DEI Cannot Be Optionalized

How to Prevent Just Checking the Box with Your DEI Strategy

When you run — or are a part of — an organization you quickly realize that there are many different facets to your environment…much like a machine. You have gears, bolts, wires plugged in, cogs actively working — all of these different pieces at play simultaneously is what allows your machine to run. If one team, manager, or employee isn’t properly taken care of then your machine cannot run efficiently. You understand that your business cannot function without all of the brilliant minds working together.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work is not siloed.

You cannot create a pocket for DEI work within your organization and expect to reap the benefits. DEI cannot be optionalized — it must be embedded into each domain of your organization. After our machine metaphor, that makes sense, right? If you have a hardware issue with your machine, you’re not going to just dust off a few cables and hope for the best. No — we must address a systemic issue with a systemic plan.

Think of it like a puzzle. If you have a 500 piece puzzle, but only put together the 150 pieces that make up the sky, what are you left with? An unfinished puzzle and a warped sense of the image. The same applies with diversity and inclusion: you cannot only address one asset of diversity, one scenario of oppression, or only apply certain equity practices to certain folks. There needs to be accountability and continuity throughout the entire organization.

If my (over-used) metaphors aren’t painting the picture for you, fret no more. Let’s break down why DEI cannot be optionalized, and why it must be a Top 5 Priority for organizations.

You Don’t Want to Fall Behind

• Diversity, equity and inclusion jumped up four spots on HR’s top priorities this year, according to the McLean & Company’s 2021 HR Trends Report.

You Don’t Want to Get Caught with Your Hand in the Cookie Jar

• Only 38% of organizations have a DEI strategy, the McLean & Company study found. So while almost all companies made diversity a priority, most haven’t created a plan to achieve it.
• “Crafting a truly effective … strategy is no small effort, but the potential benefits of stronger business performance are well worth it,” say researchers Vivian Hunt, Sara Prince and Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle in the McKinsey & Company study Delivering Through Diversity.
• You have to walk the walk — just talking the talk is a luxury you can no longer afford.

Or Worse…You Don’t Want to Get Caught Just Reaching for the Lid…

• Generally, short-term educational interventions (ex: the day-long D.E.I training) have little to no impact on people, as shown in a 2018 paper by sociologists Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev.
• Data shows that many organizations are failing when it comes to inclusion. Professor Boris Groysberg wrote, “Diversity is counting the numbers; inclusiveness is making the numbers count. If you are in a big city, diversity may be easy to achieve by virtue of the population, but inclusion requires work.”

What Type of Cookie Are you Reaching For? Simple.

• Recruiting and retaining better talent — beating competitors at attracting and hiring the best candidate.
• A report by Forrester found a 50% reduction in staff turnover when workplace belonging was prioritized with inclusive policy. The more your employees feel heard, the more likely it is that they’ll stick around.
• That same report found that an active engagement with diversity, equity and inclusion actively opens up new positions within your business — the hiring demand for DE&I roles has increased by 106% over the past two years.
• Make better decisions — Diverse views help leaders make less biased decisions that drive better company performance.
• A report by Forrester found that workplace belonging leads to a 56% increase in job performance.
• Drive innovation and customer satisfaction — diverse input builds better ideas and products that exceed customers’ expectations.
• Improve employee satisfaction — you reduce conflict and increase collaboration
• Employee disengagement costs companies up to $550 billion a year. Having staff who feel as if their voices are well represented — both at an individual and corporate level — naturally leads to increased job satisfaction.
• Increased Bottom Line — Organizations in the top quartile of ethnic and cultural diversity are 36 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability than peers.
• Deloitte found that businesses with an inclusive culture were twice as likely to meet or exceed their financial targets. Even more substantially, they were eight times as likely to achieve better business outcomes — those figures really speak for themselves.
• Source: https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/dei-top-priority/
• Source:https://medium.com/swlh/diversity-training-doesnt-work-and-don-t-bother-fixing-it-b4bd77d1c0c4

Let’s circle back to our machine metaphor — you do not have a machine without each and every necessary component. Your employees aren’t a facet of your business — they are your business. Providing a more rounded, more inclusive culture for your employees is essential for your machine to function.

If this article has made you pause to think about your own DEI work, I encourage you to reflect on the following:

• What types of diversity exist across your organization?
• How has diversity, equity and inclusion played out for employees — and how do you want it to play out going forward?
• How can you create alignment and commitment across the organization?
• How will you sustain efforts and evolve with time?