What can we learn from Tractor Supply?

Tractor Supply made headlines at the end of June for announcing that they’re abandoning their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs along with their environmental efforts, after a conservative boycott campaign picked up steam. Given that the campaign started with criticisms of Tractor Supply’s support of the LGBTQ+ community, it was a somber way to end Pride month.?

It was also quite the reversal for a company that was touting their diversity-related awards just last year. What can organizations learn from Tractor Supply, how it responded to conservative pressure, and the backlash the company is now seeing for denouncing DEI?

1. Don’t invest in diversity, equity, and inclusion just to “do DEI.”

While I can’t speak to why Tractor Supply originally prioritized this work, in 2021, their CEO outlined aggressive representation goals focused on “advanc[ing] underrepresented groups across our workforce, vendors, suppliers, and communities.”?

That may have been the right focus for their organization - I don’t have the context to know - but what’s missing from their messaging is the “why.” To hire and retain the best talent? To improve employee engagement? To serve a diversifying customer base??

Organizations that want to build sustainable inclusion strategies should consider how to map whatever they’re doing to their larger business needs.?

The good news is, there is no shortage of data demonstrating that inclusion is a smart area of focus for most organizations. Talent and customer pools are becoming more diverse. Along with these demographic changes, we’re seeing mindset shifts: millennial and younger employees and consumers care about inclusion. They want to work in companies where they can be themselves, and they want to buy from brands they believe in.

For many organizations, the ability to attract, engage, and retain a diverse employee and consumer base will become existential in the coming years.?

2. Accept the fact that the pendulum will continue to swing back and forth on this topic over the coming years.

That doesn’t mean your organizational efforts should follow suit.

It's reactive and distracting to continually evolve your approach based on the loudest voices in one corner of the internet, or activists’ cause du jour.?

“DEI,” as we’ve been calling it, is really about building an organization that reflects the world around you, that attracts and grows the best talent, and that unlocks engagement and innovation. The need for that work is evergreen, and the more you can tie what you’re doing to the needs of your business, the more insulated your efforts will be from the ever-evolving zeitgeist.?

3. Your organization isn’t facing a binary choice — double down on “DEI” or abandon it.

Instead, consider how to future-proof your strategy by prioritizing efforts most likely to positively impact your workforce. The goal shouldn’t be to please one employee segment, but to make your strategy more impactful and more resilient.?

I’ve worked with a few organizations recently that have been nervous to scale back (or eliminate) a given program or initiative because it’s popular with a particular employee group, despite the clear data that the program has done nothing to improve representation, fairness, or inclusion. Evolving your strategy is challenging, no doubt,? and requires a good bit of change management. But not evolving your strategy is far riskier. If you continue investing in initiatives that don’t work, you’re inviting unnecessary scrutiny and making your strategy far more susceptible to whatever the next headwind may be.

The organizations we work with are continuing to drive impact by communicating more thoughtfully about their efforts, de-siloing DEI and instead embedding inclusive principles into key processes organization-wide, and focusing on efforts that drive clear, measurable impact.?

TL;DR: Focus less on “doing DEI” and more on how you can unlock organizational potential by creating cultures where everyone can do their best work. This won’t prevent attacks from extremists - that, you can’t control - but it will make your efforts far more resilient for whatever challenges lie ahead.