How to Save and Expand DEI in the Workplace: A Call to Action for Leaders

The outpouring of reactions and reshares to a recent post of mine on LinkedIn regarding the mental health of Black employees confirmed to me that far too many Black workers are suffering in a workplace that continues to be hostile to them.  And the retreat from DEI initiatives &  the decrease of DEI infrastructure by many organizations threatens to make their predicament even worse.  So let this serve as a clarion call to employers.  If you want to retain your Black employees, your Asian and Latina/o employees, your female employees, your LGBTQIA employees, you must show courage, and not divest from DEI, but rather, you need to expand them.

 No matter how much you spin it, when you cut DEI staff and programming, you are telling employees from all marginalized groups, that you do not care about them or their overall wellbeing.  You are sending the message that racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of bias are perfectly acceptable in the workplace.  Let us be clear about that reality.  Being less diverse, un-inclusive and lacking equity will ultimately hurt your bottom line, as research consistently indicates that more diverse teams are more financially productive.  Further, as we come to understand DEI as a wellness issue, it is important to consider the mental and emotional health of all your team members.  Constant micro-aggressions and discriminatory behavior take a toll on your employees, leaving them unable to be as productive and engaged as you would like them to be.

But none of this seems to matter today to many organizations, as we find ourselves in a land of banning books on race and LGBTQ rights, massive cuts to DEI staff & programs, laws being enacted to eliminate DEI in universities, and the renaming of DEI offices to innocuous titles like the “Office of Engagement and Belonging,” caving to the backlash against the terms “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Now is not the time to retreat. Here are some strategies to save DEI programs from the ongoing backlash and to also expand it in your workplace:

• Ask about the experiences of your employees – while one recognizes that many companies are only focused on their bottom line, as a leader, your company will not be productive when a large portion of your workforce is dissatisfied and feels harmed constantly.  The modern American workplace was designed to suit the needs of White, cisgender, heterosexual males, who for a long period of time, were the only ones allowed entry into it. As such most companies continue to cause harm, because they still center this population as the primary one of concern. Therefore, you should actually ask your employees about their experiences, both good and bad, in the workplace, and what can be done to improve it.  And I am not referring to a generic employee satisfaction survey or a process which intimidates employees to only talk about the positive experiences at work.  If you do not have the in-house expertise to develop a culturally competent survey, which examines the experiences of employees with micro-aggressions and other discriminatory behavior, bring in an expert to help you.

• Dispel the myths and the false assumptions about DEI work- the supporters of affirmative action did a poor job of defining its true purpose, leaving it to be framed falsely by its critics, resulting over time in a loss of public and political support.  Proponents of DEI should not continue to make the same mistake.  As a leader, you need to clearly communicate the purpose of DEI.  Push back against language such as “diversity hire” or “reverse racism,” and discuss how DEI work will strengthen the organization not weaken it.

• Clearly explain to your employees why you are committing to your DEI initiatives-  when the leaders of the organization do not explicitly and forcefully declare their commitment to DEI, it communicates that it is not a valuable component of the company.  Therefore, not only should you vocally express your support for DEI, you should clearly explain how it benefits the company and its goals.  Everyone who works within the organization should then be able to discuss the value of DEI to the company, and new employees onboarding should also be informed of its value.

• Commit to DEI as a long-term practice, not as a trendy one-  it is clear that for many companies who made DEI pledges in 2020 it was just a trendy move to make.  They had no intention of following through.  They did the requisite unconscious bias training but never really demonstrated a full commitment to DEI work.  As a result, it was easy for them to then cut DEI staff and resources, once the political backlash came.  As long as you have or want to attract employees from historically marginalized groups, you will need to commit to DEI initiatives as a critical part of your organization’s framework.

