Self-ID Campaigns:

12 Steps for Success

Building a DEI strategy starts with
understanding the demographics of your
employee population. 

Most organizations collect this data by

conducting an employee self-identification
(self-ID) survey, which collects voluntary
information from employees about their
personal characteristics, such as gender,
race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability
status, and more.

In this guide, we’ll lay out the basics of 


self-ID campaigns, and provide 12 key steps
for getting them right. 

Jason Gong

DEI Lead

Dandi
What is a self-ID campaign?
A self-ID campaign is the process of designing, communicating, and
conducting self-ID questionnaires. While voluntary for employees, self-ID
campaigns help organizations meet various legal requirements to report
demographic data while enabling companies to better respond to the needs of
the workforce.

A strategic approach to a self-ID campaign is key. Given the extremely personal

nature of the information you’re asking employees to disclose, companies must
work to earn and maintain employee trust. 

Applicants are routinely asked to self-ID during the application process but
companies should conduct employee self-ID campaigns at other stages of the
employee lifecycle as well. They can be coupled with engagement surveys or
conducted as a stand-alone survey.

Why collect employee data via self-ID?

In order to meet the needs of the workforce, organizations must first know who
their people are. 

Self-ID surveys illuminate previously unknown personal, cultural, racial, and

ability-related barriers to employment, advancement, retention, engagement,
and inclusion. With this information in hand, companies are positioned to drive
better employee experiences, allocate resources accordingly, and bring social
and cultural awareness to the org.

Key bene fi ts of self-ID campaigns

Build data-driven DEI strategies: Self-ID data is crucial for identifying

1. potential disparities in representation, advancement and pay inequity which

can then be addressed through structural and programmatic interventions.

Foster inclusive work environments: This data will enable your company to

2. tailor the policies and programs that inform workplace culture, supporting a

more inclusive environment for all employees.

Measure progress and impact: Self-ID data provides a baseline for setting DEI

3. goals and assessing the impact and success of your efforts over time.

Identify and mitigate systemic bias: Analyzing self-ID data can help identify

4. and mitigate systemic biases that might affect processes like hiring,

promotions, and compensation.

Meet legal and regulatory requirements: In some regions, there are legal

5. requirements or regulations related to diversity reporting or affirmative action.

Collecting self-ID data can help ensure your company is in compliance with

these regulations.
Risks in storing and collecting employee data
It's important to note that collecting self-ID data should be done thoughtfully
and with privacy safeguards in place. Employees must feel comfortable sharing
this information, and your company should ensure that the data is used only for
its intended purposes, is kept confidential, and is compliant with all applicable
privacy laws and regulations.

California’s Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and the General Data

Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU are just two regulations that specify
special handling of DEI data. Yet many companies still store DEI data across a
patchwork of spreadsheets, business intelligence tools, or general purpose
people analytics platforms—putting at risk both employee trust and regulatory
compliance

The data employees disclose via self-ID is among their most personal and
private information. Acting as a responsible custodian of this information is an
ethical imperative and legal obligation for companies, and failing to do so can
have major repercussions.

Dandi’s 12 steps
for successful
self-ID
campaigns

While no two campaigns are ever quite the same,

we’ve found that successful self-ID campaigns often

follow the same basic steps.

Step 1

—

Define clear scope and
objectives
Don’t try to do everything with your campaign. A clear, focused set of questions
will likely tell you far more about your employees than a sweeping survey.
Clearly define the purpose of the self-ID surve
What data are you collecting
Why are you collecting it
How do you plan to use that data
Determine the scope of the survey, including which demographics or
identity attributes you'll be collecting e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability status,
etc
Set a target for response rate: the goal should always be getting as close to
100% as possible
Step 2

—

Design and delivery

The more thoughtful your campaign design, the more impactful it will be.

Decide on the appropriate format and platform to host the campaign.

