Transforming Workplace Culture to Bring Real Change in DEI

Where do we stand a year after the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the subsequent global protests?

The common sentiment that many will echo is “we are still combating systemic racism.” We are living not just in a pandemic but in a racism pandemic. 

Corporations need to move beyond hashtag activism, hosting town halls on race, facilitating panel discussions on what diversity means, or hiring a DEI expert to truly make progress in DEI. 

We need to nip systemic inequality in the bud and do our part personally and professionally to truly see long-term change in our workplace culture. 

The Beginning 

It wasn’t until 2000 that businesses started caring more about diversity after a series of lawsuits rocked the financial industry. In 2013, an American multinational investment bank settled a race discrimination suit for $160 million. According to a report from Good Jobs First, since then 99% of Fortune 500 companies have paid settlements in at least one discrimination or sexual harassment penalty. 

Which in turn gave birth to DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, which became the new elixir for all. DEI in the workplace structurally involves a set of ideas and principles that rests on an institution’s efforts to increase diverse representation and create inclusive, equitable environments where people can thrive. This often includes training, town hall meetings, and sensitivity to diverse cultures.

But the question that we need to ask ourselves is - Is training about unconscious bias, reading about anti-racism, fostering an inclusive work environment, and understanding microaggressions enough to transform the industry that is so deep-rooted in racism? 

The answer is ‘No’. 

DEI is more than just hiring a practitioner to guide your organization and cannot be relegated to a side strategy that an organization can support while maintaining its privileged status groups, favoritism, and other inequities. 

While conventional diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives focus on employee engagement and a sense of belonging, today’s challenges reach far beyond marginalization in the workplace.

Before hiring a DEI consultant or chief diversity officer, each organization — especially at their leadership level — must be crystal clear on what their DEI goals are and what they plan to achieve.

Keeping a checklist of what the organization’s leadership expects in six months of DEI training will discard decades of racial attitudes and beliefs. Also understanding that DEI and anti-racism are not box-checking exercises, will help companies be more realistic and genuine in their effort. 

Companies will need to become transparent on whether they are ready to take on DEI in a meaningful way and avoid hashtag activism and public solidarity statements. Choosing diversity officers or consultants wisely by understanding how did they come to DEI or how do they navigate in the world will provide the best results. 

Most importantly, chief diversity officers need to be given a seat at the leadership table and will require people with privilege and power to recognize it and to own up to it. 

Racism is everyone’s problem

Racism isn’t just a Black people’s problem anymore; it’s everyone’s problem because it erodes the fabric of society. 

Leaders will need to rethink inclusion in their firms and this can only be achieved by defining diversity, equity, inclusion goals, policies, and practices.

Organizations will need to re-look at how they can use their power to effect change and what they can do to promote equity and justice and activate meaningful change. 

For company leaders, understanding that people with different backgrounds and experiences often see the same problem in different ways and come up with different solutions - creates a clear path to building a more innovative organization.

Specifically, they will need to approach diversity as a business imperative with the CEO owning this agenda and visibly leading it. Success will also depend on accurately assessing the company’s starting point, establishing specific goals, and creating a roadmap with milestones and clear accountability.

It is no surprise that companies that do take the initiative and actively increase the diversity of their management teams—across all dimensions and with the right enabling factors in place—perform better. These companies find distinctive solutions to problems and generate more and better ideas, with a greater likelihood that some of them will become winning products and services in the market, outperforming their peers financially. 

For example, when looking for a new president to oversee a geographic expansion effort, the Japanese beverage company Suntory didn’t promote an insider but the former chairman of Lawson, Japan’s second-largest convenience store chain. 

When organizations undertake such efforts to make their management teams more diverse by adding people from other countries, industries, genders, and races - it pays off. 

What will also be helpful to tackle today’s systemic inequality issue is mentoring programs that can make companies’ managerial divisions significantly more diverse - boosting the representation of black, Hispanic, and Asian-American women, and Hispanic and Asian-American men, by 9% to 24%. 

The Tools and Resources Today

Today we have more tools and more information than ever before on how to be an ally. With the right technology in place and through intentional action, self-awareness, and tenacity, leaders can build a more inclusive workplace. 

They must use their power, platforms, and resources to help employees and communities overcome these challenges and build a better world for us all. And that can’t be done by just changing the culture but taking a hard look at racism at the workplace and systemic inequality. 

What steps are you taking to building an inclusive and anti-racist organization today?