Glossary — DEI4SME

Sustainability: Meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability has three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic.
Social sustainability: Social sustainability in business refers to the integration of practices that promote human well-being, fairness, and societal development across organizational operations. Rather than limiting sustainability to environmental and economic factors, businesses must address core social issues that influence both internal functioning and wider societal outcomes. Social sustainability has three interconnected dimensions: (1) Safety and security (i.e., fair labor practices, health and safety at work); (2) Learning and growth (i.e., education and training, job security, employment); and (3) Community development (i.e., diversity, equity, and inclusion, social involvement, human rights, consumer and product responsibility) (Ajmal et. al, 2018; Šilenskytė et al., 2024, p. 2).
DEI: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a conceptual framework that promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially populations that have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity, disability, etc.
Diversity: The presence of differences among people, including but not limited to: gender or gender identification, age, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, education, and experience.
Equity: Providing fair access, opportunities and resources based on individual needs and circumstances to achieve comparable outcomes. Equity is different form equality.
Equality: Treating everyone the same and providing the same opportunities, rights and resources regardless of individual differences. Equality is different from equity.
Inclusion: Creating an environment where all people feel respected, valued, supported and able to participate fully.
Accessibility: Designing workplaces, products, services and information so that everyone, including people with disabilities, can use them effectively.
Underrepresented Groups: Groups whose participation or representation is lower than expected within a workplace, sector or society.
Discrimination: Unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on characteristics such as gender, age, ethnicity, disability or religion.
Bias: A preference, assumption or prejudice that can influence decisions and behaviour.
Unconscious Bias: Automatic attitudes or stereotypes that affect understanding, decisions and actions without conscious awareness.
Intersectionality: The way different aspects of a person's identity (see diversity dimensions) combine and can create unique experiences of advantage or disadvantage.
Psychological Safety: A workplace environment where people feel comfortable expressing ideas, concerns and mistakes without fear of negative consequences.
Reasonable Accommodation: Appropriate adjustments that enable people with disabilities or other specific needs to participate equally in work or education.
Diversity Management: Organizational strategies and practices aimed at promoting or addressing diversity and inclusion.
Sustainability Reporting: The process of communicating an organization's environmental, social and governance performance.
EU: European Union. A political and economic union of European member states.
ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance factors used to evaluate an organization's sustainability performance.
CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility. A company's commitment to ethical, social and environmental responsibilities.
CSRD: Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. An EU regulation requiring certain companies to report sustainability information.
ESRS: European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The reporting standards used to comply with the CSRD.
EFRAG: European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. The organization responsible for developing ESRS standards.
VSME: Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
SME: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise. A business that falls within EU-defined size thresholds for employees and turnover: businesses with fewer than 250 employees and either annual turnover ≤ €50 million or balance sheet total ≤ €43 million. More information on SME status in the EU here.
Stakeholder: Any person, group or organization affected by or interested in an organization's activities. For example: customers, investors, etc.
Stakeholder Engagement: The process of involving stakeholders in dialogue, consultation and decision-making.
KPI: Key Performance Indicator. A measurable value used to evaluate progress toward objectives.
Assessment: A structured evaluation used to measure performance, practices or conditions.
Self-Assessment: An evaluation completed by an organization or individual about their own performance or practices.
Indicator: A qualitative or quantitative measure used to track performance or progress.
Action Plan: A documented set of actions designed to achieve specific objectives.
Monitoring: The ongoing collection and review of information to assess performance.
Reporting: Communicating information, results or progress to stakeholders.
Compliance: Adherence to laws, regulations, standards or organizational requirements.
Recommendation: A suggested action intended to improve performance or address an identified issue.
Best Practices: A method or approach widely recognized as effective and successful.
Dashboard: A visual interface that displays key information, indicators and performance metrics.
Maturity Level: A measure of how advanced an organization's processes, practices or capabilities are.
Performance Area: A category or domain used to organize and evaluate specific aspects of organizational performance.

Glossary of Terms