Make Inclusion About Relationships – Not Politics

By Jeremie K Brecheisen

Budweiser lost $27 billion in shareholder value in the months following its now-famous social media post.

Half of BP’s top 10 investors are members of CA100+ and were livid when the chairman cut the 2030 carbon emissions goal . Some threatened to vote him out as chairman.

ESG and D&I can be great when they align with local politics and terrible when they don’t.

These risks are real and threaten company value, profit, growth, stability, jobs, and more.

One way these risks are being manifest is through the attack on the role of the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) leader. In many organizations, diversity and inclusion initiatives have become tainted by politics. As a result, D&I leaders often feel compelled to fight for what is often perceived as a political agenda rather than one that serves the interests of the company and its key stakeholders.

However, many D&I leaders are feeling unsupported, ignored -- and lonely. That’s undermining their engagement and ability to fulfill their mission.

As I wrote in a Raconteur article last November , D&I leaders experience the lowest engagement levels of the nine HR leadership functions surveyed in 2023 for Gallup’s HR Community Roundtable. Many also do not feel D&I is adequately supported by leadership: Less than half of D&I leaders strongly agreed that their organization had made changes in the previous 12 months to improve workplace D&I.

Three areas of Gallup’s Q12 had the lowest scores in comparison to our global database.

• Only 31% strongly agreed they are given the materials and equipment they need to do their job right. They are not equipped for success.
• Only 23% strongly agreed they have a best friend at work. They operate in silos.
• Only 23% say someone has checked in on their progress in the last six months. No one cares about their progress and so they don’t feel the company is making any progress.

Gallup has found that engagement cascades down the organization. If your leaders feel frustrated, they will spread frustration. If they feel lonely, they will create more silos. If they feel like no one cares, then they will just blame everyone else when nothing changes.

If you are going to have a D&I leader, then you had better engage them.

1. Ask them to make the business case for what they need to be successful. Not a political list. A business list. What do they need to get everyone to include everyone and not just symbolic targets for the top 200 leaders?
2. Help them feel connected. Start by being their friend. This is the greatest form of inclusion. Friendship predicts engagement and performance.
3. Help them feel accountable by breaking down accountability silos. It’s not their job to include everyone. It’s everyone’s job to include everyone.

Inclusion works best when it is done through great relationships. Right now, D&I leaders report they don’t have many friends. This has to change if you want them to inspire greater cultural inclusion.

Make inclusion about relationships – not politics. It costs a lot less.