No time to DEI

Ok, sorry about the title… with the new James Bond movie coming out this week, I couldn’t resist. I have been resisting saying something that I think needs to be said though.?

Recently one of my co-workers posted a team picture. An executive from another company commented, “The first thing I do when I see team pictures is scan them for diversity”. This is a problem. DEI is gaining momentum, thanks to ESG gaining momentum and we need to make sure the DEI train is on the right track.?

We work with a lot of HR leaders. I know there is real pressure to be able to stand up in a board meeting and explain what you’re doing for ESG; especially the ‘S’ part of ESG, which is where DEI enters. We also work with large companies who have started adding ESG/DEI requirements for their vendors. It’s not uncommon to receive questions about ESG and DEI in RFPs. You may be thinking that companies would be in good shape if they just focused on making good products, but here we are.

The easy thing to do is just implement weekly DEI trainings, hiring quotas, and spend money on social issues. The difficulty is in the law of unintended consequences - when the result of these initiatives brings about less thought diversity, less overall equity, less inclusivity and overall less engagement from the employee base. I’d like to touch on each of these areas with a non-mainstream viewpoint.?

Diversity

Back to our executive who scans team pictures for ‘diversity’. Should diversity really be limited to what you can see in a picture?

Suppose my team members consist of someone who grew up in the inner city of Chicago, someone who grew up on a ranch in Idaho, someone who fled their home during a war, someone who studied math, someone who studied psychology, several people who have lived in multiple countries, single people and family people. If you need to know their skin color, gender and sexual orientation to know if the team is diverse, I’d say you are buying into a harmful idea that rejects individualism and attributes people’s value to what demographic bucket they’re in.

Conversely, suppose my team is composed of every demographic - including a token white male. Are we diverse? What if we act like everybody on the team must have the same ideas about life in order for everyone on the team to feel ‘safe’? Still diverse?

At the end of the day, there isn’t a male or female way of writing code. There isn’t a caucasion or hispanic way of doing accounting. There isn’t a gay or straight way of selling software. There are, however, as many individual ways of contributing as there are individuals. It's very important that we never lose sight of the individual.

I would suggest that the diversity component of a DEI initiative could include some things we don’t always scan for in pictures:

• Does your company cast a wide net and seek for outsiders while hiring?
• Is your company willing to give a chance to people who are trying to get their life together, but who might not have a ‘normal’ background?
• Is your company willing to help people make career changes even when they don’t quite have the experience you want?
• Does your company make it easy and safe for different people to share different personal and professional ideas about life in their work environment?

When it comes to ‘diversity', the outcome we seek is that all of our lives and experiences are enriched through exposure to different ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives. In companies, solutions can be improved by looking at problems from different angles. It’s OK to have a diversity initiative that judges people by the content of their character.?

Equity

Equity programs are typically measured in terms of outcomes by demographic. While the dictionary definition of ‘equity’ is similar to ‘equality’, that is, being treated fairly and impartially, they have come to mean two very different things. The ‘equity’ in DEI is understood as ‘equality of outcome’.?It ignores a variety of sociological factors in arriving at its goals.

Equity initiatives never seem to be measured on problems solved - such as job satisfaction, product quality, customer retention, or HR issues. Many equity initiatives create inequalities within the ranks just to make the company look better on an ESG metric. This weakens the company and creates resentment among the employees.

Is there another way to look at equity?

We can get back to a more traditional definition of ‘equity’ and still have a DEI initiative. Some ways to do this include:

• Standardized scoring of job candidates based on clear definitions and criteria of what’s being searched for
• Standardized compensation for clearly defined job roles in the company
• Hiring and promotion processes that are NOT based on demographic outcomes

I want to be able to look every employee in the eye and tell them unequivocally that they were the best person for the job and that through their efforts and abilities, they earned the spot fair and square. Diversity must not overrule equity.?

When it comes to ‘equity’, the outcome we seek is that all people are treated equitably, or fairly. When companies are committed to applying fair standards to roles and responsibilities, people can give their best effort because they know the same standards apply to all.

Inclusion

Ironically, ‘inclusion’ initiatives may be the most responsible for an increasing amount of employee resentment and backlash as people attend endless sensitivity trainings and come to believe that their company is punishing them for the color of their skin or the life choices they’ve made. In many examples, ‘inclusion’ initiatives are a form of reverse discrimination that starts by dividing people. Companies should not be putting people into groups and labeling those groups as victims or oppressors. Similar to diversity, this diminishes the value of the individual and is demeaning for both types of groups.

Is there a way to help people feel safe and included without the divisive practice of creating groups?

We feel included in a group when we have shared goals, shared values, have a voice, and feel safe in being our authentic selves. The same applies for a corporate group. Putting two groups with different goals and values together and expecting one or both of them to concede their values has never worked in history and it won’t work in companies.?

Instead, companies can create environments where the shared values actually work for everybody. This type of approach to inclusion actually won’t create resentment.

Some ways to do this include:

• Communicate the ‘north star’ mission of the company and stay focused. When people understand the reason the company exists up front, they have an opportunity to join the team under that banner.
• Share values that embrace everyone. No, ‘integrity’ is not a helpful company value. What makes your company unique? What powers the unique way you do business? Build values around these things.
• Recognize and appreciate like crazy - everybody should receive recognition from one or more people outside of their boss at least once/week.?
• Make time to be authentic - invest in a structure between managers and employees that makes it clear it’s OK to be personal and human in the workplace.?

When it comes to ‘inclusion’, the outcome we seek is that our team members have a voice and feel comfortable being themselves and understand their overall purpose and value in the work they do every day.?

In summary, we’re not going to become diverse by becoming racist, we’re not going to be equitable by being unfair, and we’re not going to become inclusive by dividing people against each other. There are good ways we can fairly deal with this topic and maybe there is time to DEI after all.?