What are you doing to advance African American talent in your organization?

This month marks Black History Month and is dedicated to acknowledging the significant impact that African Americans have had on the history, culture, and progress in the United States.

While some might say that progress for Blacks in the US has come a long way since the civil rights movement more than 50 years ago, advancement for African Americans still remains painfully slow. ?For example, Black CEOs in Fortune 500 companies have increased from 4 in 2020 to just 8 today. The glacial progress can be attributed in part to the lack of sustained commitment by organizations as well as the?external forces working to dismantle DEI.

After the murder of George Floyd and other Black men and women in the US, organizations made commitments to racial equity causes and set ambitious goals for advancing Black talent. But talk is cheap! Between 2021 and 2023, there was an 18% decline in C-suite support for company-wide DEI efforts. Companies are discreetly dropping DEI pledges made immediately following the murder of George Floyd.

Add to that, during times of economic challenges HR & DEI budgets are among the most likely to be cut.?All this has resulted in a slowdown in DEI initiatives. A recent survey revealed that 62 % of tech companies admitted that the current economic environment has resulted in the deprioritising of DEI.?

In addition to DEI roles, research also shows that underrepresented groups are historically the first to be let go and the last to be rehired.?Luminaries like Dr. Gay have been subjected to racial animus. It is no coincidence that this follows a historic moment in which Harvard hired its first Black female President.?These trends are disturbing as they set African Americans in the US further back.

According to data from McKinsey, US companies are now losing momentum in promoting Black professionals into management. The data reveals U.S. companies are no longer promoting Black professionals at the higher rate of the past few years, and have reverted to nearly the same promotion rates for Black employees as in 2019. Illustrating this, first-time promotion rates for Black men have dropped to 66 promotions for every 100 men of any race elevated into a first management role in 2022. That is down from 72 Black men promoted for every 100 men in 2021. White men and women, meanwhile, were promoted at relatively high rates consistently between 2019 and 2022.

This is disappointing and is indicative of a growing backlash against DEI that is dismantling the progress that we have made in recent years. The US Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling decreeing that race could no longer be considered in admissions in higher education has not only struck a blow to diversity in higher education and to the pipeline of diverse talent to the workplace, but it is also creating a ripple of anxiety that reaches far beyond the education sector with corporations concerned about possible litigation should they pursue their DEI efforts. Add to that data revealing that generative AI has the potential to widen the racial economic gap in the US by $43 billion each year- ?DEI is being attacked from all sides.

Now, more than ever, we need to collectively step up as allies, take bold, courageous stands and play an active role in ensuring progress not just during Black History Month but all year around.

What are you doing to advance African American talent in your organization?