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Businesses, government agencies, professional sports teams and leagues, military branches, and other organizations have launched an unprecedented number of DEI programs and positions over the past decade. In response to uprisings that ensued in the aftermath of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd in summer 2020, several organizations haphazardly created chief diversity officer (CDO) roles without a clear vision of what those persons were supposed to do. With no real authority and too few resources, an alarmingly high number of CDOs hired during that time departed their companies within 18 months. There are at least a dozen explanations for this turnover, many of which are attributable to insufficient executive investment into CDOs as people and into DEI as an essential corporate imperative.
The recent politicized attacks on DEI have compelled many executive-level leaders to walk back commitments they and their companies previously made. CDOs and other professionals who work in DEI units now find themselves at a critical moment during which effective casemaking is especially consequential to the survival of their roles and what they’ve built. DEI initiatives have long been undervalued and underfunded, and generations of diverse professionals have always had to convince corporate leaders of the necessity of such efforts. The difference now, though, is that much of the progress made in recent years is being rapidly undone.
Below are seven actions CDOs and others can take as they aim to help executives understand the importance of policies, programs, and practices that poise companies to enact the DEI values espoused on their company websites and elsewhere.
Localize the Business Case
The business case for DEI has been made over and over and over again. It’s easy to find in Forbes and Harvard Business Review articles, in McKinsey & Company and university research center reports, and in numerous highly respected peer-reviewed academic journals. The general, cross-sector case made in those publications and elsewhere has to be made locally. In other words, executives have to be shown not only how DEI benefits companies broadly, but also how it improves their specific companies. DEI goals must be connected to the organization’s current and future financial, operational, and expansion goals.
Articulate the Business Risks
Most studies showcase the value DEI adds to organizations. Less emphasis has been placed on how much money organizations spend on crisis communications consultants, culture and reputation recovery efforts, lawsuits, and employee and executive turnover in the aftermath of sexual harassment cases, racial and gender discrimination scandals, and other DEI-related disasters. In many contexts, executives are largely unaware of how susceptible their companies are to significant, headline-grabbing crises. DEI professionals have to balance fearmongering with clear, honest insights into challenges and realities that executives ought to take seriously.
Use Culture and Climate Data in Casemaking
One way to raise executive consciousness about DEI-related vulnerabilities is to supply those leaders data on employees’ and clients’ experiences with the business. Regarding the former, the obligatory “how included do you feel on your team” and “how included do you feel in the company overall” questions on annual employee experience surveys won’t provide deep insights into employees’ encounters with bullying, discrimination, harassment, abuse, and assault. As it pertains to customers and clients, leaders must understand if, where, and how Black shoppers, for example, are racially profiled in their retail franchises. These deeper-level insights from surveys, interviews, and focus groups can help get the attention of executives who otherwise presume their businesses are exempt from significant DEI risks.
Advocate Together, Not Solo
Executives might undervalue or altogether discard feedback, insights, and requests from a sole member of the DEI team. It’s much more difficult to ignore groups comprised of DEI professionals, employee resource group (ERG) leaders and members, executive sponsors, DEI council members, and allies from across the company. Together, coalitions and choruses can help executives realize that the information being shared isn’t just one person’s perspective. Moreover, it’s highly likely that the challenges that a CDO faces in one company are nearly identical to those that industry counterparts encounter. Hence, CDOs and other DEI professionals within industries should pursue collective advocacy strategies. Agreeing on common trends, insights, and ideas that each of them chooses to put in front of their executive leaders is one way they could work together.
Expand the Role of Executive Sponsors
Some companies have executive leaders who serve as liaisons to ERGs and to diversity councils. It seems that their role is mostly to ensure representation from the highest level in the company and to signal executive support for the group’s work. This is usually insufficient. A senior vice president who serves alongside other VPs on the CEO’s leadership team has an opportunity to make a strong case for DEI in executive meetings. Leaders at that level tend to not be as diverse as employees throughout other parts of the business – white men overwhelmingly comprise most C-suites. Therefore, it’s important for those leaders to use their power and positionality to persuade other executives to maintain and increase investments into the success of DEI positions, programs, and policies. They can also convey financial and reputational vulnerabilities to other executive-level peers, at least as they understand them through intel gathered via their sponsorship roles.
Strategically Market DEI Work
Despite having chief and VP titles, CDOs rarely get much time with CEOs. In many organizations, they report to the head of human resources and aren’t invited to executive leadership team meetings. This often means that meaningful insights into DEI work is being delivered secondhandedly to the CEO and other executives. The savviest CDOs find ways to highlight their work in inescapably noticeable ways. For instance, they send their quarterly or annual impact reports and best event materials to all leadership team members instead of relying on someone else to do so. Power dynamics sometimes thwart these efforts, and HR VPs take unearned credit for the significant work that CDOs lead. Leveraging various forms of social and digital media, as well as working with ERGs to create robust internal and external communications strategies, could help ensure DEI work is being seen at the highest levels within the organization and credited to the right people.
Show Other People’s Work
DEI professionals need to take stock of programs, policies, and strategies that are succeeding in other contexts within and beyond their respective industries. Showing executives what others are doing, the impact those efforts are having, the positive media attention they have earned, and the ways in which they are contributing to financial and reputation enhancement within those other companies seems smart. Evidence of success elsewhere could then be used to advocate for additional resources within one’s own organization. Business leaders are typically motivated by opportunities to outperform their competitors. Therefore, the approach shouldn’t be about merely showcasing excellence and innovation occurring elsewhere, but also about identifying ways to surpass other companies.
Admittedly, these seven proposed actions place the onus almost entirely on CDOs and DEI professionals. In ideal organizations, they would not have to advocate for themselves and their work in such ways. Executives shouldn’t have to be persuaded to sustain and increase investments into DEI. But unfortunately, most organizations are far from ideal. And these certainly aren’t ideal times, as politicized attacks on DEI are continuing to spook business leaders and compel them to further disinvest.
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