From Bland to Grand: Unveiling the "Groundbreaking" Secret Sauce for Impactful Strategy

Why Your DEI Strategy Shouldn’t Be One-Size-Fits-All

Why does your company engage in DEI work (if it does)? Is it due to social pressure? Employee demands?

While most companies would likely answer that question with a canned response that goes something like this: “Because it matters and we care;” the truth is probably closer to this: “Because we feel like we’re supposed to.”

The problem with doing DEI because you’re “supposed to” is that it usually leaves companies with a not-so-great understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish. And if you don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, it’s pretty hard to figure out what the work itself should entail. Cue, the one-size-fits-all DEI strategy: the generic, check-the-box efforts that feel visible and straightforward– events, guest speakers, a few basic trainings sprinkled in.

If that’s your company, no shade intended. When you look around, it’s probably what you’ve seen other companies doing, and when in doubt, it makes sense to go with the crowd. But in this moment of DEI work’s value being questioned and fatigue after a couple years of not seeing the needle moved when it comes to employees’ senses of belonging, it’s probably a good time to ask ourselves why it isn’t working.

Think about a typical business strategy. If I’m a company that wants to go from selling $2M to selling $5M worth of toilet paper this year, my strategy is going to be markedly different from a company that offers event marketing services and is trying to get acquired. Why would DEI be any different?

An effective DEI strategy starts with asking yourself the question– “What am I trying to accomplish with my DEI work?” For one company, it may be that you want to make sure that your company values are brought to life through employee behaviors that make every person at your company feel bought in, motivated, and respected. For another company, it may be that trust is at an all-time low, especially amongst your marginalized employees, and you want to find ways to rebuild that trust. Each of those objectives requires very different strategies with very different actions taken.

One-size-fits-all strategies lead to DEI fatigue because they don’t work. And they don’t work because the actions taken don’t correspond to any particular problem or objective. They’re just window-dressing and employees and consumers can see that. Instead of throwing a bunch of events on the calendar and calling it a day, try these steps instead.

1. Ask yourself your actual “why” for doing DEI work, both from a long-term and short-term perspective. Be honest with yourself, even if you don’t like what you see. You can always develop a new, more meaningful “why.”
2. Get clear on the barriers that stand in your way of your “why.” For instance, if you want to make sure everyone of your employees can thrive at work, and that’s your “why,” interrogate what barriers currently exist that are preventing some employees from thriving. (Bonus tip: Don’t guess at the barriers… ask your employees directly.)
3. Develop a plan with actions that you think will actually address those barriers. Check in regularly as you engage in your strategy to see if the barriers are actually being broken down by your work. Give it enough time for the impact to be felt, but check in often enough to know when it’s time to pivot your strategy if it’s not working.

Recent critics of DEI aren’t completely wrong when they say that DEI isn’t working. But they’re wrong in their conclusion that it isn’t necessary and valuable. What’s not working is our checklist approach, and it’s way past time to change that.