Diversity Fatigue Pain Point #2: Time to ease up on the pressure cooker?

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In July our Uplifting Conversations LinkedIn Newsletter introduced the concept of diversity fatigue, a specific kind of exhaustion afflicting DEI leaders at all levels of organizations around the world. We discussed the high rate of attrition in DEI roles as one of the “pain points” of diversity fatigue that is leading to this increase in exhaustion.

?Today we’re taking a closer look at another pain point: DEI leaders struggling to meet performance expectations without adequate support. While I’ll focus on this particular pain point today, it is only one of several (more to come in future newsletters!).

How the Demands of Diversity Are Failing DEI Leaders

As we covered last time, since 2020 we have seen a dramatic increase in the creation of DEI roles in an effort to lean into diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives...

Yet this progress has stalled and even worse, these DEI leaders are leaving their positions. These experts were hired into a pressure cooker and expected to transform an entire organization in a short amount of time – preferably yesterday.

In Lever’s 2022 DEI report , The State of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Report: DEI Throughout the Employee Lifecycle, captures current successes, challenges and opportunities for DEI programs to ignite progress for organizations’ DEI efforts.

The report found that from 2021 to 2022, companies made drastic improvements around DEI. Many employers established DEI-focused hiring practices, upped their communication around DEI efforts, and increased training for onboarding experiences. In fact, employers saw an impressive 164% increase year over year in providing more DEI-focused hiring practices.

However, the report also found that more than a quarter of companies say their investment in DEI has stayed the same over the past year, while 18% have actually decreased their investment in diversity initiatives. With this lack of investment, it’s no surprise that nearly half (48%) of the employees surveyed who completed required diversity training thought the training felt like a checkbox on their company’s diversity goals rather than an indicator their employer truly cares about diversity.

The Lever report concluded, “…if your diverse pipeline converts to employees and there are no programs to support them, it can lead to a potentially less equitable work environment.”

My Takeaway

Many companies who quickly hired DEI leaders in the wake of George Floyd’s death weren’t strategic about the creation of these roles. These companies didn’t think through the process required to hire people and create a structure around them that would help ensure success for both them and the organization’s DEI programs.

Organizations that hired their first-ever diversity leaders, set lofty goals and were disappointed when “nothing changed.” They jumped into a world that can take years to build meaningful programs and culture shifts, yet expected these new DEI leaders to make an immediate impact – a nearly impossible feat.

In short, companies invested heavily in hiring talented and driven DEI professionals, without the same level of investment in supporting them after the hire. The lack of support – coupled with sky-high expectations – is one reason many DEI leaders are burning out.

Companies must recognize that DEI is a process – a journey, not a destination.

How can they do this? Three simple (but not easy) steps:

1. Build small milestones along the way so it’s clear what progress is being made.
2. Invest in your inclusion initiatives with the same level of importance and resources as your other strategic priorities.
3. Hurdles will happen in DEI work; external interferences, fear of change, biases, lack of buy-in, etc. Despite them, it is important to be patient and keep moving forward - progress will be made. Long-term commitment to DEI can bring countless benefits but they won’t happen overnight. (On the contrary, daily efforts by everyone, like micro inclusions, can be made!)

Next time: C-Suite Support Can Sink or Save DEI Initiatives

DEI isn’t a quick fix. Committing your organization to DEI initiatives requires continuous commitment, resources, and evaluation, which can be exhausting over the long haul. Being prepared for this challenging stage can help your organization continue to promote DEI activities, even when it’s difficult.

Over the next few months, we’ll continue to explore the drivers of diversity fatigue and, more importantly, how to identify these challenges so your company keeps moving forward toward a more equitable and inclusive workplace.

Here are some steps to improve DEI practices – and help combat diversity fatigue – by ensuring everyone feels they have a place within your DEI initiatives:

Download the Bridge Builders ebook

Take our free DEI Assessment

Try the 7-Day Challenge

Being an #ALLY is ongoing work. Any uplifting impact we make now, no matter how big or small, will build a better world for future leaders and generations to come. Let’s keep working together to effect change. Subscribe to continue these Uplifting Conversations!