CEOs who aim to improve their company’s success with diversity, equity and inclusion know they need to set the tone for their organizations, and likely they also realize they can’t achieve their goals without help.
On that, they are right.
Where they often go wrong, though, is they hand off responsibility for the DEI initiative to the human resources director, or to a chief diversity officer, then just sit back and wait for good things to happen.
Perhaps they are surprised when those good things never materialize. Or, caught up in too many other responsibilities, the CEO forgets about DEI and its importance altogether.
In such cases, the CEO has miscalculated, thinking DEI can be delegated to one person when in truth it is the responsibility of everyone in the organization. Ideally, C-suite executives, middle managers, and even rank-and-file employees will have an impact on the organization’s DEI initiative, with each person at each level making it a priority to see that programs are implemented and policies followed.
Certainly, it helps for someone to act as a point person. Companies with dedicated DEI roles are 17% more successful in building diverse teams than those without, according to the 2022 Workplace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report from Culture Amp, an employee experience platform.
But that person should not be on an island, left to handle the heavy lifting on their own while the rest of leadership takes a pass.
DEI As An Ongoing Effort
Regardless of the original intentions of those at the top, it pays for everyone to remain vigilant because plenty of factors can cause an organization to stumble along the DEI journey – and even wander completely off the path.
One of these factors involves viewing DEI as a problem to solve today and then move on, rather than understanding that DEI is an ongoing effort that requires regular nurturing; otherwise it will wilt. Unfortunately, sometimes people believe that once their company introduces diversity efforts, magic happens. Problems disappear and the many benefits of a DEI initiative, such as increased profits and decreased turnover, take hold and continue into perpetuity.
Such an outlook can cause management to become lax; less diligent about detecting discrimination, less attuned to making sure that inclusion takes place and all voices are heard. After all, they think, that problem has been solved; no need to stay on the alert for the possibility that more situations will emerge that will cause stress or difficulties and need to be addressed.
Mindset becomes important here. If you don’t make an intentional effort to include, then you will unintentionally exclude. And if people within the organization hear a lot of talk about DEI, but detect no follow through, then they will question how sincere upper management is about creating change.
Seeing The Impact
This is another reason why it helps for DEI to be seen as everyone’s responsibility, rather than the duty of just one person or a few. People throughout the organization are likely to know more quickly than those in upper management whether something is working because, for them, the change is not a hypothetical. It is a real thing that impacts their lives – or doesn’t. They will know which policy had a significant effect on them and their co-workers and which didn’t. They will know if new problems emerge, or old ones persist, because they will encounter those problems as they go through their work days.
So how can leaders know their efforts are bearing fruit?
On the most basic level, impact can be measured by demographic diversity, though organizations need to make sure they’re using appropriate measurement tools. Beyond that, impact means making a difference in real people’s lives, such as with their economic reality or their working environment. Impact means making a difference in the organization’s culture and personnel make-up. And often, impact means making believers out of unbelievers; that is changing the minds of those who are skeptical about the need for a DEI initiative, or those who are doubtful that top management is sincere in its efforts.
Ultimately, that impact also will bring with it the satisfaction that comes with knowing that lasting change has had a positive effect on people’s lives and the organization at large.
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