Has the DEI project failed?

by Roxanne Hobbs , founder of The Hobbs Consultancy

I met an HRD for lunch a few weeks ago from a company we worked with pre-pandemic. She told me about a key DEI champion in her organisation saying to her this week, “I’m so done with DEI”. This person has championed DEI in her organisation for years. Quite frankly I wasn’t surprised. All is not rosy in the world of DEI right now.

• Most men are not engaged.?In fact, 48% of men believe we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men (IPSOS, 2023). And 41% of men feel they have to show engagement in I&D despite it not being relevant to their career (MIW research 2022). ?
• There is increasing polarity.?At THC, we believe in bringing people together for courageous conversations. Yet we are seeing increasing intolerance of others’ attitudes. Channel 4 research suggests this is even more pronounced in the younger generations and claims they are less tolerant than their parents and grandparents. A quarter of Gen Z say they “have very little tolerance for people with beliefs that they disagree with”. They don’t believe in unrestrained free speech, with nearly half agreeing that “some people deserve to be cancelled” (Beyond Z, Channel 4, 2022).
• Awareness of systemic bias is creating new issues.?Anecdotally, I am hearing a lot of leaders struggle with giving feedback to their younger team members who are responding to this feedback by claiming racism, sexism or ageism. I’m sure that feedback that's seeped in bias continues to happen. But the examples I’m hearing are of clear, evidence-based, constructive feedback, being met with defensiveness, stonewalling and, in some cases, the public shaming of the person giving the feedback. The receiver is only able to hear the systemic lens and not the individual one. We need to train some of our employees to receive feedback, just as much as give feedback.? ?
• How we're?working is not working.?Less than a quarter of people are thriving in their jobs (Gallup, 2023). According to the Culture Pioneers Managing Editor (2023), a high proportion of workers are ‘disengaged, mentally unwell and quitting jobs due to an inadequate or toxic culture’. ?
• Are we engaging in positive discrimination??Companies don’t always understand positive action vs?positive discrimination. If we are positively discriminating, it is no wonder people feel aggrieved.?Finally...

• We are?not seeing it as a cultural change piece

This was evidenced to me after a neurodiversity webinar we ran recently when we talked about the famous Verna Myers quote:? ?

“Diversity is being asked to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance”. ?

We then talked about the ways in which neurodivergent individuals might need reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process and once joining the workplace. Different methods of invitation to both the party and to dance, if you like. ?

One comment after the webinar was, "But if I make these changes, it’s not my party anymore. It’s a different party". ?

This point of resistance was a lightbulb moment for me. If we want, and believe in?the benefits of, inclusive workplaces for neurodivergent individuals, and our current practices aren’t as inclusive as they could be, of course the party needs to change! But I don’t think people realise we’re talking about cultural?changewhen we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion. They don’t want their party to change. And the problem is, if we’re just focusing on shifting the proportions of visible differences in organisations (which as far as I can see is the main success metric most organisations are working to), without trying to create cultural?change, of course we're going to fail!

From now on, THC are going to be focusing on sustainable cultural?change. We need organisations to realise from the off that,?if they are working with us, we're looking at how we can shift their culture to be more inclusive and to perform at a higher level as a result. And the work we do together needs to be sustainable. Just telling people how to change their behaviour is insufficient if we don’t look at what goes on underneath that behaviour.The change won’t happen overnight, in the coaching session or in the training room. It is about aligning employees’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours so that real and continuous change can start,?and continue, to happen.