Consider Dandi Self-ID, which includes preset templates and deep security
capabilities

Develop the survey questions, ensuring they are respectful, inclusive, and
aligned with your objective

Ensure every question has an option for respondents to select "prefer not to
say" for those who wish not to disclos

Ensure the survey is accessible and easy to understand for all employees,
regardless of their background or role
Step 3

—

Focus on campaign messaging

A clear communication strategy is essential for building employee trust around

any data collection effort

Develop a comprehensive communications plan to ensure buy-in and

participation from leaders at all levels of the organizatio

Set firm dates for launching your survey and sending organizational
reminder

Create a messaging framework that emphasizes the importance of the

survey, its confidentiality, and how it will support your company’s goal

Engage executive leadership to endorse and support the survey, setting an

example for others to follow
Step 4

—

Communicate across multiple
channels

When it comes to self-ID campaigns, it’s best to over-communicate. More is

more

Utilize a variety of communication channels to reach employees, including

email, internal messaging systems, intranet, town hall meetings, and direct
supervisor communicatio

Tailor your messages to different audiences, highlighting the relevance of

the survey to their roles and responsibilitie

Engage senior leaders to amplify and cascade this messaging across their
teams
Step 5

—

Stay flexible

Not everything will go according to plan. That’s ok

Remain disciplined but flexible in keeping to your communications

milestones. Send reminders on schedule and consider extending your
survey deadline if necessary to reach your response rate goal.
Step 6

—

Data privacy and management

Privacy is non-negotiable. You must do your homework beforehand to ensure

that responses are being stored in a safe way, and that your campaign meets all
of your business's compliance needs.

Implement robust data security and privacy measures to protect

respondents' informatio

Collect and store survey responses in a secure database or system that

complies with relevant data protection regulations
Step 7

—

Data cleansing and validation

Once the results are in, your work has just begun.
After survey completion, begin the data cleansing process to remove
duplicates, incomplete entries, or inconsistent dat
Use data validation techniques to identify and correct errors or
inconsistencies in responses e.g. range, logic and consistency checks
Step 8

—

Data reconciliation
This is a key step in the process; skip it, and you risk undermining the efficacy of
your data
Compare the self-ID data with existing HR or demographic data to ensure
accuracy and identify any discrepancie
Address and reconcile all data discrepancies
Step 9

—

Analysis and reporting

Ultimately, any self-ID campaign is about storytelling: learning who your

employees are and what they need.

Analyze the self-ID data to generate insights and metrics related to diversity
and inclusio

Prepare clear and visually appealing reports that showcase the results to
leaders and employees
Step 10

—

Action planning

It’s essential that your self-ID efforts drive meaningful results. If employees see
that their responses are used to improve the workplace, they’ll be more likely to
respond again in the future

Engage leadership in reviewing the survey results and identifying areas for
improvement or focu

Develop action plans to address any disparities, inequities, or

underrepresentation revealed by the survey data

Set goals and commit to measuring and communicating your progress to

leaders and employees
Step 11

—

Ongoing communication

Once again, transparency is key. People need to know how their data was used,
and what outcomes it inspired

Share the survey results and action plans with the entire organization to
demonstrate transparency and commitment to chang

Continue to communicate progress, milestones, and updates related to the

action plans
Step 12

—

Always on and always
improving

Employee populations change all the time. An always-on approach ensures

that your data stays current

Ensure that you’re capturing the self-ID data for all new employees during
onboarding and refreshing your data on an ongoing basi

Regularly assess the impact of the action plans and make necessary
adjustment

Consider conducting follow-up surveys to track progress and gather

additional insights over time
Self-ID campaigns, solved
Launching a successful self-ID survey is one of the most important steps any
company can take towards building a data-driven DEI strategy. It can be a big,
complex undertaking—but Dandi is here to help.

Dandi Self-ID is a new way for businesses to collect, store, and analyze
employee data.

Simple, secure, and globally compliant, Dandi Self-ID is designed to eliminate

the barriers to successful employee data collection campaigns.

Book a demo to see Dandi Self-ID in action.