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Three Reasons Why Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Efforts Fail

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Despite overwhelming evidence that workplaces are becoming more demographically diverse research finds over half of us feel excluded and isolated at work. A lot of companies are experiencing employee fatigue with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Workers feel exhausted, frustrated, and skeptical that their DEI efforts will result in tangible outcomes.

Lily Zheng, author of DEI Deconstructed, says leaders often underestimate the time, money and effort needed to improve DEI.

“Companies need to engage all stakeholders in DEI efforts. Plan for it to take a while and sustain the cadence of DEI work. If it matters to your business then give DEI the funding it requires,” they says.

According to Zheng, there are three reasons DEI efforts fail, these include employee fatigue and backlash with DEI initiatives as well as the denial of inequality. Often employees will try to improve DEI in their organization by starting an employee resource group, speaking to managers, or starting a DEI council. But overtime employees often end up feeling exhausted, burned out and discouraged due to the lack of organizational support and investment. When employees don't feel their efforts will result in tangible outcomes they give up.

“People are tired of doing DEI work that doesn’t achieve anything. We need to focus on what matters and make sure we can directly tie everything we’re doing to measurable outcomes. DEI must have metrics. There should be consequences if results are not achieved. This is not what DEI initiatives in most companies currently look like," they explains.

When employees don't believe their organization is committed to advancing DEI they may try to undermine DEI initiatives or even withdraw support. Zheng believes backlash like this is the main reason why DEI initiatives fail.

"To address backlash companies need to frame DEI efforts as resolving inequities and achieving justice. We need to frame DEI less like we are attacking people and more in a way that people can see a role for themselves in these efforts," they says.

Often fatigue and backlash can lead to denial. When employees lack the motivation to engage in DEI efforts, they justify this by denying that inequality exists. To overcome this challenge Zheng says companies need to ensure employees understand how workplaces often devalue diversity. The aim is to educate employees on how inequality is experienced at work and the barriers it creates for some individuals so we can remove these challenges.

To overcome denial Zheng says it is critical that organizations recognize advancing DEI starts with fixing systemic issues. For example, when it comes to increasing demographic diversity, companies often set diversity hiring targets but fail to fix the biases within their recruitment processes or policies.

Additionally, when employees experience denial and backlash they often feel powerless to change their workplace. But Zheng says employees can draw on each other to advance DEI efforts. For example, anyone can start or join an employee resource group, DEI council or peer-to-peer learning group. Collective advocacy is something every employee can engage in.

But to inspire everyone to take action Zheng says it is important we frame DEI initiatives are framed in the right way.

“Instead of like a zero-sum game we all need to engage in DEI for collective learning, for collective growth. We are doing this work to get a greater understanding of how different populations experience the workplace. And to the extent that some populations are not being treated well, we're going to understand why and rectify those inequities because we really care about a workplace that's fair. That framing tends to really activate people.”

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