The state of DEIB and bias awareness as we enter H2 2025

In 2025, the conversation about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) in European workplaces is shifting. It has not disappeared - but it has evolved. The focus is less on slogans, campaigns, or dedicated departments, and more on embedding DEIB into the everyday fabric of organisational life. For some, this is a quiet retreat; for others, it’s a necessary recalibration in response to economic pressures, political sensitivities, and organisational fatigue.

To explore the state of DEIB today, we spoke with Saira Rasool, Senior Talent Management & People Development Lead at Nuuday. Saira sees DEIB not as an isolated function but as a thread running through all people processes.

”My journey in DEIB happened organically, as I have been responsible for/worked with different people related areas (performance, people and leadership development) - it was never a standalone initiative to work with DEIB. To me, it must be woven into every people process. From performance reviews to leadership pipelines, inclusion belongs at the core of how we build thriving workplaces. That’s how I’ve approached it in every role I’ve had.”

Bias in the workplace

Asked about the most persistent bias she sees in organisations today, Rasool doesn’t hesitate: similarity bias.

“It’s one of the most deeply ingrained and overlooked biases in organisational decision-making,” she explains. “As humans, we’re naturally wired to gravitate toward people who look, think, or behave like us. In the workplace, this bias subtly influences decisions about who gets hired, who’s seen as leadership material, who’s promoted, or trusted with high-impact projects.”

The problem, she notes, is that teams built on sameness tend to agree too easily and avoid challenging one another. This may feel comfortable or intuitive in the moment, but it comes at the expense of the creative tension that drives breakthroughs.

“When we don’t intentionally disrupt similarity bias, we risk building echo chambers instead of ecosystems. And that’s not just a DEIB issue - it’s a business issue.”

From awareness to action

Bias reduction, in Rasool’s view, is not about eliminating bias entirely - “that’s completely impossible” - but about intentionally minimising its influence on decisions, behaviour, and systems.

“Everyone - regardless of background, gender, ethnicity, or role - carries biases. These aren’t abstract concepts; they’re shaped by our personal experiences, the environments we grew up in, and the values we’ve internalised over time. We don’t leave our identities at the door when we enter the workplace. Recognising this reality is the first step toward meaningful bias-reduction.”

From there, awareness must be paired with structure. Rasool describes an approach that combines knowledge-sharing, education, data, and systemic reform - with a strong emphasis on learning and development. Unconscious bias training and inclusive leadership development, she says, should be practical rather than theoretical.

In her work, that means creating tools and frameworks that help employees recognise bias in real time - from structuring inclusive meetings to standardising performance reviews and hiring processes. When people are given actionable methods, she says, they are more likely to “shift from passive awareness to active accountability.”

Data also plays a crucial role. By tracking patterns in hiring, promotions, pay equity, and employee experience, organisations can expose problems that may otherwise go unnoticed. Structural safeguards - such as standardised interview protocols and diverse review panels - reduce the scope for subjective judgement.

Still, she warns, tools and processes will only work if there is cultural commitment. Psychological safety, open dialogue, and leadership role modelling are what sustain change. “When people feel safe to speak up,” she says, “organisations become more inclusive and resilient.”

From counting heads to fostering belonging

Rasool sees a shift in how companies approach bias and inclusion. “Companies are moving from simply tracking diversity to actively fostering inclusion,” she notes. “Diversity brings people in, but inclusion ensures they feel seen, heard, and valued.”

Belonging, she argues, is not a soft, nice-to-have goal - it is a business imperative. Inclusion challenges assumptions, opens space for diverse perspectives, and creates the conditions for equitable decision-making.

She has seen this first-hand. In one previous role, she embedded the concepts of allyship and bias-reduction into every layer of learning - from talent programmes to leadership development to team training. A company-wide website showcased employee testimonials alongside personal stories from senior leaders, normalising conversations about bias and belonging. The initiative, she says, made inclusion tangible through accessible knowledge, visible role models, and everyday tools.

Barriers to structural change

Yet the path to structural change is not straightforward. Rasool identifies two common obstacles. First, the absence of visible, vocal support from senior leadership. Without it, inclusion remains an HR project rather than an organisational priority. Second, the gap between rhetoric and reality.

“I have personally worked for a very big company that had many initiatives,” she recalls, “however, the culture was incredibly uncomfortable and the actual reality was different than what they preached.”

The other challenge is discomfort. Bias and inclusion touch on deeply personal and sometimes politically sensitive issues, and this can make people hesitant to engage. Avoiding the conversation, she warns, “only reinforces the status quo.”

Making DEIB part of the business fabric

For DEIB to have real impact, Rasool insists, it must be embedded into core processes - recruitment, performance management, product development, leadership behaviour - and owned by stakeholders across the business, not just HR. Leaders must have the tools and expectations to lead inclusively, and employees should be encouraged to take shared responsibility.

In Denmark specifically, she argues, companies must move beyond a narrow focus on gender. Gender equity is critical, but genuine inclusion means recognising the layered identities shaped by ethnicity, socio-economic background, neurodiversity, and lived experience. “Bias doesn’t operate in isolation, and neither should our strategies,” she says.

A roadmap for lasting change

Nuuday has already taken significant steps toward greater diversity and inclusion, including increasing the representation of women in Women in Management, strengthening the successor pipeline of female talent, ensuring all leaders have completed Inclusive Leadership training focused on unconscious bias and cognitive diversity, focusing on inclusive language in job posts, establishing agreements with headhunters to include female candidates in recruitment processes, and developing a dashboard on Women in Management - all of which highlight Nuuday’s commitment to building a more inclusive workplace.

This summer, Rasool has been working on continuing the DEIB journey for Nuuday with a roadmap. The plan is still in development, but its goal is to embed inclusion into everyday behaviours and decision-making - offering concrete guidance that reflects the realities of diverse teams across different diversity dimensions such as gender, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, and ways of thinking and working. By acknowledging the varied identities and experiences that shape how individuals show up at work, the roadmap aims to create a shared language and accountability across the organisation so inclusion becomes a lived experience.

Some of the methods and tools she is exploring include:

• Continue the focus on data, including making different diversity dimensions, visible to leaders and presented in a tool that makes it easy to track and use.
• Inclusive hiring guides and bias interrupters.
• Support for leading through different life stages of employees.
• Intersectionality frameworks with practical guides and tools.
• Visible role modelling, showcasing diverse leadership styles so employees see there is no single “right” way to succeed.

The future of DEIB

Looking ahead, Rasool believes DEIB will become more embedded, not separate. “DEIB will be part of how we lead, hire, develop, and make decisions – and the word “DEIB” might not be used, but it will be embedded in processes and the way we work and lead. Leaders will be held accountable. Data and lived experience will guide action. Inclusion will be built into systems - not just driven by passion.”

If she could change a few common practices tomorrow in all organisations, she would start by replacing “culture fit” with “culture add,” challenging feedback processes, broadening succession criteria, and expanding the definition of leadership to value empathy and collaboration alongside assertiveness.

Closing remarks: Change takes time

Perhaps her most important reminder is that DEIB progress is slow - and that’s not a flaw, but a reality, as it is in many areas of business.

“Some people see a DEIB initiative and wonder, ‘Was that it?’ But creating meaningful change around bias and inclusion isn’t about quick wins. It’s about doing the right things consistently, over and over again. Listening, learning, adjusting, and showing up - again and again. That’s what builds trust. That’s what shifts culture.”

For Rasool, every conversation, every decision, every behaviour adds up. And the companies that keep going - even when it’s no longer trendy or easy - are the ones that “truly move the needle.”