So you have a DEIB strategy. What now?

Over the course of the last three years, many nonprofits have rightfully prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion. But where do those initiatives stand today? Are organizations seeing the progress they hoped for? If you’ve seen some progress, but want to make sure your efforts don’t stall or if you aren’t seeing the engagement you hoped for, it might be time to regroup and make a new plan. 

Let’s explore some of the common issues that might be hindering your DEIB strategy and how to address them:

Problem - Assigning too much responsibility to one person

Did you hire a Chief Diversity Officer? Or ask your CHRO to build the DEIB plan? While accountability is key to the successful implementation of any initiative, assigning all of the responsibility to one person or department is actually detrimental to DEIB success. Initiatives as impactful and pervasive as DEIB shouldn’t be siloed to one team. When they are, it makes it easy for them to be perceived as a box to be checked by the rest of your organization and external stakeholders. You’ll end up with a plan that is disconnected from your organization, an implementation team that has to swim upstream (leading to high turnover within those leaders), and a culture where DEIB stops at bias training for everyone else. 

Solution - Integrate your DEIB initiatives into the everyday activities of your organization. Your DEIB leaders should be responsible for inspiring other employees and ensuring a cohesive plan of action across the organization - not implementing every goal and action item. If you’re currently in the latter situation, you can reassign those initiatives to other team members as a Phase 2 to your strategy. This is a leadership opportunity, so don’t assign at random - you want to carefully consider the level of influence this person has, their ability to represent your organization’s plan and beliefs, and their functional expertise. The DEIB work should become part of their goals, performance reviews, and by extension, tied to their compensation package. They will also be responsible for engaging their colleagues and direct reports. Your Chief Diversity Officer can now turn their attention to supporting these new DEIB Champions, engaging new internal champions, and identifying new external opportunities to further your efforts. Before you know it, DEIB will be woven seamlessly into the day to day operations of your organization and become an integral part of your culture. 

Problem - Inability or Unwillingness to measure success (or lack of success)

We know that diversity has a positive impact on performance, profitability, and innovation. We also recognize the intrinsic motivator that DEIB programs are “the right thing to do.” But just because there is a moral imperative component to DEIB strategy, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t measure the impact of these initiatives or exempt them from adding value to your organization. As with all other business initiatives, you are choosing to spend your time, money, and resources on specific programming and you need to see an associated return on that investment. Let’s say for example that one of your strategic goals was to hire more diverse employees. One way you planned to achieve this was by posting your job openings on more diverse websites and job boards like The Professional Diversity Network. What were your KPIs? Did you set any? Were you measuring vacancy rate? New job boards identified? What about tracking applicant (and hired candidate) sources? If you weren’t doing this before your DEIB initiatives, how can you effectively measure their impact? How would you know if your efforts were succeeding? 

Solution: First, we need to recognize that there is no shame in a particular initiative failing. Don’t get discouraged, but also don’t keep repeating your efforts because it’s the “the right thing to do” at the expense of finding an initiative with a better ROI. Next, we need to embrace the power of data. Your first step should be building a scorecard. List each DEI goal and the specific initiatives that fall within this umbrella. Next, map out all the measures for success of each initiative and a realistic timeline for when you expect to see results. Finally, set a plan for how often you will assess each initiative and when you will introduce new ones. Remember to prioritize your goals (and the initiatives within each goal) carefully. After all, it’s better to do a few things really well than a lot of things “okay.” If you spread yourself too thin, you might eliminate an initiative that otherwise would have been successful. And remember - if a specific initiative fails, that doesn’t mean you should abandon the entire goal. It just means you need to reallocate your resources and try a different approach to achieving that goal. 

Problem - Focusing entirely on “Diversity” and forgetting about Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

Many of our DEIB journeys began with developing a deeper understanding of what these words mean and exploring our own unconscious bias and lived experiences. The conversations around racism that have taken place in some workplaces over the past three years have opened up a path toward equity, inclusion, and belonging in a way that didn’t exist prior to 2020. But when the going gets tough, many organizations continue to default to prioritizing “diversity” without equity, inclusion, and belonging. Organizations assume that if they can improve diversity, the others will follow. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. We have to actively prioritize equity and inclusion as much as diversity and work on all three at the same time if we want to achieve a culture of belonging. Belonging is  a feeling generated by inclusive practices. And belonging is what retains employees. 

Solution - First, start by distinguishing whether each goal is aimed at achieving a more diverse workplace, a more equitable workplace, or a more inclusive workplace. Are the majority skewed towards diversity? If so, you need to create more “E” and “” goals. For each “diversity” goal, ask yourself what will happen when you achieve your goal. Is your organization prepared to support a culture where differences are celebrated? If you are able to hire a more diverse workforce, can you retain them? How does your organization support diverse employees? Who does your organization’s culture include and exclude? Pair each diversity focused goal with an equity or inclusion focused goal, so that your strategy is well balanced. You are more likely to foster a culture of belonging when you move the needle in all three directions at once.  

If you’re experiencing any of these issues, know that you are not alone. The most important part of any successful DEIB strategy is committing to the outcomes you want to see. You might need to change the paths you take or who leads you down those roads, but if you reflect and recommit to doing the work you will achieve your desired results.