Embrace Insights - Newsletter

DEI Fatigue: Navigating the Challenges

- Anjali Bhardwaj

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are increasingly recognized as crucial elements of modern workplaces. The global movement for racial justice in the summer of 2020 has led many companies to pledge their commitment to building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. As the world grapples with issues of systemic racism and inequality, it is more important than ever to create environments where everyone feels valued and included. Organizations are recognizing that they have a responsibility to drive change and promote equity and are taking concrete steps to make that happen. However, the work of promoting DEI can be challenging and even exhausting. This is the point at which DEI fatigue sets in.

DEI fatigue is a real struggle that many people experience when trying to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. To break it down more simply, it refers to the sense of “tiredness”, “detachment”, “disappointment”, and “doubt” that people may experience when working towards more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces.

To what extent can the pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace lead to feelings of exhaustion and skepticism?

This is a question that many individuals and organizations may grapple with as they navigate the challenges associated with DEI work. In order to better understand the impact of these challenges, let's take a closer look at each of them and how they can contribute to diversity fatigue.

1. The emotional toll of engaging in DEI efforts:

Emotional distress can be a significant factor in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) fatigue. Engaging in DEI work often involves confronting discrimination, unconscious biases etc., which can lead to feelings of anger, frustration, and sadness. Over time, this emotional labor can take a toll on individuals, contributing to burnout and exhaustion. In order to sustain momentum in DEI work, it is important for individuals to prioritize self-care and seek support when needed. By acknowledging the emotional toll of DEI work and taking proactive steps to address emotional distress, individuals can better sustain their commitment to creating more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces.

2. Limited Time and Resources:

A lack of time and resources can also be a significant cause of DEI fatigue. While many organizations recognize the importance of DEI efforts, they may not allocate sufficient time or resources to support these initiatives.

Only 32% of DEI professionals say that their organizations have enough resources to support their DEI initiatives, according to the 2022 Workplace DEI Report.

This can make it difficult for individuals and teams to make meaningful progress, and may create a sense of overwhelm and frustration.

3. Resistance to DEI efforts:

Resistance to DEI efforts can be a significant source of diversity fatigue. Despite growing awareness and acknowledgement of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, there are still many who resist change. This resistance can take many forms, from outright opposition to more subtle forms of pushback and apathy. Over time, encountering resistance can lead to feelings of frustration and disillusionment. It can also slow progress and create a sense of stagnation, contributing to a sense of burnout.

4. Lack of Support from Senior Leaders:

Senior leadership support is critical to the success of any DEI initiative. When leaders fail to prioritize and champion these efforts, it can lead to frustration, cynicism, and ultimately, DEI fatigue among employees. Without clear direction and support from the top, individuals may struggle to understand the importance of DEI and their role in driving progress. Moreover, without leadership accountability, it can be difficult to make meaningful changes to workplace culture and practices.

5. The Cost of Progress Tracking and Long-Term Commitments:

Making progress towards diversity, equity, and inclusion goals can be a slow and challenging process. Progress tracking is often unclear or non-existent.

Diversity fatigue is a real phenomenon that can hinder efforts to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. By understanding the challenges that can contribute to diversity fatigue, organizations can take steps to mitigate its impact and create more resilient and effective DEI initiatives.

DEI Updates:

How Your Business Can Overcome Diversity Fatigue

-Jacalyn Beales, Lever.co, 2023

People can quickly become disheartened, discouraged, and disappointed about DEI progress and whether the work being done to build a diverse workforce and culture is truly successful. There are four key tips you can implement to help your own team overcome diversity fatigue.

1. Set realistic expectations for your DEI initiatives:

While we would all love to hit every goal and achieve every milestone with our DEI efforts, often it is a matter of working slowly but surely towards one goal before acquiring the next. When it comes to creating SMART goals for your DEI initiatives, consider how you can apply the SMART model to your hiring and recruitment.

