The Missing Link In DEI Success

Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have begun to falter and stall at many companies. A lack of leadership support seems to be contributing to this issue. According to DDI’s “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Report,” leader advocacy for DEI programs has dropped by 18% since 2021. At the same time, the percentage of businesses without DEI initiatives has risen by 5 percentage points.

This isn’t shocking because most business owners deal with some significant economic concerns. The marketplace hasn’t been kind to many organizations, and movements like the Great Resignation and the quiet quitting phenomenon have posed new problems. Yet, ignoring DEI only makes those concerns worse.

For instance, consumers are scrutinizing brands harder than ever. A McKinsey & Company report from late 2021 notes a rise in what the consulting powerhouse calls the “inclusive customer.” A full 45% of buyers say they want to patronize brands that value diversity and inclusivity as much as they do. Similarly, a joint CNBC and SurveyMonkey report from 2021 indicates that around 8 out of 10 employees want to work for employers where DEI can thrive.

In other words, by letting DEI fall by the wayside, leaders risk the health of their bottom lines and their ability to retain top talent. But exactly how can they reverse the momentum? Here are four strategies for companies that want to ensure DEI success.

1. Encourage proactivity among corporate leaders.

Organizations have many leaders: executives, directors, managers, and even project and team heads. DEI will continue to take a backseat until these individuals are empowered to speak up about tough issues, engage people on difficult topics, and promote an inclusive culture. The same holds true if leaders are kept in the dark about important DEI data such as internal statistics.

It’s critical for people who guide other people to be “in the know” when it comes to DEI. When they understand what’s truly happening, they can make changes to effectively move DEI levers. Just know that they’ll need DEI-focused training and education on how to deal with issues like pushback. Gartner statistics reveal that 42% of employees believe their colleagues see DEI in a negative light. Leaders can’t be proactive if they don’t have the skills to deal with dissenters.

2. Be ready to acknowledge and rectify DEI mistakes.

Every company makes missteps related to DEI efforts. Some of these experiences might leave people well outside of their comfort zones. However, these mistakes cannot undermine the overall importance of DEI initiatives. Instead, lean into them by identifying when they happen, acknowledging and addressing them head-on, and setting forth measures to prevent the same things from reoccurring.

A surprising amount of power comes from admitting to employees that mistakes were made, dealt with, and used to help the whole company get stronger. When workers see their companies admit wrongdoings, they’ll be more likely to point out their own concerns without worrying that they’ll be reprimanded, ostracized, or fired. Benjamin Laker, a professor of leadership at the University of Reading’s Henley Business School, explains that taking this bold step sets up a blameless culture. “Within a blameless culture, leaders blame processes, not people,” he says.

3. Identify and support those who undertake DEI responsibilities.

Certainly, DEI is everyone’s job. All people within an organization need to be rowing toward diversity and inclusion in tandem. Nevertheless, getting DEI off the runway is difficult if no one’s been appointed as a pilot. To ensure long-term success for all DEI initiatives, companies need to make one or more people accountable. This could be a single DEI director or a whole DEI department. Either way, someone must assume accountability and “own” a company’s DEI results.

Again, this doesn’t mean that the person is fully responsible for corporate DEI objectives. They’re just being given the accountability and authority to take steps such as building an internal DEI committee of employees from across different verticals who represent a range of backgrounds and voices. The committee can be the “boots on the ground” part of a DEI operation and report back to DEI heads. This creates a chain of command that makes certain no DEI aspirations are left by the wayside.

4. Fold inclusivity into your executive and C-suite level hiring processes.

It will be very difficult for DEI to keep progressing at a company if everyone at the top of the corporate ladder looks the same and brings the same general experience to their roles. Nicole Simpson, the U.S. DEI director at marketing and advertising agency RAPP, recalls how this issue affected her when she worked at a previous company with no Black employees in roles above the director level. Within a year, the organization saw a drop-off of roughly 90% of its Black talent. Simpson attributes the attrition to a lack of high-up leader role models.

“If you don’t sincerely commit to changing demographics, you’ll lose valuable employees who don’t see a future for themselves,” Simpson explains. However, she doesn’t condemn leaders who find themselves in this position. Instead, she suggests that they use the realization as a launching pad to correct the problem. “Leaders must recognize and own their contributions to oppressive systems because self-awareness is key to understanding how one can make lasting change. If you only hang around people who think like you and talk like you and look like you, then you’re in an echo chamber.”

As alarming and disheartening as the recent developments in the corporate DEI landscape are, they’re not irreversible. All it takes is relentless leadership backed up by thoughtful strategies to get past the DEI stumbling blocks everyone is seeing right now.