How to get your senior leadership team to invest in DEI
DEI is a value we try to reflect in Canadian society, but one of the biggest challenges to creating and executing a successful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy is ensuring you have senior leadership buy-in.
What’s the challenge?
Getting people to agree that it is important and should be done, seems like an easy concept, but in practice, it can be difficult to ensure that everyone sees themselves in the DEI journey – both as part of the solution and as someone who benefits from the resulting success.
DEI as a Journey
A DEI strategy should be understood as a journey. No DEI strategy is ever “finished”, and there is no elite group of CEOs and leaders high-fiving each other because they accomplished all of their DEI goals and are “done”. Much like other kinds of behavioral change or performance management, there are stages or levels of maturity that can be reached within a DEI strategy: growth, change, and evolution, all of which are part of the DEI journey.
Why do some leaders struggle to see themselves in the DEI Journey?
Some people simply do not see the promotion and maintenance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as a business imperative, but there is plenty of evidence to show that it is, supported by 15 years’ worth of business cases and research to back it up. We also have legal obligations as employers, and the need to attract and retain top talent in a competitive job market. Yet still, DEI is often pushed to the side or down the priority list.
The Blame Game
One of the lesser discussed reasons for not prioritizing DEI strategies that I come across is that some leaders are concerned about engaging in DEI efforts for fear of making a mistake or being labeled “the problem or cause”, and this concern presents a significant challenge.
Firstly, the need for a DEI strategy is not derived from the actions of one person. As powerful and influential as we may think we are, no one person is capable of creating that sort of problem on their own, and frankly, blaming people rarely gets the result we’re looking for. The need for DEI comes from a cultural shift or an awakening, recognizing the need for change, and authentically respect the dignity of all people. What we need is to have everyone at the table, ready to learn, accept and understand what DEI means and requires of us. And above all, everyone needs to see themselves in the solutions that will pave their organizations’ DEI journey.
Fear of Making a Mistake
The second reason some leaders are held back from engaging in a meaningful DEI strategy is a failure to address a workplace culture that promotes fear of making mistakes. We know that a fear of failure can hinder a company’s progress in many different areas of business, but when it comes to DEI, the rarely mentioned, but culturally entrenched fear of making a mistake, and the resulting failure to act, sends the message that DEI is undervalued and unimportant which can cause extensive harm to not only your company’s culture, but it’s reputation and brand.
So what’s the fix?
Empowering Leaders
What we’ve noticed is that companies who approach their DEI strategies from an informed and prepared perspective are the most empowered, and able to turn their mistakes into positive opportunities for leadership and their teams. These companies have Leaders who see themselves as a part of the company’s DEI success, and employees who see leadership engaging meaningfully in a process that benefits all employees.
Recently, we saw this very clearly with a national employer in Canada, who recognized that they had significant challenges understanding their diverse workforce. They operated in rural and urban areas across the country and had recently committed to an elaborate long-term DEI strategy. Leadership was initially concerned that they may not be able to live up to the expectations of their employees, but they discovered through the process of launching their DEI strategy that their employees witnessed the genuine effort and value that leadership had put into developing this strategy were more engaged. Employees noticed the buy-in of key personnel and observed leadership leading with accountability and transparency, giving everybody across the entire team the opportunity to learn, grow, and be supported.
When it comes to buy-in from your senior leadership team and your DEI strategy, it’s critical to ensure everyone knows they’re welcome at the table and can see themselves in the solutions you’re striving to reach. It is proven that DEI strategies achieve success when DEI is viewed as a journey that welcomes everyone to the table.
Authored By Elisabeth Cooke BA, JD CEO, Dignii Technologies, Inc www.dignii.com elisabeth@dignii.com