• Actually integrate DEI into all aspects of your business – when DEI is viewed as an add-on and not as an essential part of a company’s operations, it is easy to eliminate it in times of economic or political challenge.  However, when it is actually integrated into all aspects of your operations, from marketing to business development to strategy to hiring to performance evaluations to engineering, it is much more difficult to decrease investment in DEI. Many companies pay lip service to doing so, but few are able to actually accomplish it, either through lack of knowledge or lack of will. And in this age of emerging AI, it will be even more important that the individuals operating in this space have appropriate support from DEI professionals, so that their biases are not baked into the machine learning programs, exponentially increasing the potential harm it can cause to many diverse groups.

• Develop a DEI strategic plan which speaks to the unique needs of your team – despite what critics may say, the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a profession, which requires expertise and clear intention.  Therefore, a genuine strategic plan focused on DEI is necessary to serve as a roadmap to make impactful change in the workplace.  One or two trainings alone will not suffice. Also, a generic plan will not adequately speak to the unique needs of your team.  Therefore, you must design a DEI strategic plan, which spans 3 to 5 years, with goals and objectives that are germane to your employees and to the company. And this plan should not collect dust on a shelf somewhere once it is completed. It should be reviewed each year to evaluate progress on the identified goals and objectives.

• Do not run away from discussions of race, racism, or other challenging topics – one of the main reasons that DEI is receiving so much backlash is because it is often erroneously associated solely with dealing with racial issues and helping Black employees.  DEI professionals know the profession is more expansive in its scope, addressing the needs of many other historically marginalized groups, including women and LGBTQ employees.  However it is still the case that many organizations struggle primarily with racial concerns, either their lack of Black employees, especially in leadership roles, or pervasive racism within the company.

  Race continues to be one of the most taboo topics in workplaces, with leaders hoping to completely avoid the issue or to have only surface mentions of it.  While I recognize that many company leaders are uncomfortable with the topic because of their lack of skill in discussing race, that should not be a deterrent to engaging in meaningful conversations and actions regarding race and racism. 

  If you do not feel equipped to manage such discussions or initiatives, bring in actual experts, instead of forcing your Black employees to talk about their experiences or making them your de facto subject matter experts.  The denial of racism and the avoidance of dealing with racial issues in the workplace continue to be the biggest barriers to transformative change within many organizations.  It is not only your Black employees who are being harmed by this negligence, but it is all your employees who must work through the constant tension and harm being observed & experienced on a daily basis as a result of it.

• Push back against any and all dubious legal challenges- the dismantling of affirmative action within the higher education system has caused many organizations to pre-emptively eliminate their DEI programs, out of fear of being targeted by legal challenges.  Be prepared to push back against dubious legal challenges, which only serve to cow you into cutting your DEI practices. The threat of lawsuits will be one of the biggest reasons that company leaders will give as to why they are eliminating their DEI teams and programs. However, without such teams and programs, it is certain that you will encounter far more lawsuits for discriminatory and harassing behavior .

The attacks on DEI programs and policies will continue, as we witness the typical backlash by the privileged class against any notion of progress by historically marginalized populations.  Clearly, there was a large portion of our society that never agreed with the racial reckoning of 2020, and the calls for racial equity. 

And they have aggressively attempted to dismantle any programs or initiatives fighting to bring greater fairness, inclusion, and equity to our country. After successfully curtailing women’s right to choose and eliminating affirmative action, they are eager to destroy DEI in this country, in our workplaces and schools.  But as staunch supporters of DEI, we must consistently launch a well organized counterattack to ensure that they never win.  And one of the largest battlefields will be in our workplaces.  Company leaders must show courage and commit to a long game, which puts DEI at the forefront of their businesses and their practices, for the overall health of their workforce, and for the business advantages which it provides. 

So if you are truly committed to being an ally and showing solidarity with your employees, follow these steps to save and expand DEI programs & policies for generations to come, in the face of those wishing to take us back to the most regressive and unjust workplace cultures.  The road will not be easy but for the sake of your employees and your company, it will be worth the effort.