DEI Climate Survey Action Planning Guide
A DEI climate survey with Likert ratings and targeted follow-ups that turns feedback on inclusion, equity, psychological safety, and manager accountability into owned action priorities.
Every employee gets a seat — priced per employee in Communications & Intranet, quoted with this template ready.
Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.
Built for: Technology And Software · Financial Services · Healthcare Organizations · Higher Education · Professional Services
Overview
The DEI Climate Survey Action Planning Guide is an employee survey template for understanding whether people experience belonging, respect, psychological safety, equitable opportunity, and accountable leadership in their day-to-day work. Its 5-point Likert questions use clear agreement anchors, while targeted open-ended prompts ask why respondents chose lower ratings and what practical change would help.
The survey is organized into five sections: Inclusion, Belonging, and Psychological Safety; Equity and Opportunity; Manager Effectiveness and Accountability; Action Priorities and Follow-Up; and Open-Ended Feedback. Together, these sections connect engagement drivers to decisions leaders can make, such as improving access to development, clarifying escalation routes, changing manager behavior, or communicating progress more visibly.
Use this template when you need a structured climate baseline, a post-change check, or evidence for a focused DEI action plan. It is especially useful when leaders are prepared to share themes and assign owners after collection. It is not a substitute for a confidential investigation, a complaint channel, or an exit survey designed to diagnose why employees leave. Do not promise anonymity unless your collection and reporting settings can protect it, and do not add demographic cuts that could identify respondents in small groups.
Standards & compliance context
- Use an anonymity guarantee, access controls, retention limits, and minimum reporting thresholds appropriate to the sensitivity of DEI and psychological-safety feedback.
- If demographic or identity data is collected, make it optional, explain the purpose and retention period, and have privacy or legal reviewers assess applicable GDPR and employment-data requirements.
- Keep this survey separate from formal harassment, discrimination, or whistleblowing channels and provide a clear route for urgent or legally protected concerns.
- Avoid using aggregated climate results as the sole basis for employment decisions, performance ratings, or conclusions about individual managers.
General regulatory context for orientation only — verify current requirements with counsel or the relevant agency before relying on this template for compliance.
What's inside this template
Inclusion, Belonging, and Psychological Safety
This section shows whether employees experience respect, belonging, and enough psychological safety to express a different perspective or raise a concern.
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I feel a sense of belonging on my team.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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People on my team are treated with respect, regardless of their background or identity.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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I feel safe expressing a different perspective or raising a concern on my team.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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If you selected Strongly disagree, Disagree, or Neither agree nor disagree for any item above, what is the primary reason for your response?
Please do not include names or other information that could identify you.
Equity and Opportunity
These questions examine whether access to development, mentoring, stretch work, recognition, advancement, and concern-raising processes feels fair and consistent.
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People have fair access to development, mentoring, and stretch opportunities on my team.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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Decisions about assignments, recognition, and advancement are made using fair and consistent criteria.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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I understand how to raise a concern about inequitable or exclusionary behavior.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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If you selected Strongly disagree, Disagree, or Neither agree nor disagree for any item above, what would make access or decision-making feel more equitable?
Focus on processes, practices, or resources rather than identifying individuals.
Manager Effectiveness and Accountability
This section connects the employee experience to manager behavior and tests whether leaders make DEI commitments visible through follow-through.
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My manager supports an inclusive team environment where each person can contribute.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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My manager responds constructively when someone raises an inclusion or fairness concern.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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Leaders follow through on stated DEI commitments in ways employees can see and evaluate.
Use a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
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If you selected Strongly disagree, Disagree, or Neither agree nor disagree for any item above, what manager or leadership behavior would have the greatest positive impact?
Describe a specific, observable behavior or practice without naming individuals.
Action Priorities and Follow-Up
These prompts turn survey feedback into one or two practical priorities and reveal how strongly employees expect the organization to act.
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Which one or two areas should be prioritized to improve DEI climate on your team?
Select up to two: Belonging and inclusion; Psychological safety; Fair access to opportunities; Consistent decision-making; Manager effectiveness; Speaking up and concern resolution; Leadership accountability; Other.
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What is one practical change that would most improve inclusion, belonging, or fairness in your day-to-day work?
Suggest an action that can be observed, assigned, and reviewed within the next 90 days.
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How confident are you that the organization will act on the results of this survey?
Use a 5-point scale: Not at all confident, Slightly confident, Moderately confident, Very confident, Extremely confident.
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If you selected Not at all confident, Slightly confident, or Moderately confident, what would demonstrate meaningful follow-through?
Identify a visible milestone, owner, communication, or review point.
