DEI Initiatives Should Never Have Been Necessary

Lowes, the home improvement company, announced today that it is paring back its DEI initiatives — the latest large company to respond to a growing cultural backlash led by conservatives. Let me be clear that this is not an article about politics; it's about organizations and the human beings who make them great.

With that out of the way, let me say that corporate DEI initiatives should never have been necessary. I will say that again, a bit louder: CORPORATE DEI INITIATIVES SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN NECESSARY.

Treating all employees fairly and equitably (regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) has always been the right thing to do. Making employees feel included has always tended to promote mutual respect, trust, collaboration and commitment. Bringing a diversity of talents, backgrounds and perspectives into your organization has always yielded benefits in innovation, problem solving and customer insight. However, historically, only a minority of companies have understood this and acted accordingly. Most of the rest have been playing catch-up by implementing — you guessed it—DEI initiatives.?

Managing corporate culture, to create the environment and outcomes that benefit everyone, has to be a strategic, holistic effort. That effort should be inspired by your vision of the kind of organization that people would want to work for, buy from or invest in. It should be guided by your values and respect for the law. It should be empowered by leadership and governance that truly elevate the “human operating system.”?

So, if your organization has implemented DEI initiatives in good faith, think about how you can be deliberate and intentional in bringing them within a broader, more strategic approach to culture.

If your organization has implemented DEI initiatives because you felt under pressure to catch up, and you're now scaling back those efforts because you feel under pressure from another direction, I would say ... PAUSE. Think about who you are as an organization, how you want to be perceived by the people who come to work for you every day and by the people who buy goods and services from you. Then think about the balance between what you could lose and what you could gain. That part should be pretty simple. The next part? Well, that's another article.