A Practical Framework for Operationalizing Fairness and Inclusion

More organizations are embedding fairness and inclusion into how the business operates by strengthening the people systems that shape day-to-day outcomes, leadership behaviors, decision making, talent development and how concerns are raised and addressed. When these elements work together, organizations gain earlier visibility into issues, deliver more consistent experiences, and reduce late stage escalations that increase risk.

This shift is also reflected in the Decision Intelligence Benchmark | DEI Strategic Priorities for 2026 from DEI Board and Assemble. In the report, 75% of organizations surveyed said they are prioritizing leadership and culture work. When asked about operational initiatives, 70% chose operationalizing long term strategic goals and 55% chose assessing and improving inclusion and psychological safety. The report also makes clear why the agenda is so pragmatic: 61% expect budgets to be flat and 16% anticipate reductions greater than 10% (Assemble/Board.org, 2025). With limited room for expansion, leaders are prioritizing execution, consistency, and credibility and that requires addressing both levers together. Fairness without inclusion produces “clean” policies and well intended standards, but leaders still don’t hear what is breaking on the ground so problems surface late and confidence in leadership declines. Inclusion without fairness has the opposite failure mode, people may speak up, but if outcomes depend on who you are, who your manager is, or which team you sit on, the organization feels unpredictable and trust erodes. In practice, employees judge fairness by whether decisions are applied reliably, and they judge inclusion by whether raising concerns leads to constructive action rather than risk. When both are strengthened together, organizations get earlier signals, faster course correction, and outcomes that feel credible reducing performance drag and risk without needing to build an entirely new program.

A practical framework for turning these priorities into day-to-day operational reality is EDGE Certification (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality). EDGE is a disciplined way to strengthen fairness and inclusion without reinventing the wheel. It takes what leaders say they want: consistency, credibility, and stronger culture and turns it into something measurable and governable. It helps define fairness in concrete terms, identify and validate where gaps exist, and build the discipline to improve and sustain progress over time. As an EDGE Certification Body, Intertek supports organizations through the certification process in a practical, business aligned way helping assess where they are today, validate the data and systems behind the claims, and build a roadmap that strengthens fairness and inclusion in a way leaders can communicate internally and stakeholders can trust externally.