Transparency, trust, and data. We created our People-First Demographic Tool to transform the data collection process into an act of inclusion by eliminating the same predetermined choices you see on every survey–no boxes to check, just expressing yourself in your own words. By giving your people the power to disclose what is important to them, you are ultimately building confidence in the workplace.

Traditional methods of demographic data collection are often limiting, riddled with outdated language, and contain few options for employees to accurately disclose their identities, especially for those in marginalized groups. Shouldn’t folks be able to self-identify without being confined to a prescribed box? Shouldn’t they also feel confident and empowered to do so? Shouldn’t employers have access to the tools that will help create an honest representation of their company’s demographic population to better serve their people?

Home Chef is using the Demographic Tool to better understand their people, further emphasizing how DEI is foundational to their employee experience. By being straightforward and addressing the employee experience through demographic surveys, companies like Home Chef have been able to better identify, meet, and surpass their DEI goals.

At the core of every company is its demographic make-up–Who are your people? What makes them unique? How are you amplifying their voices? These are questions that are often more complex to answer than what most survey checkboxes will allow. With the emergence of the work-from-home model and many companies dealing with The Great Resignation, there is an increasing desire to make the process of aggregating employee data more inclusive. As Jasmine Primm says, “just like your favorite dish, everyone identifies uniquely and differently and this tool reflects our commitment to championing that!”

We spoke with Jasmine Primm, Director of DEI and Employee Relations at Home Chef, about why Home Chef chose to implement the Demographic Tool to guide their DEI journey in terms of employee self-identification. Jasmine ensures that “you will see more diversity in our marketing as well as in our influencers that we are partnering with this year!”

Anonymity & Confidentiality

While building out this tool, we wanted to acknowledge a major component of its success; trust-building. Oftentimes, companies will see low engagement with demographic surveys because the rationale behind it wasn't clear or there is a history of mistrust between employees and leadership. Regardless of the reason, Holistic believes in honesty and we understand how valuable it is for your employees to know that the information they share with us, with you, will remain confidential. Anonymity and security are crucial to upholding our values and for that reason, we created data protocols that are at the foundation for every tool in our catalog. The Demographic Tool is no different.

Learn more about our trusted partners, Finch and Havoc Shield, and how we work collectively to ensure that data privacy and security are always first priority when gathering data. 

Communication

You know how it’s sometimes easier to talk to a stranger about your bad day than it is someone you’ve known for years? There is some peace of mind knowing that this person will listen and engage without bias and more importantly, keep that conversation between the two of you. We take the same approach at Holistic. As a third party that values individual privacy, we make this a priority when gathering data. We often find that a lack of transparency about the use of data in survey language can be another hurdle that makes employees less willing to disclose information. By paying acute attention to the language used, we can aid in building the framework for employee communication around the demographic survey.

Our values state that “we combat complexity to deliver straightforward information” and “we strive to see things through.” This is true. Encouraging this strategy of communication when implementing the Demographic Tool is what Jasmine says has allowed Home Chef “to look even deeper at how our people identify, thus allowing them us to pivot and adjust how we operate internally.” Taking time to understand how to communicate best with your employees about difficult or awkward topics is how you learn “what benefits align best with your current employee population” Jasmine explains.

The People Driving Change at Home Chef

Q. What makes these questions so different?

A. By removing the limitations, binary questions, and generic options, Holistic’s People-First Demographic Tool establishes a survey experience that fully supports your company’s values and goals. One of the perks of the Demographic Tool is how non-traditional the questions are while also being easy to digest.

“We love that the demo tool is informal,” says Jasmine, “Completing the form feels like an idealistic journal prompt asking you to tell the world about yourself, and who doesn’t like to pump themselves up a bit?”

Though the questions might be personal and even touchy topics for some like our life story, they're open-ended. Our aim with the Demographic Tool is to give employees all the space needed to share all parts of their identities that matter most with you.

Q. Would you recommend the Holistic Demographic Tool?

“Absolutely! This is a great way to understand how the people in your organization identify and it has been an integral part of how we selected our benefits for this year.” 

A. Implementing our Demographic Tool will set the ground for the overall increase of positive employee initiatives, like Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), DEI councils, non-pay related benefits, compensation equity, and more. Employees will feel seen, welcomed, and heard. Feel free to fill out the survey yourself. Be honest and give us your feedback! Think about how the questions make you feel and if this were to come from your employer, what does it say about their commitment to DEI?

As we like to say at Holistic  “Your employees know who they are. They don’t need us to tell them. They need us to listen.”

 About HomeChef

“Home Chef is not only a food subscription delivery service, we are much more than that! We aim to provide everything you need to bring more delicious meals and moments to the table, no matter how busy you are. We believe that preparing and enjoying a home-cooked meal should be a simply delicious experience. I believe that people continue to love Home Chef for the same reasons it was founded: it saves time, reduces food waste, and most importantly, brings people together for a home-cooked meal.” - Jasmine Primm