Make your DE&I Spending Count

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, companies pledged an estimated $200bn to tackle racial inequality. But how is that money being spent – and is it having an effect?

We speak Nii Cleland, CEO and co-founder of FLAIR—a tech company that harnesses data to advance racial equity—about data, metrics and why diversity, equity and inclusion should be tackled as a business challenge.?

Budget v results

Businesses have the money to advance racial equity, but are they using the right data to drive meaningful change??

Last year, global spend on DE&I initiatives amounted to a massive?￡5.56 Billion.?It’s clear that businesses have the budget to advance racial equity; what’s less clear is why we’re not seeing results.?

Many organisations have implemented initiatives such as training, donating to charity or appointing a more diverse board. But pledges and initiatives need to turn into intent and action.?

For most organisations, there’s no way to properly research which interventions are the right ones to drive change. Many don’t have the right metrics in place to know if the interventions are working once they are in place.?

To drive change, we need data?

The reality is this: actions taken by companies in good faith have not been enough to dismantle systems and cultures that breed racial bias.??

In fact, racial inequity is still pervasive across all sectors. It’s still more difficult for people from marginalised groups to gain access to equal opportunities and be their best selves; and these barriers start long before they enter the working world.?

Without the tools and data in place to effectively drive decision-making and measure performance, organisations have struggled to create racially equitable cultures and, in turn, drive long-term change.?

We need a DE&I revolution, not an evolution?

FLAIR believes that a change of approach is vital, and this requires changing the narrative.?

They believe that we need to stop seeing racial inequity as a purely emotional issue, but one that is tackled and reported on like every other business problem, backed by data and results.?

Companies need to know which interventions will be the right ones for the business – and once in place, they need to measure whether they’re working. By seeing racial equity as a business challenge, data can be used to affect real change.?

Achieving ED&I targets as a corporate objective?

Here’s an example to illustrate the approach. If a sales team were failing to hit target, the organisation wouldn’t pledge to do better. They would find the cause of the issue, implement a solution, measure and track progress and ensure there was absolute accountability for delivering results. This is how organisations achieve their corporate objectives and it is becoming increasingly important that organisations apply similar methods to DE&I.??

FLAIR was launched to provide organisations with the metrics and data to implement the right solutions and report on racial equity to employees, customers and investors. This is something which is becoming increasingly important as leaders are now under more pressure than ever to clearly demonstrate how they’re taking action to meet ESG goals in a certain timeframe.?

How to harness data to drive lasting change?

Many organisations are currently measuring racial diversity. But creating racially equitable cultures requires looking beyond just representation; it means understanding the lived experiences of employees.?

Culture directly impacts the success of a company and the well-being of its workforce, so it’s crucial that organisations tackle both diversity and inclusion - and that they do it in a well-rounded, data-driven way.?

FLAIR is a data-driven solution to measure anti-racism across cultures and collects data across four key pillars: inclusion barriers, racial awareness, racist behaviours and racial diversity. Based on the outcomes, FLAIR gives organisations a dashboard that visualises their performance and a strategic racial equity roadmap with tailored recommendations.?

To date, FLAIR are helping over 100 organisations to measure and progress racial equity, including EY, NatWest, The Premier League, Network Rail, British Red Cross, BT and Hogan Lovells.

Looking to the future?

FLAIR wants to create a mindset shift around racial equity. Businesses need to change the way they think about and approach racial equity, changing the conversation to be around metrics and data and treating racial equity the same way as any other business problem.?

For more information, visit:?www.flairimpact.com?

Join Change the Race Ratio, FLAIR?and signatory EY on 21st July 2021 for our live webinar, ‘How to create a diverse hiring strategy that delivers’.?

Register here to reserve your spot:?https://flairimpact.com/creating-a-diverse-recruitment-strategy-that-delivers?