Open-Ended Feedback
The final questions capture strengths worth preserving and concerns that structured ratings may not reveal, ending with an open Anything else? prompt.
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What is working well today that the organization should preserve or strengthen?
Share practices, behaviors, or resources that support an inclusive workplace.
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Anything else you would like leaders to understand about the DEI climate or the actions needed to improve it?
Please do not include names, confidential case details, or other information that could identify you.
How to use this template
- Customize the introduction, response window, anonymity guarantee, reporting thresholds, and escalation information before sending the survey.
- Confirm that each rating question uses a clearly labeled 5-point scale from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree and keep optional demographic questions at the end if they are necessary.
- Assign the survey to the intended employee population and explain who will review aggregated results, how comments will be handled, and when employees will hear back.
- Close the survey after the stated window, review response rate and missingness, and analyze themes by section without exposing identifiable small-group results.
- Select one or two action priorities, connect each to a named owner and observable behavior or process change, and document the rationale for deprioritized items.
- Share a plain-language readout and follow up on the agreed cadence by checking progress, confidence in action, and whether the change improved the relevant engagement driver.
Best practices
- Keep the core survey to five sections for an annual engagement or climate review, and shorten it to one or two sections for a recurring pulse.
- Use the attached open-ended prompts for ratings of Neither agree nor disagree, Disagree, or Strongly disagree so decision-makers can understand the reason behind detractor and uncertain responses.
- State the anonymity guarantee before the first question and suppress reporting for groups small enough that comments or results could reveal an individual.
- Collect demographic information only when it supports a defined equity decision, make it optional, and place it after the substantive questions to reduce collection-bias concerns.
- Write neutral questions such as whether managers respond constructively rather than leading respondents toward a favorable answer.
- Review response rate by team or population for access barriers, but do not treat a low response rate as evidence that a team has no DEI concerns.
- Limit the action plan to one or two priorities that have an accountable owner, a measurable next step, and a date for communicating progress.
- Keep an Anything else? question at the end so respondents can raise concerns that the structured sections did not anticipate.
What this template typically catches
Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:
Common use cases
Frequently asked questions
What does this DEI climate survey measure?
The template measures inclusion, belonging, psychological safety, equitable access to opportunities, manager effectiveness, leadership accountability, and confidence in follow-through. It combines 5-point Likert questions with open-ended follow-ups for lower ratings. The final sections identify practical priorities and preserve what is already working.
Who should run this survey and review the results?
An HR, people operations, DEI, or employee listening team should own the survey setup and confidentiality plan. Managers can discuss team-level themes, but they should not receive identifiable comments or use responses to evaluate individual employees. A cross-functional review group can translate themes into named owners, timelines, and follow-up measures.
How often should we run a DEI climate survey?
Use this as a quarterly or twice-yearly climate check when the organization can communicate and act between waves. A shorter one- or two-section pulse may suit monthly or weekly listening, but repeating the full survey too often can increase survey fatigue. Keep core questions stable enough to compare trends and rotate only a small number of diagnostic items.
How should anonymity and demographic data be handled?
Anonymity should be the default for this employee survey, especially when questions involve psychological safety, inequity, or concerns about leadership. Set minimum reporting thresholds, restrict access to raw comments, and explain exactly who will see results. If demographics are collected for disparity analysis, make them optional, place them last, and address GDPR or applicable privacy requirements with your legal or privacy team.
Can this template identify problems in a specific team?
It can reveal team-level patterns when response volume and anonymity safeguards support reliable reporting. Avoid publishing small-group cuts that could make respondents identifiable or expose sensitive comments. Use the manager effectiveness and action-priority responses as discussion prompts, not as proof about any individual.
How do we avoid collecting feedback without acting on it?
Before launch, define the decision owners, review date, and communication plan for the results. After review, select one or two priorities, assign accountable owners, define observable actions, and report what will change, what will not change, and why. Recheck confidence in follow-through in the next survey cycle.
Can we customize the questions for our organization?
Yes, but preserve the core constructs so results remain interpretable across cycles. Add organization-specific questions only when leaders can act on the answers, and keep the survey length proportional to the cadence. Avoid leading wording, 11-point scales, and demographic questions before the substantive sections.
How does this compare with an ad-hoc employee feedback form?
An ad-hoc form may gather comments but often lacks consistent scales, follow-up questions, ownership, and a way to track confidence in action. This template connects ratings to reasons, practical changes, and follow-through expectations. It gives reviewers a repeatable structure for comparing engagement drivers and turning themes into an action plan.
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Ready to use this template?
Every employee gets a seat. Request pricing for Communications & Intranet and we quote into a workspace with DEI Climate Survey Action Planning Guide ready.
Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.
