Are You Ready for Third Wave DEI?

Dan Rust, Infopro Learning

For more than 30 years, I have been on the front lines of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, leading the development and delivery of employee communication, coaching and training efforts to build and maintain working environments that are inclusive, equitable and energizing for all employees.

I have worked with hundreds of DEI colleagues, consultants, advisors and practitioners – building out programs that have impacted hundreds of thousands of people. And as I look back at the past three decades, I can see three distinct ‘waves’ of effort and commitment in the corporate DEI space.

Nobody was made to feel too uncomfortable and corporate senior leaders were proud of their DEI ‘metrics’ progress, even if the lived reality of many minorities and disenfranchised people had not evolved much at all. Many black employees may have felt a bit more validated at work, while still needing to have “the talk” with their children.

Nationally, there was still a +30% point difference between Black and White homeownership. Educational outcomes for Blacks and other disenfranchised groups were still far below those of their White counterparts.

Prior to May 25, 2020, I would characterize the overall corporate DEI landscape as ‘slow and steady’. Progress was being made, albeit gradually. Hiring diverse talent and achieving equitable compensation became a priority while HR departments deployed training efforts designed to ensure compliance with government regulations and alignment with evolving societal standards. “We embrace diversity” (or some variation) became such a commonplace corporate statement/theme that it sometimes felt bland and meaningless.

Some were impatient to put more ‘teeth’ or substance into corporate diversity and inclusion efforts, while others expressed concern about (or just passively resisted) anything that might make anyone too ‘uncomfortable’. But progress, even slow progress with occasional backsliding, was still progress.

Second Wave DEI began in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. In the wake of nationwide protests, Corporate America acknowledged that more had to be done and promised to take an active role in confronting systemic racism.

From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, companies proclaimed “Black lives matter”. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon adopted the posture of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protests against police brutality and took a knee with bank employees. McDonald’s declared Floyd and other slain Black Americans ‘one of us’. Apple and AbbVie, Facebook and Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble, and other top corporations made broad claims about what they would do, pledging to be a force for societal change and to fight racism and injustice, including violence against Black Americans.

Others explained how they worried about their children’s safety when the kids left the house. In the corporate world, we began talking about racism in gritty, gut-wrenching ways like never before. Many companies supplemented these dialogues with expert guest speakers, book clubs and websites with tools to help employees learn more about racism.

Many organizations facilitated conversations and awareness-building discussions among their employees, some leveraging books like ‘How to be Antiracist’ to provide substance and structure to these efforts. More than a small number of White employees who participated in these activities were surprised at how many of their black colleagues had stories to tell about being gripped by fear after being pulled over by police while driving.

Unconscious bias training became almost commonplace, even though it clearly made some uncomfortable. However, to some degree, that discomfort was the point. You can ’no solve it if you can not admit it, and it seemed that corporate America was ready for the difficult conversations.

This ‘second wave’ of intense DEI commitment, focus and money definitely had an impact. Banking institutions declared their commitment to bolster Black home ownership. Since Floyd’s murder, America’s 50 biggest public companies and their foundations collectively committed at least $49.5 billion to addressing racial inequality — an amount that appears unequaled in sheer scale.

Many companies expanded their commitments to racial justice beyond traditional philanthropy, incorporating racial justice initiatives into their regular course of business. In addition to the external financial commitments, they committed to diversifying their workforces up to the highest-paid C-suite jobs as well as increasing their purchases of goods and services from Black-owned businesses. Today companies spend $8 billion a year on diversity training, according to consulting company McKinsey & Co.

Social unrest has been a powerful incentive for companies to bolster their diversity efforts, but recently there have been indications that we are seeing a downturn in DEI commitment and a shift in DEI focus. I call this the “third wave” of DEI.

The recession brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be undermining some of the positive corporate DEI intentions. Millions of people have lost their jobs, and the downturn has taken an especially devasting toll on people of color. Many companies are tightening budgets, and some are struggling to stay afloat and may not have the financial or management bandwidth to dedicate to diversity programs. However, in addition to the potential shrinkage of resources dedicated to DEI efforts, the corporate world is also starting to see a shift in focus. Diversity and inclusivity programs are beginning to expand beyond race, gender and sexuality to proactively address the full range of human diversity – neuro, familial, cultural, behavioral and educational diversity to name just a few.

On the one hand, this expansion of focus can feel very positive and “human-centered.” However, it can also leave Black employees wondering if their issues are now “yesterday’s news,” so to speak. It can leave women and LGBTQ employees wondering if their workplace challenges are getting less attention because now EVERYONE seems to have a reason to feel marginalized to some degree.

So, we are seeing a trend toward fewer resources, but an expanded constituency. The pie is potentially shrinking, and we need more slices. This is the third wave challenge faced by inclusive leaders, and there are no easy answers. We have learned that you can mandate diversity, but you can not mandate inclusion. Inclusion is about behavior, relationships, mindsets. And EVERYONE wants to feel a sense of inclusion. The opportunity for those leaders, who are able to successfully navigate these uncertain ‘third wave’ waters, is to create and sustain organizational cultures, where truly every employee can bring their full self into the workplace along with all of the innovation, creativity and value that create.

Dan Rust is Vice President of Global Leadership and Organizational Development at Infopro Learning, Inc