes, and employment law differs between jurisdictions and changes over time. Have your own counsel check the final text against the law where you operate before it goes live, and again at each review.
DEI Policy Template FAQs
What should a DEI policy include?
Purpose, scope, specific commitments, named accountability for each, a route for raising concerns, and a review date. The commitments are the part that matters, and they should be things the organization can actually be held to.
Is a DEI policy a legal requirement?
It depends entirely on where you operate and how large you are, and in some jurisdictions parts of it are required while others are not. Ask your own legal counsel rather than working from a general answer.
Do you provide a downloadable policy file?
This page is the structure rather than a file. Unit 2 of the course covers how to write each section for your organization, which is the part a blank document cannot do for you.
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