How Most DEI Efforts Fail (and What to Do About It): PART ONE
Too many organizations think they’re #winning at DEI by recruiting marginalized talent. But recruiting by itself does not transform your organizational culture or structure. It merely checks a box. And the phenomenal talent that’s out there not only knows the difference, but they will feel it immediately.
Here’s what’s bound to happen:
You’ll have a revolving door of marginalized talent
Your management and senior leadership will remain homogenous
You will reinforce white supremacy culture within your organization and
You will entrench your own personal biases
I hope it’s obvious why these outcomes are NOT desirable. But in case you or your decision makers need convincing, remember: Prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of your marginalized talent boosts your organization’s competitiveness in our increasingly socially conscious environment. It’s the right thing to do AND the return on investment is massive.
So before you go all in on recruiting tactics, we have to back up and improve DEI from within your organization. Here are my top 8 actions you can take right now: PART ONE.
EIGHT: Know Yourself
Before you can successfully transform your organization you must establish your baseline. So if you haven’t been collecting accurate DEI data, now’s the time to start. I’m talking demographics, salary gaps, promotion gaps – all of it is data you need to get an accurate picture of where your organization is starting. Otherwise, you won’t make it to your destination. So run those reports! And get help interpreting the results.
SEVEN: Check Your Biases
I guarantee you that your policies and procedures are riddled with harmful biases. How do I know that? By the nature of the country we live in. So it’s time to do a deep dive and bring those biases to light.
Check your hiring and promotion criteria
Check your dress code with special attention to hair styles and coverings
Check your vision of professionalism
And don’t forget: your policies and procedures are more than documents. They are codes that are lived, interpreted, and applied with individual discretion. And that’s exactly the place where white supremacy culture thrives.
SIX: Be Transparent
Remember all that data? Well now everybody needs to see it…EVERYBODY. This allows people to understand where you are in your progress and to self-select for your organization with their eyes fully open. If that sounds terrifying — well, then it’s a good thing you’re here because you have a lot of work to do. But understand this: Transparency is not about showing your dirty laundry. It’s about respecting and enabling employee autonomy, decision-making power, and buy-in.
FIVE: Protect your People
I’m 99.9 percent sure that you already have SOME diverse/marginalized talent in-house. So while you’re making the rest of these VERY necessary investments, you want to make sure that you are protecting your people with everything you have. Make it easy and safe for marginalized talent to report discrimination and harassment. Maintain a no tolerance stance for psychological harm, physical harm, or retaliation. Clearly and consistently affirm that racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism have no place in your organization. And back. that. up.
We’re halfway through my list. If you’re feeling uncomfortable, I understand. But it’s past time to move through that discomfort and take ACTIVE, MEASURABLE STEPS towards a healthy and inclusive culture. Your talent deserves nothing less. Because quite frankly, anything less than your full commitment is actively perpetuating harm.
If you need help taking the first step (or any step for that matter), let’s connect to discuss your specific situation. I’m committed to helping you create more spaces for marginalized talent to thrive. Let’s get to work.