2. Measure your DEI initiatives to understand where diversity fatigue may arise:

Look closely at your existing data and insights to reveal where your strengths and weaknesses lay, along with any gaps or challenges your team is struggling with. To gather these insights, look at the recruiting data you have that revolves around the diversity of candidates and employees, EEO surveys, candidate feedback, and your hiring pipeline. This data can help you answer critical questions about your diversity recruiting, enabling your team to make more data-driven decisions versus hypothesized ones.

3. Communicate your DEI efforts to employees and candidates:

DEI takes buy-in from everyone in your organization to drive progress forward. However, it’s not only existing employees that need to be aware of your ongoing DEI efforts — prospective employees should be made aware, too. When DEI is clearly communicated across every hiring and retention initiative, it’s more likely to stick and drive participation, which helps decrease fatigue.

4. Formalize your DEI initiatives to make them ‘sticky’:

Slowly but surely, organizations are making steady progress with their DEI initiatives. But it’s easy to get off track with or constantly pivot your DEI strategies when people become tired or frustrated with slow progress. Formalizing your DEI initiatives not only makes it easier to communicate them, but also makes them ‘stickier,’ whereby everyone understands what you’re working towards and, more crucially, why.

Current DEI Race trends

-Workplace DEI Report, CultureAmp, 2022

While DEI has always been an essential part of the employee experience, the galvanized focus on racial justice in 2020 emphasized the necessity for organizations to create equity for their employees. As a result, the second half of 2020 saw a meteoric rise in companies seeking feedback on their DEI initiatives and employee experience, as measured by the number of DEI questions asked. Unsurprisingly, this uptick was most pronounced in North America, but other regions also saw slight bumps. Less than a year later, while Europe and Oceania returned to their early 2020 levels of interest, North America saw a sustained increase in DEI engagement.

The Black Lives Matter movement gained global prominence in 2020, and our data indicates that this activism has resulted in measurable changes in employee perceptions.

While Black employees are still struggling to feel like they belong and can advance in their organizations, their experience has improved more than any other racial group in 2021. Moreover, the statement that reflected the largest difference (“People from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to succeed at [Company]”) went up 9% from 2020 to 2021.?

5 DEI Trends To Retire In 2023

-Teresa Hopke, Forbes, 2023

As 2022 rolls its credits, many leaders are wondering if certain programming, like DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) initiatives, might need to be left on the cutting room floor for 2023. Unfortunately, due to the economic uncertainty that so many businesses (and individuals) are facing, and in an attempt to recession-proof the company, reducing DEI efforts has become a go-to solution - especially when an organization views DEI as a “nice to have” versus it being a business imperative. Here are few DEI trends which might retire in 2023:

1.?Hosting mandatory, one-off DEI trainings:

One example of the one-off-training trend is when organizations host unconscious bias workshops. Although unconscious bias training does serve the purpose of raising people’s awareness about the fact that they have unconscious bias, as everyone does, it offers nothing for supporting an individual in knowing what to DO about their bias. There needs to be active, ongoing engagement with DEI initiatives for any real change to occur.

2.?Expecting ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) to “tackle the issues”:

Employee resource groups (ERGs) can be powerful tools for promoting inclusion in the workplace as they give employees a sense of belonging, shared purpose and support. But ERGs are not a replacement or back-up for an actual DEI plan. Instead, leaders of teams should work in partnership with ERGs, serving as a sponsor or liaison between group members and senior leaders.

3. Insisting that only People of Color should lead DEI efforts:

Even when someone has both lived experience and professional experience, organizations should not solely look to those who have been the most impacted by inequity to be the ones responsible for creating equity. A talented, emerging leader might have plenty of lived experience, unfortunately, with being on the receiving end of racism, sexism, or homophobia. But lived experience doesn't necessarily qualify someone to develop a future focused, data-driven DEI strategy.

4. Lackluster support of DEI Leaders:

The DEI officer's role has been a revolving door because people are not receiving the resources and support, they need. They need specialized resources and support to be successful in their role. This includes things like a dedicated budget, a team, committee, or collaborators, leadership buy-in, and access to data. We can’t keep churning through these DEI champions, or we will never make real progress.