DEI Still Matters, But The Way You Do It Matters More

The naysayers have arrived en masse this year, capitalizing on industry-wide burnout. “DEI doesn’t work,” they say. “DEI is a distraction, a waste of time, and ‘woke’ propaganda.”

At Collective, we like to think of ourselves as “truth-tellers,” and here’s our two cents: DEI works, but it hasn’t been working as well as it could. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter. To us, it’s just a reminder to hold space for two realities: One, this shit is still new, and we are all wading through it together trying to figure out what works, and, two, we’ve got to be more strategic, thoughtful, and rigorous as an industry because DEI does matter and marginalized employees can’t afford for companies to lose their momentum.

For the past five and a half years, as a collective (see what we did there), we’ve been taking notes on what works and what doesn’t, and we’ve definitely learned a few things about what moves the needle.

1. You’ll never make a real impact with a canned DEI strategy. Every organization is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to DEI. This means taking the time to understand your organization’s specific needs, challenges, and opportunities, and designing a strategy that is tailored to them. This requires ongoing dialogue and collaboration with employees and other stakeholders, as well as a willingness to experiment and try new things.
2. Creating a truly inclusive workplace requires a real commitment from leaders. Meaningful DEI commitments are embedded in the organization’s mission, values, and goals, and leaders who actively champion diversity, equity, and inclusion in their words and actions are ones that set the organization up to make lasting impact. But it doesn’t stop there. Leaders have to have the language to constantly be communicating to employees how they can both benefit from and contribute to cultivating this culture. This requires ongoing education, training, and open communication across the org.
3. Empowered people tapping into their specific skillsets can make DEI work more sustainable. At Collective, we believe that everyone has the potential to be a changemaker, and that real change happens when people are empowered to take action. This means creating a culture where you understand and value the unique skill sets that people bring to the table, then provide them with the trust, tools, and resources they need to make a difference. When people are empowered contribute their unique perspectives and skills, amazing things can happen and the workload is more easily distributed.
4. Best practices can always be better and getting there can be iterative. None of us like to see imperfections in our work, but being willing to constantly ask the question, “How can this better serve all of our employees?” is one of the best ways to build trust alongside stronger systems and processes. The best way to ensure that your DEI strategy is evolving with your efforts is to consistently pause, reflect, iterate, and regroup at various checkpoints along your journey. This means taking the time to evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and being open to feedback from employees and other stakeholders.

Doing this work isn’t easy, and as a relatively new industry, we’re going to get it wrong some of the times. But that doesn’t mean that these efforts should be scrapped or that the concept of DEI is fundamentally flawed. Instead, it’s up to us to keep learning from what works and doesn’t and sharing those learnings with one another so that more employees can reap the benefits of safe, healthy workplaces.

And that’s our truth.