The Ironic Positive Effect of Disclosing your Lagging Diversity Progress

I was recently asked some executives if they could share their EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity)1 employee demographics data for an upcoming workshop. I was met with resistance and fear. They said that these data are “highly sensitive and confidential” and that very few people have access to these data within the company. One exec said “there’s no point in seeing the data, we all can tell that we lack diversity.” These execs aren’t alone. A recent report showed that amidst both economic pressures and political backlash against DEI, there’s been a 10% drop in sharing DEI metrics at exec meetings, and an 8% drop in data-driven decision making.2 This is a huge problem for business. Why?

1. When leaders put their heads in the sand, avoiding data during decision-making about their workforce, the quality of their decisions decline, and their rates of turnover may increase.?
2. We may “think” we know where our demographics stand, but when we actually see the numbers we are often surprised and new insights and targeted strategies pop up. For example, we might think we’re doing well in gender diversity but then when we break down the demographics by department the majority of women may sit in roles like marketing and communications, and not in engineering, software development, or in technical/craft/field roles.
3. Contrary to conventional wisdom, when organizations are transparent about their lagging diversity progress, this increases people’s perceptions of an organization’s true progress and trustworthiness.3

Why? Being transparent - disclosing your organization’s diversity numbers (the demographics of your workforce) publicly, even if the numbers aren’t favorable signals an authentic commitment to diversity. This disclosure actually increases trust because it signals that the commitment to diversity is more than just “lip service.”?

What should we do about it? This suggests that instead of being worried that lagging diversity numbers will undermine one’s credibility and reputation as an inclusive organization, leaders should be authentic and transparent about where they are really at with creating and maintaining a diverse workforce.?

We recommend:

1. Share your diversity data and inclusion data (employee experience broken down by demographics) at least twice annually amongst executive teams.
2. Share your diversity and inclusion data annually within your organization and externally on your career/DEI page. Celebrate wins, and when the numbers lag, express an authentic and sustained commitment to DEI.?
3. Go beyond the EEO race/ethnicity and gender data required by the government and collect anonymous data on other dimensions like: sexual orientation, veterans, neurodiversity, disability, age, parents, etc.
4. Dispelling myths that tracking diversity equates to chasing quotas. Instead, educate people on how developing fair and inclusive hiring practices actually results in hiring the best talent.
5. Assess and implement fair and inclusive tools and practices for key systems in recruiting, hiring, performance management, promotions, and even lay-off decisions, in order to promote gaining and sustaining a diverse workforce.

Sharing demographic data, warts and all, can be intimidating and vulnerable. But? the science shows, yet again, that transparency and vulnerability benefit the business! Data transparency not only drives clarity, but it also drives trust and confidence.

Need support with data efforts, analysis, process assessment, or crafting your messaging around DEI in tricky times? Please reach out to illuceo for any of your organizational effectiveness needs.

1 EEO Data Collections

2 Workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 2024 Report. Culture Amp.

3 Apfelbaum, E. P., & Suh, E. Y. (2023). Transparency about Lagging Diversity Numbers Signals Genuine Progress. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.?